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The study is
designed to help NASA better understand human behavior and
performance during long space missions as the U.S. space agency
explores plans for a manned mission to the Red Planet.
"I’m proud of the part we play in helping reduce the barriers to
a human journey to Mars,” said Kim Binsted, the mission's
principal investigator.
The crew will perform geological field work and basic daily
tasks in the 1,200-square-foot (365 m) dome, located in an
abandoned quarry 8,000 feet (2.5 km) above sea level on the
Mauna Loa volcano on Hawaii's Big Island.
There is little vegetation and the scientists will have no
contact with the outside world, said the university, which
operates the dome.
Communications with a mission control team will be time-delayed
to match the 20-minute travel time of radio waves passing
between Earth and Mars.
"Daily routines include food preparation from only shelf-stable
ingredients, exercise, research and fieldwork aligned with
NASA’s planetary exploration expectations," the university said.
The project is intended to create guidelines for future missions
to Mars, some 35 million miles (56 million km) away, a long-term
goal of the U.S. human space program.
The NASA-funded study, known as the Hawaii Space Exploration
Analog and Simulation (Hi-SEAS), is the fifth of its kind.
(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; editing by Richard
Lough)
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