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Scientists Enter Hawaii Dome In Eight-Month Mars Space Mission Study (reuters.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Six scientists have entered a dome perched atop a remote volcano in Hawaii where they will spend the next eight months in isolation to simulate life for astronauts traveling to Mars, the University of Hawaii said. 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. 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.
I'm truly impressed by how far some Americans are willing to go to escape a Trump presidency. ;)
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
20 minute delay? Not even close to accurate. Due to the different elliptical orbits of the Earth and Mars, the distance can vary between 55 million km and 400 million km, with a corresponding light-speed delay of 3 and 22 minutes respectively. Even at its average distance of 225 million km, the delay would be 12.5 minutes. It would sure be nice if the people who write these articles and posts actually took more than about 3 seconds to think about what they're writing. Sigh.
Two scientists enter, five scientists leave.
If you want to know what will happen, at the 6 month mark you have to tell them that the trajectory for mars orbit insertion is too dangerous, and they will need to take the free-return trip which is 18 months back, and the rationing of supplies and provisions has to start immediately. After they eat the second person, you tell the reaming crew that the Mars gravity assist was not completely successful and, while we're doing what we can to create a rendezvous rescue mission, there'a a 75% chance that they will miss Earth gravity capture on the return leg by more than the allowable and their trajectory following the miss will take them just beyond Venus' orbit, but that they will have to ensure excessive heat and will die slowly as they cook in the capsule.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
The gravity on Mars s 38% less than Earth.
Of course, you still have to take into account weightlessness on the trip to Mars but I think the iInternational Space Station has that covered. Considering that once you leave Earth magnetic field you are going to get allot of radiation from the sun so you need protection there. When you get to Mars the only safe place is underground or in radiation proof pressurized housing since the atmospheric pressure on Mars is about 0.6% of Earth 's at sea level.
A better test would be to go back to the moon and run your tests there and it would be a lot safer for the prospective astronauts but that does not have the "wow" factor.
There ain't no such thing as proprietary standards only proprietary formats. Standards are by definition open.
There are plenty of dry valleys in Antartica that have far more in common with Mars than Hawaii.
If the reasoning behind the choice of "Hawaii" is cost then.. yeah. That's an even better parallel then.
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Provided that these tests will succeed, I hope NASA will do the next step to the moon first, instead of Mars itself. This would also help in case anything goes wrong. I think, if we cannot make it again to the moon, we won't make it any farther!
Sent as ripples into the electromagnetic field. No single photon has been harmed in the process.
Don't you have better things to do, Mr. Trump?
NO ONE is going to the New World! The world is flat and it's impossible! What a waste of time and money!
Going to the moon doesn't have the "wow" factor of going to Hawaii?
You'll have no gravity. True isolation, and more of a climate that simulates space travel.
There are a few major differences with the real thing, which vastly change the psychological impact.
This seems to simulate life ON Mars, rather than travelling TO Mars. Big difference: on the journey there is far less to do than upon arrival on the red planet. Boredom is what gives rise to tensions, having (hopefully interesting) things to do is what keeps you happy.
The experiment lasts for 8 months, doesn't a (mostly boring) return trip take longer than that?
There is ALWAYS the option of bailing out halfway. Yes, sure, it's forbidden and so, but the option is there. The people in the dome know that. If they really want, if someone gets really sick with some life-threatening condition, they WILL be taken out. In the event of a real trip to Mars, that option just isn't there. There is no help around the corner, it is not simulated far away, it's really far away. Knowing that you are committed is a whole different thing than knowing you can make it stop, even if it is only in really extreme situations.
The simulation is a limited time, and a well known limited time. Participants can count down to the day they're released, and know when the torture wills top. That makes it much easier to deal with than the one-way trip as suggested by Mars One.
The above are all things that I know can not be practically or even ethically be done on Earth. It may make a huge difference, though, when a manned Mars mission would actually take place. How people really deal with the above is not sure. One of the main things may be how to deal with emergencies, especially the part where you know that you can never summon help - I mean just look at how people fall over one another about the idea of movie theatres jamming mobile phones, potentially blocking people from making emergency calls until they walk out of the theatre!
Although it is annoying that they stopped at one series.
it sounds like a great weight loss plan. maybe I should sign up.
Nullius in verba
Somebody tries to dodge the "unwanted pregnancy" thing, i guess ;-)
I hope they checked to make sure Pauly Shore and Stephen Baldwin hadn't stowed away before sealing the dome.
Seriously, we should have Bigelow set up with several BA-330, along with a small nuke reactor to provide power.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
They should send in Pauly Shore just for fun. You know, just to see what would happen. (look up the movie Biodome if you're confused).
1,200 sq ft = 11.4 sq m
1,200 ft = 365 m
It seem sBeauHD was confused.
1,200 sq ft = 111.4 sq m
1,200 ft = 365 m
It seem BeauHD was confused.