Crew Selected for ‘Mission to Mars’

HI-SEAS geodesic dome atop Mauna Loa on Hawaiʻi Island. Courtesy photo.

Research studies have been confirmed and the crew has been selected for the 2017 mission of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Hawaiʻi Space Exploration Analog and Simulation  (HI-SEAS).

At approximately 3:30 p.m. on Jan.19, 2017, six astronaut-like crew members will enter a geodesic dome atop Mauna Loa on Hawaiʻi Island as part of an eight-month research study of human behavior and performance.

The NASA-funded project aims to help determine the individual and team requirements for long-duration space exploration missions including travel to Mars.

HI-SEAS principal investigator and UH Mānoa Professor Kim Binsted is proud of the project’s contribution to understanding human behavior and performance in space.

“Since 2012, HI-SEAS has been contributing to NASA’s plans for long-duration space exploration,” said Binsted. “We are an international collaboration of crew, researchers and mission support, and I’m proud of the part we play in helping reduce the barriers to a human journey to Mars.”

During the eight-month HI-SEAS Mission V, the crew will perform exploration tasks such as geological fieldwork and life systems management. The isolated and confined conditions of the mission, including 20-minutes of delayed communication and partial self-sufficiency, have been designed to be similar to those of a planetary surface exploration mission.

Daily routines will include food preparation from only shelf-stable ingredients, exercise, research and fieldwork aligned with NASA’s planetary exploration expectations.

Under the watchful eye of the research team and supported by experienced mission control, the crew will participate in eight primary and three opportunistic research studies.

The NASA-funded primary research will be conducted by scientists from across the U.S. and Europe who are at the forefront of their fields.

The primary behavioral research includes a shared social behavioral task for team building, continuous monitoring of face-to-face interactions with sociometric badges, a virtual reality team-based collaborative exercise to predict individual and team behavioral health and performance and multiple stress, cognitive countermeasure and monitoring studies.

Ansley Barnard. UH HI-SEAS photo.

Brian Ramos. UHHI-SEAS photo.

Jay Bevington. UH HI-SEAS photo.

Joshua Ehrlich. UHHI-SEAS photo.

Laura Lark. UH HI-SEAS photo.

Sam Payler. UH HI-SEAS photo.