SIX ‘astronauts’ including a Scots academic have finally ‘returned to Earth’ after spending eight months re-enacting a mission to Mars.
Samuel Payler, a doctoral candidate at the UK Centre for Astrobiology at the University of Edinburgh, gave up most of the year to help Nasa in its mission to send humans to the Red Planet.
He was among five other researchers who entered a similated world to help Nasa determine the requirements for sending astronauts on long missions, including trips to Mars.
The HI-SEAS crew members. Mr Payler is third from left
The expedition in January earned him the title of the first person from the UK to take part in the US space agency-backed study to mimic life in outer space.
Mr Payler, along with three other men and two women, lived in a HI-SEAS (Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation) dome, 8,500 feet above sea level on the baron north slope of the Mauna Loa volcano - chosen as its terrain roughly resembles that of Mars .
Nasa hopes to be able to send humans to Mars by the 2030s and core of the project involved trying to discover what personal issues may arise between the ‘astronauts’ during a mission.
Mr Payler (centre) in the mission pod with colleagues
The data they gathered will help Nasa better pick crews that have certain traits and a better chance of doing well during a two-to-three year Mars expedition.
Despite having to wear hazmat suits to explore the outside of the dome and cooking with dehydrated food, the crew appeared to have enjoyed the experience.
Mr Payler, 28, said the volcanic surroundings made the mission more realistic, saying it had looked “pretty Martian”.
During the mission he said he made good use of “super-useful” earplugs while staying in his tiny sleeping quarters, saying the walls were “crazy thin”.
“You can hear everything, everyone moving around, so no matter how quiet your crew is, you still hear people rustling around,” he said during the mission. “It’s very useful to have earplugs, definitely. If anyone applies for this, bring earplugs with you, they are brilliant.”
Speaking of the possibility of sending humans to Mars, HI-SEAS specialist Laura Lark said: “Long-term space travel is absolutely possible.
“There are certainly technical challenges to be overcome. There are certainly human factors to be figured out, that’s part of what HI-SEAS is for. But I think that overcoming those challenges is just a matter of effort. We are absolutely capable of it.”
The 1,200 sq ft site has very little variation in weather, meaning longer-duration missions can take place compared with other locations.
It includes a kitchen, laboratory, bathroom and simulated airlock area.
The crew’s daily routine involved preparing food from shelf-stable ingredients including plenty of dried foods, exercise, scientific research and tracking use of resources such as food, power and water.
Communication with support crew on the outside world was allowed but a 20-minute delay was imposed on messages to imitate what the reception would be like between Earth and the red planet.
Mr Payler was the only Briton among the four men and two women who made the dome their home for most of this year.
His co-residents were Ansley Barnard, an engineer from Reno, Nevada; Laura Lark, a computer scientist who spent five years as a software engineer at Google; systems engineer Joshua Ehrlich; freelance researcher James Bevington; and Brian Ramos, a Portuguese-American who has a master’s degree in international space studies.
Mr Payler said before going that he was fully prepared for rows between the team “It’s inevitable we will have arguments,” he said.
“Managing conflict is going to be really important. Part of it is approaching this all professionally.”
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