KEEPING THEM ALIVE AND SANE

The view from the slopes of Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano at 8,200 feet above sea level is picturesque.

And you’re also closer to Mars. That setting is home base for HI-SEAS, standing for Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation mission. Since 2012 this project has been funded by NASA’s Human Research Program. Multiple universities are taking part in the endeavor too.

The cozy HI-SEAS habitat offers some 13,000 cubic feet of habitable space. It comes complete with a usable floor space of approximately 1,200 square feet. There are small sleeping quarters for a crew of six, along with a kitchen, laboratory, bathroom, simulated air lock, and work areas. A large solar array unit located south of the habitat powers the facility. A backup hydrogen fuel cell generator is nearby as well.

Even on Mars, this domicile would have curb appeal.

Billed as the longest NASA-funded Mars simulation in history, the first one-year isolation mission for HI-SEAS places it in the company of a small group of analogs that are capable of operating very long duration missions (eight months and longer) in an out-of- the-way and confined environment. A team of approximately 40 volunteers from around the world serves as HI-SEAS mission support, interacting with the crew through imposed one-way 20-minute communications — a restriction devised to mimic the ambience of Mars life more closely.

Exploration tasks by crew members include space-suited geological fieldwork saunters outside the habitat.

Primarily the project is examining crew composition and cohesion, gaining experiences that those on a planetary surface exploration mission will face. Studies target the psychological and psychosocial factors that help ensure highly effective teams for self-directing, long-duration space outings in the future.

“Basically, we’re looking into how to keep them alive and sane . . . not wanting to kill each other in a long Mars mission,” says Kim Binsted, the HI-SEAS project principal investigator and professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa campus. It’ll take a while to uncover results, but one preliminary item is not unexpected. “On long-duration missions there’s always going to be conflict. It’s really not avoidable,” she counsels, be it from leadership squabbles to someone just stomping off in a huff over missing favorite food.

So how best can a Mars team have the ability to recover from conflicts, then come back and maintain a high level of performance? That’s part of the HI-SEAS research agenda. “There’s no going out for a beer,” says Binsted. “There’s no leaving each other alone for six months. You can’t do avoidance . . . that’s not an option.”

Another problem is crew-ground disconnect, Binsted adds. It comes about partly due to time delay in communications. That factor ties into faraway crews’ having autonomy. People on Mars will have more control over what they do on a day-to- day basis. That’s a far cry from the circumstances crew members see on the International Space Station. “Their daily schedule is defined down to the minute, and everything goes by ground control. On a Mars mission that just won’t work . . . it won’t happen,” she stresses.

Binsted explains that HI-SEAS crews are testing equipment, evaluating protocols, even evaluating communications software concepts. No twiddling thumbs and being simply classed as guinea pigs, she notes, with NASA keen on acquiring early warnings on what can go wrong on a Mars mission. The space agency has oodles of risk categories. Some are colored green meaning under control; yellow might be a problem but it’s a small chance difficulty or not high-impact trouble; a red risk is a showstopper and needs addressing.

“A subset of those red risks can be tackled with Mars analog studies. That’s what we’re trying to do . . . move those red risks over to the other columns,” Binsted points out. Time is on their side at HI-SEAS.

They are scoping out an eight-month mission starting in January 2017, followed by another eight-month workout in January 2018.

Binsted notes that each analog has strengths and weaknesses. “We’re in a very physically Mars-like environment. On the flip side, if your study is about a feeling of mortal danger, we don’t have that. Our crews know that we can get them to a hospital pretty fast if need be. If you want mortal danger go to Antarctica.”

How does it feel, being a principal investigator on HI-SEAS?

“It’s kind of stressful, I have to say. My phone stays on 24/7,” Binsted replies. “I wake up sometimes worried about something wrong with the habitation module or the volcano decided to erupt. Knock on wood . . . nothing like that has happened. It’s personally stressful and it’s stressful for the crew too, as it is meant to be. But as we like to say, it’s all data.”

ONLY SO MUCH LIKE MARS

Today, wannabe Martians are working here on Earth in analog sites that approximate Mars. But no place on our planet presents the weather, geology, atmospheric conditions, and other challenges humans must surmount on the Red Planet. Mars is a maverick world. It has the land area of all the continents of the Earth put together — a place of huge canyons, sand dunes, and towering mountains. Yes, that all adds up to a visual feast — but also treacherous terrain. Tumbling boulders, collapsing lava tubes, and ice caves, as well as Martian windstorms, add up to dangers that Mars explorers will come across.

Supporting the first humans from Earth in the unearthly scenery that is Mars is a work in progress.

Engineers are busily sketching out what home base on Mars might look like. Initial habitats are likely to be meager live-in affairs.

Over time, however, use of three-dimensional printing and fabrication technology could shape an early home base, and the Mars neighborhood will soon be expanding.