Inhabitants of Hawaiian dome complete year-long simulation of life on Mars

National Geographic : For the past year, six people have been living in a two-story dome, about 2500 meters up the slopes of Mauna Loa in Hawaii. The Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) project has been designed to simulate what life would be like on Mars, where the inhabitants would live for extended periods of time in close quarters with each other but isolated from the rest of humanity. The remote, rocky slope of Mauna Loa was chosen for its Mars-like features, and the dome’s inhabitants were required to wear a spacesuit when going outside. The most recent experiment was of the longest duration yet and featured a virtual-reality (VR) component that allowed participants to experience different environments and construct their own. From the data collected, scientists hope to determine the extent to which such VR capability could help alleviate the stress of deep-space missions.