Group to be in isolation for a year as preparation for Mission to Mars
Posted on: 31/Aug/2015 9:45:14 AM
A group of six NASA recruits will undergo a program in which they will be completely isolated for a year. This exercise is to simulate life on Mars and prepare them for a mission to the nearest planet to Earth. The group include a French astro-biologist, a German physicist and a pilot, an architect, a doctor and a soil scientist, all from America. They will live in a solar powered dome in Hawaii. This dome is only 11 meters wide in diameter and six meters in height.
A mission to Mars is expected to take anywhere between a year and 3 years. The group will get a small sleeping cot and a desk each. Their food will consist of powdered cheese and canned tuna, among others. One of the participants tweeted, `First dinner in simulated space: the cheese & turkey quesadilla & all the veggies were all dehydrated 30 min ago`, along with a photo of the meal. They will have access to the internet, albeit limited. If they want to venture outside, they will be required to wear a space suit.
An official of the University of Hawaii said, `The longer each mission becomes, the better we can understand the risks of space travel. We hope that this mission will build on our current understanding of the social and psychological factors involved in long-duration space exploration and give NASA solid data on how best to select and support a flight crew that will work cohesively as a team while in space.`
