Posted on 06/15/2015 12:30:15 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Six scientists who were living under a dome on the slopes of a dormant Hawaii volcano for eight months to simulate life on Mars have emerged from isolation.
The crew stepped outside the dome that's 8,000 feet (2,400 metres) up the slopes of Mauna Loa to feel fresh air on their skin on Saturday. It was the first time they left without donning a space suit.
The scientists are part of a human performance study funded by Nasa that tracked how they worked together as a team. They have been monitored by surveillance cameras, body movement trackers and electronic surveys.
...
The dome's volcanic location, silence and its simulated airlock seal provided an atmosphere similar to space. Looking out the dome's porthole windows, all the scientists could see were lava fields and mountains, said University of Hawaii professor Kim Binsted, principal investigator for the study, in a statement.
Spending eight months in a confined space with six people had its challenges, but crew members relieved stress doing team workouts and yoga. They were able to use a solar-powered treadmill and stationary bike, but only in the afternoons on sunny days.
"When you're having a good day its fine, it's fun. You have friends around to share in the enjoyment of a good day," Dunn said. "But if you have a bad day, it's really tough to be in a confined environment. You can't get out and go for a walk ... it's constantly witnessed by everyone."
The hardest part was being far away from family and missing events like her sister's wedding, for which she delivered a toast via video, Dunn said. "I'm glad I was able to be there in that way, but ... I just always dreamed of being there to help," she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Man you’re fast! And I was already looking.
No flats in Manchester were suitable?
LARPing by any other name.
Is that the first one (Biosphere II?)
I went there once with my kids- it was pretty amazing thing to see
They say they are always asked about how the crew got along and apparently it was not good- but they refused to say more except that NONE of them talk to each other any more...
It’s going to be a trip, in all senses of the word
Yes. You go to Mars, and likely with people you cannot stand. I wonder if they can vote each other “off the island”.
I'm headin' for the nudie bar!
- Al Bundy
It’s is from Biodome, a Pauly Shore movie poking fun at Biosphere. Generally regarded as one of the ten worst movies of all time.
Look, most people cannot be around family and extended family exclusively 24/7 for months without any breaks whatsoever. There are reasons why people need to get out of the house. There are reasons for work, for school, for running errands.
Why we would think strangers are going to do any better...
What the...? Shouldn't NASA be smart enough to figure out how to make human powered treadmills and stationary bicycles? Wouldn't a smart scientist actually recapture that expenditure as stored electrical power?
said Dunn, 27, a doctoral candidate at Purdue University. “We’ve been pretending for so long.”....Yes, Ms. Dunn, you have been pretending.
Shouldn’t NASA be smart enough to figure out how to make human powered treadmills and stationary bicycles?..I always thought the fat turd on top always powered it! Maybe we should call the power weenies.
Just think of it ..... you go to Disneyland/world, take the ride with the sinking seats on the rocketship, then be transported while in a drug-induced sleep to the Biosphere, wake up in your little cabin with a peculiar bicycle pin fastened to your clothing, go out of your cabin, and ask the stranger you see who they are. They reply ..............
“You are number Six!”
(large directable inflated Ball not included)
"Somebody get this man a cheeseburger!"
Its interesting as Biosphere failed as the biomass in the ground was pulling O2 out of the air.
They kept having to open the doors to keep the residents from dying.
I could NOT be a part of this experiment. Eight months later, they’d be opening the doors to find...me!
Makes my skin crawl just to think of it; trapped like a rat...
Monique: Russell, there’s beer cans in the trash in the kitchen. There’s beer cans in the trash in the bathroom. There’s beer cans in the trash in the basement. What does that say?
Russell: We’re out of beer?
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