For the Mars simulation, Haney suggests NASA should monitor crew members for symptoms of depression, heightened irritability, moodiness, changes in sleep and eating patterns, and other warning signs. . And he encourages crew members to create routines that include social rituals to try to reduce feelings of isolation by connecting with the outside world, not just NASA control.
Anticipating the lack of disturbing sounds in the simulated Martian environment, Haston will bring videos of familiar locations and recordings of sounds and music that are meaningful to her. She also plans to use her meditations to deal with anxiety.
Chapea builds on previous Mars-like experiments, such as the NASA-funded Hi-SEAS simulation on the northern slopes of Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii. Hi-SEAS conducted six experiments from 2013 to 2018, but the last one was aborted after just four days when a crew member was electrocuted and taken to hospital.
Author Kate Green Once upon a time I lived on Mars, He was part of the original Hi-SEAS crew and lived in habitat for four months. (One of her crew members was Sian Proctor, a geoscientist and artist who later flew into orbit on SpaceX’s Inspiration 4.) Green believes these programs will help. “It’s the thoughtful, experimental design that makes them valuable,” she says. “I think the most important consideration is the human factor involved in long-term space missions. If anything goes wrong academically, it can be as disastrous as a rocket exploding.”
Ashley Kowalski, who participated in the eight-month Mars simulation called SIRIUS-21, run by NASA and the Russian, French and German space agencies, said it would also help future crews prepare psychologically in advance. talk. “You don’t really know how you’re going to react when a problem or situation arises until you put yourself in that environment,” she says.
After all, a real Mars mission would be much more difficult than any simulation on Earth. These astronauts need to worry about threats such as cosmic radiation, health effects of microgravity, lack of water, food, power and breathable air. And unlike chappea volunteers, crew members don’t quit easily when they get fed up.
But Huston also points to the positive side of this particular situation. “There’s a negative opinion that people bring up: ‘Four people are going to be nervous about each other.’ We’re going to be a great unit that can do that,” she says. “You guys are so dependent on each other and you’re going to be so close. It’s going to be great to see the results.”
