Hawaii, Big Island. A dome in the crater of volcano Mauna Loa becomes the Martian home of six researchers during an eight-month-long mission called HI-SEAS (Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation). The purpose of the mission is to monitor the human psychological response to confinement in an unearthly environment, in perspective of the launch of scientific trips to Mars involving human beings.
During the whole time of the HI-SEAS mission, financed by NASA and organized by the University of Hawaii at Manoa, the researchers exit the dome only wearing space suits with oxygen ventilation, and they’re able to communicate with the rest of the world exclusively through emails and prerecorded voice messages, sent and received with a 20 minute-delay to simulate the real Mars-Earth communication gap.This temporary mission naturally triggers broader questions, related to the meaning of human exploration to other planets.
What is humanity far from Earth? Faced with a chance to start from scratch, would we repeat the same mistakes?
Martha Lenio, commander of the NASA human performance study Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS), is portrayed wearing a spacesuit outside of the dome where she spent eight months of confinement together with other five researchers in the crater of the volcano Mauna Loa, Hawaii, Big Island. The purpose of the mission is to monitor the psychological response of human beings in condition of isolation in an unearthly environment, in perspective of the launch of scientific trips to Mars involving the presence of human beings of the planet. Lenio is the first woman ever in NASA history to command this kind of mission. June 13, 2015.
A landscape with a dormant crater and a satellite is photographed from the top of volcano Mauna Kea, about a million years old, which raises 13,796 ft above sea level. Hawaii, Big Island. June 16, 2015.
Jocelyn Dunn, crew of the NASA-financed human performance study called HI-SEAS, (Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation) adjusts her spacesuit for a walk outside of the dome where she spent eight months in confinement together with other five researchers in the crater of the volcano Mauna Loa, Hawaii, Big Island. During the HI-SEAS mission, whose purpose was to monitor the psychological response of human beings in condition of isolation in an unearthly environment, in perspective of the launch of scientific trips to Mars, Dunn monitored habitat systems data and developed analytics for optimizing crew schedules and mission performance. June 16, 2015.
Giant telescopes are photographed on volcano Mauna Kea. The volcano, whose summit lies 13,796 ft above sea level, is considered a suited place to look at the stars, and it hosts thirteen giant telescopes. Protests led by the native Hawaiian have sparked against the construction of a fourteenth giant telescope on the volcano, which would be the most sophisticated in the world, costing $1.4 billion. The telescope would be called TMT (Thirty Meter Telescope) because its primary mirror would be 30 meters across. The natives’ motivations to protest are linked to the sacred nature of the land and to the polluting agents, mercury among them, used to clean the telescopes and easily penetrating into the acquires. Hawaii, Big Island. June 16, 2015.
Researcher Jocelyn Dunn is portrayed walking for the first time in a spacesuit but without a helmet after the end of a mission which saw her confined in a dome where she lived for eight months together with other other five researchers in the crater of the volcano Mauna Loa, Hawaii, Big Island. During the confinement, Dunn and the rest of the crew would adventure out of the dome only wearing full suits with internal oxygen ventilation. The purpose of the HI-SEAS mission (Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation) was to monitor the psychological response of human beings in condition of isolation in an unearthly environment, in perspective of the launch of scientific trips to Mars involving the presence of human beings of the planet. June 16, 2015.
On of the entrances of a dome where where six researchers have been living for eight months in confinement is photographed in a crater of volcano Mauna Loa. The researchers are part of a NASA human performance study called HI-SEAS (Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation). Big Island, Hawaii. The purpose of the mission is to monitor the psychological response of human beings in condition of isolation in an unearthly environment, in perspective of the launch of scientific trips to Mars involving the presence of human beings of the planet. June 13, 2015.
Chairs are photographed on volcano Mauna Loa on the day when six researchers who lived eight months of confinement in a dome came out of it for the end of the HI-SEAS (Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation) mission, whose purpose is to monitor the psychological response of human beings in condition of isolation in an unearthly environment, in perspective of the launch of scientific trips to Mars involving the presence of human beings of the planet. June 13, 2015.
Space suits are photographed inside the dome on volcano Mauna Loa, where six researchers have been living for eight months in isolation for the NASA human performance study Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation. During the months of isolation the researchers can leave the dome only for brief excursions, wearing the spacesuits with a helmet and oxygen supply. The purpose of the HI-SEAS mission is to monitor the psychological response of human beings in condition of isolation in an unearthly environment, in perspective of the launch of scientific trips to Mars involving the presence of human beings of the planet. Hawaii, Big Island.
Researcher Jocelyn Dunn is protrayed looking out of the dome where she’s been living for eight months together with other other five researchers in the crater of the volcano Mauna Loa, Hawaii, Big Island. During the confinement, Dunn and the rest of the crew would adventure out of the dome only wearing full suits with internal oxygen ventilation. The purpose of the HI-SEAS mission (Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation) was to monitor the psychological response of human beings in condition of isolation in an unearthly environment, in perspective of the launch of scientific trips to Mars involving the presence of human beings of the planet. June 16, 2015.
A landscape whose ground looks similar to the one that can be found on planet Mars is photographed on volcano Mauna Kea. Hawaii, Big Island.
Slopes of volcano Mauna Kea are seen through the glass window of a star observatory on the mountain. Hawaii, Big Island. June 10, 2015.
A star observatory is photographed on volcano Mauna Kea, Hawaii, Big Island.
A salt cellar in the shape of an astronaut is photographed inside the dome where six researchers spent eight months in confinement for a NASA-financed mission called HI-SEAS (Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation) the crater of the volcano Mauna Loa, Hawaii, Big Island. The purpose of the mission is to monitor the psychological response of human beings in condition of isolation in an unearthly environment, in perspective of the launch of scientific trips to Mars involving the presence of human beings of the planet. June 14, 2015.
A giant telescope is photographed on volcano Mauna Kea. The volcano, whose summit lies 13,796 ft above sea level, is considered a suited place to look at the stars, and it hosts thirteen giant telescopes. Protests led by the native Hawaiian have sparked against the construction of a fourteenth giant telescope on the volcano, which would be the most sophisticated in the world, costing $1.4 billion. The telescope would be called TMT (Thirty Meter Telescope) because its primary mirror would be 30 meters across. The natives’ motivations to protest are linked to the sacred nature of the land and to the polluting agents, mercury among them, used to clean the telescopes and easily penetrating into the acquires. Hawaii, Big Island. June 16, 2015.
