{"id":19097,"date":"2017-01-20T19:15:30","date_gmt":"2017-01-20T11:15:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/volunteer-crew-begins-an-eight-month-mission-on-hawaiis-make-believe-mars\/"},"modified":"2017-01-20T19:15:30","modified_gmt":"2017-01-20T11:15:30","slug":"volunteer-crew-begins-an-eight-month-mission-on-hawaiis-make-believe-mars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/volunteer-crew-begins-an-eight-month-mission-on-hawaiis-make-believe-mars\/","title":{"rendered":"Volunteer crew begins an eight-month mission on Hawaii\u2019s make-believe Mars"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"HI-SEAS
The terrain surrounding the HI-SEAS habitat on Mauna Loa looks like Mars. (Univ. of Hawaii Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Six volunteers \u2013 including two with connections to Washington state \u2013 have begun eight months of being cooped up in a Hawaii habitat that\u2019s meant to simulate life on Mars.<\/p>\n

The Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation project, known as HI-SEAS, is one of several long-running experiments that use earthly environments as a training ground for future Red Planet expeditions. This is the fifth simulated mission to be staged on the slopes of Mauna Loa on Hawaii\u2019s Big Island, 8,200 feet above sea level.<\/p>\n

The University of Hawaii at Manoa has conducted the simulations since 2012, thanks to $1.2 million in NASA funding. The best-known simulation lasted for a year and ended last August, paralleling the \u201cYear in Space\u201d mission conducted by NASA astronaut Scott Kelly on the International Space Station.<\/p>\n

NASA re-upped with a $1 million grant for Mission 5, plus Mission 6 in 2018.<\/p>\n

During the simulation mission, the volunteer crew will be confined to a 36-foot-wide geodesic dome, except when they don bulky mock spacesuits for treks across Mauna Loa\u2019s Mars-like terrain.<\/p>\n