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Isolated NASA Team Ends Year-Long Mars Simulation In Hawaii (bbc.com)
An anonymous Slashdot reader quotes the BBC:
A team of six people have completed a Mars simulation in Hawaii, where they lived in near isolation for a year. Since August 29th, 2015, the group lived in close quarters in a dome, without fresh air, fresh food or privacy... Having survived their year in isolation, the crew members said they were confident a mission to Mars could succeed. "I can give you my personal impression which is that a mission to Mars in the close future is realistic," Cyprien Verseux, a crew member from France, told journalists. "I think the technological and psychological obstacles can be overcome."
The team consisted of a French astro-biologist, a German physicist and four Americans -- a pilot, an architect, a journalist and a soil scientist... the six had to live with limited resources, wear a space-suit when outside the dome, and work to avoid personal conflicts. They each had a small sleeping cot and a desk inside their rooms. Provisions included powdered cheese and canned tuna.
The team consisted of a French astro-biologist, a German physicist and four Americans -- a pilot, an architect, a journalist and a soil scientist... the six had to live with limited resources, wear a space-suit when outside the dome, and work to avoid personal conflicts. They each had a small sleeping cot and a desk inside their rooms. Provisions included powdered cheese and canned tuna.
Send six women to Mars and see how long before they start trying to kill one another. Or five women and one man, to study the most-nagged human in history.
Provisions included powdered cheese and canned tuna.
And the knowledge that if anything went wrong the "experiment" could be ended in a matter of minutes.
I thought it didn't sound like that difficult of a scenario to endure, until I read that their food was powdered cheese and canned tuna. If that's all I could eat for a year, cannibalism would start to sound really good.
Was this really necessary? We've had people on ISS go on for almost a year, the Russians made a ground-based test lasting for a year an a half and if you want to go to even harder simulations of solitary missions, we've had many Slashdot members go on for years isolated in front of a screen (let's call it mars spaceship control center) without fresh water or fresh food (only carbonated sodas and reheated pizza)... right there in their mom's basement. And actually many of them were in a ground-braking 2-level simulation, as they were simulating a mission to mars through KSP at the same time!
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
Just hire some arctic people.
Polar nights have pretty much done the job.
Who provided the soil bacteria?
The only problem is they knew the experiment would only last a year. Which in itself is a sufficient reassurance to help them overcome any psychological problems related to the isolation and lack of privacy. That is, it's hard, but you know it will be over and you are in fact safe. On Mars you don't have that luxury, therefore I doubt the relevance of this experiment.
Did they have a sex during this year? :D
Or how men fapped in presence of women
Now they need to try again underwater. Have to deal with pressurization issues of the living areas, a truly hostile environment outside, and of course the conscious realization on the part of the team that if things go wrong they go really wrong. Just adding in the additional stress of knowing there is a good possibility of dying if things go wrong could really change the psychological affects of the isolation and could cause real problems as more time is spent in isolation.
Of course, it should go without saying to make sure that, should this kind of study be done, make sure the team down there stays away from any perfectly spherical objects they might run across. That tends to lead to bad outcomes in underwater habitats.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
Tuna's bad.
M'kay?
Next Time pack along some surstrÃmming.
"Isolated NASA Team Ends Year-Long Mars Simulation In Hawaii '
Being isolated on Hawaii seems a lot more appealing than being on the East Coast.
Most people are just too stupid to function in civilization.
I hope they weren't always under surveillance.
So I am fully qualified for a mission to mars?
-----
Sorry, I'm only a 1336 h4x0r.
One of the participants said his reason for volunteering for the mission was the great opportunity to "act like an astronaut for a year." I think the motivation and psyche profile of dangerous-mission astronauts is likely to be very different.
Did they have Google or Facebook?
If not, then they had more privacy than a significant portion of the Earthlings.
What they should have done was to inform them on day 355 that their mission was being unexpectedly extended for 26 additional months and gauge their reaction.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
For three reasons. One, as many have pointed out, because they knew they were not in real danger. Two, because they were not exposed to the levels of radiation they would on Mars. Three, because the gravity was Earth's, not Mars'. This was an interesting exercise, but it probably allowed NASA to iron out only the easy problems. The difficult ones they will have to face during the actual mission.
Nuclear submariners do this all the time. Why is it necessary for NASA to do these 'experiments?
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
Plenty of historic reports to pick from, plenty examples of how sailors would (or wouldn't?) cope on such journeys. Never mind that in comparison to an ocean-going vessel, a 'habitat' on some remote island is a pretty controlled environment.
I understand their optimism. They probably had access to "Earth news" during the experiment, but if I were just leaving the dome and was faced with the reality that either Hillary or Trump was seriously going to be the next U.S. president, I'd be considerably more motivated to overlook the problems of isolation and make it work. The survival of the species may hinge on whether or not we can get people off of this rock before it's utterly destroyed.
From https://snowballschanceonmars....
"Just to clarify, we don’t have cheese powder. To whoever said that we live on tuna and cheese powder we have freeze dried cheese that rehydrates into delicious real cheese. Not to mention our numerous homemade cheese and yogurt cultures (Haans, Phil, Geno) and sourdough starter (Bob). Yes, we have tuna, but it’s wild caught and comes in virgin olive oil. We also have FD chicken (my favorite!), ham, turkey, and many kinds of beef. There is an abundant supply of dehydrated/FD carrots, onions, tomatoes, peas, corn, celery, potato, berries, peaches (mine, mine, mine, mine), bananas, apples, and cherries. We eat the same foods as people who cook their meals and don’t eat takeout"
Whereas people are making valid points about the flaws in this experiment, I don't think anyone at NASA thinks that this is a perfect dress rehearsal. It's about baby steps.
You can bring in the real-life high paid astronauts, build expensive underwater, or Himalayan bases, give them less sense of security, etc later.
If you think this is the only experiment that will happen you're mistaken, they're going to run similar tests numerous times. This experiment was about watching just basic psychology- start with a few factors, add some more, see the differences. See what causes the breaking point that would lead to a failed mission and try to alleviate it.
Many people here are programmers. You don't write an entire program in its entirety and then test it. You build chunks and test them as you go along. This was step one.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
This story reminds me of the Bio-Dome.
Six people eating powdered cheese and tuna in an airtight container is a recipe for conflict
They got a free year-long trip to Hawaii and spent the entirety of it indoors?
Why Hawaii? Mars is not a tropical romper room. Astronauts are gonna freeze their butts off.
...at Hawaii. Really how stupid is this? You chose Hawaii?
they step out into Hawaii, not a frozen deadly radioactive wasteland covered in toxic rocks. Send robots, take pictures. Manned space "exploration" is nothing more than a stunt, it was never more, and never will be.
Bet they stink
The team consisted of a French astro-biologist, a German physicist and four Americans -- a pilot, an architect, a journalist and a soil scientist... ...
Ok, ok! i got one! A Catholic, A Jew, A Baptist, three Muslims and a Hindu walk into a bio-dome ....
Tuna? in Hawaii? They should have been eating Spam like all good Hawaiians do.
It would be interesting to know if the guys were keto adapted at the end. Fats have more than twice the energy of carbs and carbs for the same volume and weight can be synthesized from protein. So sending proteins and fats only will reduce the volume and weight of food supplies quite a bit. Canned tuna if there was no sugar is actually just that, but powdered protein requires even less storage. I can't find any word on that; does anyone know?
So you're saying that in order to perform an experiment to evaluate the psychological pressures of a year long mission to a different planet, we should just send 6 people on a year long mission to a different planet?
I don't think you've fully grasped the concept here.
Provisions included powdered cheese and canned tuna.
And the knowledge that if anything went wrong the "experiment" could be ended in a matter of minutes.
This is true of every simulation, of course. When a pilot flies a Boeing 777 simulator, they don't die if the simulator crashes. When the army does wargame exercises, the red team doesn't die when their side gets bombed. That's why they're called "simulations".
Hey don't knock it. This experiment didn't accomplish anything that will get us any closer to Mars. But it did accomplish its primary goal of getting NASA a week of good PR.
Since pretty much nobody-- outside of a few people who are already space fans-- has paid any attention at all to this, due to almost no NASA publicity whatsoever, I don't think that this was a major goal.
I'm not sure why they just ran the simulation for 1 year, though. It typically takes about 1.4 years for the planetary alignment needed for a return.
I wonder if VR might help with the privacy issue.
While you wouldn't actually be distanced from everyone else, a VR headset and noise cancelling headphones might be enough to get the feeling of having time to yourself.
Did anybody else notice the Doctor Who Tardis' door in of the pictures from the article's source?
Is the next step to run the exact same experiment in Antarctica?
FWIW, people die in military training exercises. Not just aircraft crashes either. My father was mechanized infantry and saw the results of a gruesome fatal accident in the field. Its nothing compared to war, but fatalities in the field, on the range, etc do occur. People in the military are quite well aware that mistakes in their "routine" activities can get people killed. A friend loaded ordinance on an aircraft for the navy, working on a carrier flight deck is considered one of the most hazardous jobs in the world.
FWIW, dehydrated food is much better today than when I was a kid decades ago. Of course, everything tastes better when hiking/camping. That may not hold true in lab experiments.
I think the Navy's experience with submarine crews would be most relevant, food needs to be excellent to prevent morale problems when isolated from the world for months at a time.
Plus the 16-19th century was full of many time long term boat trips in confined spaces.
Where officers were allowed to flog the crew to maintain order and work performance, even the occasional hanging of the truly unruly. I expect NASA wants a more relaxed environment.
Did they have powdered toast to put their powdered cheese on?
Nothing at all like Mars: check.
Fails to be in any way convenient for researchers and "support" projects: check
Justifies a lot of people going to Hawaii paid for by the US taxpayer: check
Well, I guess that's clear enough.
-Styopa
So basically, like being married with kids.
You are welcome on my lawn.
I think the cheese and tuna would probably suffice though. Now you know why they really wore the suits so much of the time.
Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
It would have been interesting throw in some stress events to see how they handle it. Cut off all outside communication and do not tell them how long it will be back on, say the water recycler is acting up so water is only for drinking now, have one crew member be a mole to sabotage things, eyc. It would not be ethical to push them to their breaking point, but would be fun to watch.
Pauly Shore already showed us how to do it in Biodome, and another group showed us how _not_ to do it in Biosphere 2.
I want to lie, Shipwrecked in-comatose
Drinking fresh mango juice
Gold fish shoals
Nibbling at my toes
Just because, Hawaii.
How would calcium carbonate scrub carbon [dioxide]? By forming calcium evenmorecarbonate?
In any case, scrubbing and oxygen production are two different things.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."