In the United States ends a long experiment simulating a flight to Mars
The next experiment will begin in Hawaii in January 2018. It is expected that it will take part Russian.
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WASHINGTON, September 16. /Offset. TASS Dmitry Kirsanov/. Long science experiment, simulating the flight conditions of Mars, will be completed in the USA on Sunday.
For eight months, five volunteers from the USA and one from UK lived in almost complete isolation from the outside world in the Hawaiian Islands in a special complex on the slopes of a dormant volcano of Mauna Loa, vaguely reminiscent of the landscape of Mars. It was already the fifth such experiment at this facility, sponsored by the University of Hawaii and funded by the National Board of the USA on Aeronautics and research of space administration (NASA).
Scientific project Manager Kim Binsted on Friday promised first and foremost to feed released into the fresh air of the participants of ripe pineapple, papaya, mango, local vegetables and a casserole of eggs, bread and cheese own cooking. Binsted is a Professor at the University of Hawaii, specialist in the development of artificial intelligence.
Four men and two women
The team of scientists, selected by competition from 700 applicants to participate in the current project included four men and two women. Experts from NASA and the University of Hawaii expect that the experiment will help to prepare the first manned flight to Mars, which the US space Agency hopes to implement in 2030-ies.
Experts have decided due to the experiment of medical and psychological problems experienced by the crew of the ship departing on a long journey into deep space.
To this end, the participants of the experiment in Hawaii implemented a very sophisticated program of scientific research, being under constant surveillance. Scientists followed their subjects through cameras installed inside the complex, and various sensors mounted on their body.
Housing participants in the experiment was a two-storey building with a total area of 111,5 sq. m, located at an altitude of 2.6 km above sea level on the slopes of the volcano, which last erupted in 1984. The building has a dome shape with a height of 7 m, and its diameter is 12 m. the first floor science lab and storeroom, the second small bedrooms. The dome is translucent and not sealed.