Space simulation crew hits halfway mark and sets sights on August re-entry

A crew member from the fourth Hawaiʻi Space Exploration Analog and Simulation, or HI-SEAS mission. Image courtesy of HI-SEAS.

The six crew members of the fourth Hawaiʻi Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) have spent more than six months of their 12-month mission in a solar-powered dome on the slopes of Mauna Loa on Hawai‘i Island. The crew has been living in isolation as part of a UH Mānoa research project simulating long-duration space travel.

“It’s fun to know you’ve made it halfway,” said crewmember Tristan Bassingthwaighte. The doctor of architecture candidate at UH Mānoa said, “Getting halfway is a great validation in the work you’re doing for yourself, academically or just personally. You also find you’re listening to Life on Mars by David Bowie a lot more often.”

This fourth mission is the longest in HI-SEAS history, and will end in August 2016. As with the previous two missions in the NASA funded study, the current mission is focused on crewmember cohesion and performance.

Principal investigator Kim Binsted is co-investigator at the UH-NASA Astrobiology Institute (UHNAI), professor of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS), and graduate student in Geology and Geophysics (G&G).

Read more about it and watch the video report at Kaunānā.