In
What
How
How
Sky ’ s Up the simulation , and potentially on Mars itself , what techniques of food production would be most efficient ? What limitations were there on what you could grow in HI-SEAS ?
was the hardest task you had to complete during you mission , and what was the hardest part of being isolated from the rest of the world for so long ?
did you cope with boredom while “ living on Mars ”? What did you do for recreation ? What foods did you miss ?
When you work where you live , there often isn ’ t enough time to be bored ! My best days were when I had a mix of exercise , quiet down time and social time with my crew . I tried to do many different things to fight the lack of stimulus in the habitat . I read ( often the Discworld series ), sang , learned ukulele , practiced French , cooked , practiced photography and kept a blog . I missed fresh produce the most . I remember our first harvest of cherry tomatoes ; I ate ¼ of a tiny tomato and my mouth felt like it was in heaven . is this mission preparing people to go to Mars ? What is the most important skill needed to survive on Mars ?
5
In
6
What
7
How
8
How
Sky ’ s Up the simulation , and potentially on Mars itself , what techniques of food production would be most efficient ? What limitations were there on what you could grow in HI-SEAS ?
Efficiency always has trade-offs . Is minimizing mass and volume most important ? Or using little water ? It ’ s hard to say what will be best for a Martian mission . For my crew , plant growth was both an experiment and a hobby ; efficiency wasn ’ t always the aim . We had a range of methods from detailed trials in the Veggie system where the mass of water , soil and plants were tracked to traditional potting under growth lights . We were able to grow great food like lettuce , cabbage , beans , peas and herbs , but it was only enough to supplement our shelf-stable diet . We were limited on growth time since our plants were started from seed and we didn ’ t have much space available ; we grew plants wherever we could fit them and find light for them , usually under the stairs or in a storage area .
was the hardest task you had to complete during you mission , and what was the hardest part of being isolated from the rest of the world for so long ?
The most difficult group tasks were our geology research projects . We had many throughout the mission and it ’ s difficult to coordinate six people for field work , data analysis and report writing . It was often extremely physically demanding -- we had to hike out to geology features to record information and were stumbling in bulky EVA suits over sharp a ’ a lava flows for several hours in hot sun . It ’ s also tough to research new topics without direct access to the internet or libraries . Most things are really time consuming if you have to make a request over the delayed communications network , and that quickly becomes frustrating . On a personal level , being away from my fiancé during the mission was the most difficult , and we had to deal with the same communication limits .
did you cope with boredom while “ living on Mars ”? What did you do for recreation ? What foods did you miss ?
When you work where you live , there often isn ’ t enough time to be bored ! My best days were when I had a mix of exercise , quiet down time and social time with my crew . I tried to do many different things to fight the lack of stimulus in the habitat . I read ( often the Discworld series ), sang , learned ukulele , practiced French , cooked , practiced photography and kept a blog . I missed fresh produce the most . I remember our first harvest of cherry tomatoes ; I ate ¼ of a tiny tomato and my mouth felt like it was in heaven . is this mission preparing people to go to Mars ? What is the most important skill needed to survive on Mars ?
Directly , my mission is helping us learn how to compose a crew of people that will thrive despite the massive difficulties of isolation and long mission duration . We ’ re also supporting research on the ways we gather information from astronauts . A body sensor or journaling exercise might tell us more than a questionnaire about someone ’ s emotional health and be less invasive , too . I believe empathy and adaptability were the critical skills to thriving at HI-SEAS and would be in any mission . We will never know exactly the conditions we ’ ll face on Mars before we get there , so working well with your flight and ground crews through the unknown will be essential .
15