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PARIS: A team of six NASA scientists begin a 365-day isolation experiment simulating life on Mars. How soon will a crewed mission be a reality?
On Friday, a team of six sealed themselves inside a dome for a year, all in the name of science. Or at least, in the name of Mars.
The three men and three women, all scientists, are attempting to simulate what life would be like during a Mars mission. During the NASA-funded experiment, they will spend 365 days inside a 36-foot-wide, 20-foot tall-dome on the northern slope of Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano.
“The HI-SEAS site presents a remarkably high-fidelity environment for this type of long-duration space study,” said UH Mānoa’s Kim Binsted, the principal investigator for HI-SEAS III, in a NASA press release. “Looking out the single porthole window, all you can see are lava fields and Mauna Kea in the distance. Once the door is closed, and the faux airlock sealed, the silence and physical separation contribute to the ‘long way from home’ experience of our crew members.”
