The longest US isolation experiment yet is about to begin in Hawaii, as six people prepare for a year-long stay in an isolation dome that will simulate life on Mars.
Mars Scientific illustration
The dome measures 36 feet in diameter and 20 feet in height, and is located on a barren slope of Mauna Loa. Each crew member will have their own small room, equipped with a sleeping cot and a desk. They will only be able to go outside while wearing a spacesuit, and their access to the internet will be limited. They will also eat powdered and canned food, as astronauts typically do.
The crew includes four Americans - a pilot, an architect, a soil scientist, and a doctor/journalist - one German physicist and a French astrobiologist. They will officially start their 12-month mission at 3:00pm Hawaii time on Friday (01:00 GMT Saturday).
The experiment aims to help NASA better understand the risks of space travel in preparation for future journeys to Mars, and is part of the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) programme.
"We hope that this upcoming 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," principal investigator Kim Binsted told the University of Hawaii News.
The space agency estimates that a human mission to mars will take between one and three years, and is using the HI-SEAS programme to study the conflicts that arise from isolation in a cramped space (without access to fresh air, food, privacy, or loved ones), and how these situations play out on Earth.
NASA is spending millions of dollars on these simulations, but Binsted insists that it is "cheap" for space research: "It is really inexpensive compared to the cost of a space mission going wrong." She said that results from the missions should be made public about a year from now.
NASA hopes to reach Mars sometime in the 2030s.