Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Monday 18 SepteMber 2017
Mars research crew emerges after 8 months of isolation

By CALEB JONES
Associated Press
HONOLULU (AP) — Six
NASA-backed research
subjects who have been
cooped up in a Mars-like
habitat on a remote Ha-
waii volcano since Janu-
ary emerged from isolation
Sunday. They devoured
fresh-picked tropical fruits,
vegetables and a fluffy
egg strata after eating
mostly freeze-dried food
during their isolation.
The crew of four men and
two women are part of a
study designed to better
understand the psycholog-
ical impacts a long-term
space mission would have
on astronauts.
The data they produced
will help NASA select in-
dividuals and groups with
the right mix of traits to best
cope with the stress, isola- In this 2017 photo released by the University of Hawaii crew members of Mission V, walk across lava next to the university’s facility
tion and danger of a two- Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) at the Mauna Loa volcano, Big Island, Hawaii. Associated Press
to-three year trip to Mars.
The U.S. space agency
hopes to send humans tat as if they were actually about how they were feel- overwhelmed, they could plain below the summit of
to the red planet by the living on Mars. ing. use virtual reality devices Mauna Loa.q
2030s. The team’s information To gauge their moods they to take them away to a The crew’s vinyl-covered
The crew was quarantined technology specialist, Lau- also wore specially-de- tropical beach or other fa- shelter is about the size
for eight months on a vast ra Lark, thinks a manned signed sensors that mea- miliar landscapes. of a small two-bedroom
plain below the summit voyage to Mars is a rea- sured voice levels and Other Mars simulation proj- home, has small sleeping
of the Big Island’s Mauna sonable goal for NASA. proximity to other people ects exist around the world, quarters for each mem-
Loa, the world’s largest ac- The project is the fifth in a in the, 1,200 square-foot but Hawaii researchers say ber plus a kitchen, labora-
tive volcano. After finishing series of six NASA-funded (111-square meter) living one of the chief advan- tory and bathroom. The
their stint, they feasted on studies at the University of space.The devices could tages of their project is the group shared one shower
pineapple, mango and Hawaii facility called the sense if people were avoid- area’s rugged, Mars-like and has two composting
papaya.While isolated, Hawaii Space Exploration ing one another, or if they landscape, on a rocky, red toilets.q
the crew members wore Analog and Simulation, or were “toe-to-toe” in an ar-
space suits and travelled HI-SEAS. NASA has dedi- gument, said the project’s
in teams whenever they cated about $2.5 million for lead investigator, University
left their small dome living research at the facility. of Hawaii professor Kim Bin-
structure. They ate mostly “There are certainly human sted.
freeze-dried or canned factors to be figured out, “We’ve learned, for one
food on their simulated that’s part of what HI-SEAS thing, that conflict, even in
voyage to Mars. is for,” Lark said in a video the best of teams, is going
All of their communications message recorded within to arise,” Binsted said. “So
with the outside world were the dome. “But I think that what’s really important is
subjected to a 20-minute overcoming those chal- to have a crew that, both
delay — the time it takes lenges is just a matter of as individuals and a group,
for signals to get from Mars effort. We are absolutely is really resilient, is able to
to Earth. The crew was capable of it.” look at that conflict and
tasked with conducting The crew played games come back from it.”
geological surveys, map- designed to measure their The study also tested ways
ping studies and maintain- compatibility and stress to help the crew cope with
ing their self-sufficient habi- levels and maintained logs stress. When they became