I worried a bit about the food that we would have here on Mars in the lead up to the mission.

“I”m the navigator, I have a right to know where I’m going!”

NASA has awarded $1.2 million to the Hawaiʻi Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) program to continue its work studying the human factors that contribute to astronaut crew function and performance during long-duration space travels, such as those anticipated for a manned mission to Mars.

HI-SEAS Commander Angelo Vermeulen talks about the lessons learned during the 120-day simulation of a human settlement on Mars.

It’s hard to believe, but this experience is almost over. This was really driven home today, as some of the crewmembers started packing their personal belongings. All we have left is one weekend, which will be filled with wrapping up personal research activities, and Monday, which will probably be very hectic with all the packing, inventorying, and tidying up the habitat.

One of my research goals at HI-SEAS is to take spherical panoramas of various parts of the hab in thermal infrared (or what one of my friends calls “Predator vision”) at various parts of the day.

We discovered a lot of lava tube skylights of all shapes and sizes near our habitat, and were actually able to enter one of them on a recent EVA. I thought I’d give a summary of that EVA here, along with lots of photos we took along the way.

One of the many hats I wear on this mission is that of the Crew Geologist. My other roles include Health & Safety Officer, Information and Communications Technology Officer, EVA Planner, and Thermographer. That will probably be typical on future planetary exploration missions: due to the small crew size, each crewmember would be expected to carry out a diverse set of tasks, with some being outside of their primary specialty.

When considered as a separate environment, the habitat is in itself a system that can be modelled via complex system theory. However it is not a simple mathematical exercise. The habitat is linked to the real world, and follows the laws of physics. Knowing this, has allowed me to foresee the patterns that would be prevalent in this mission.

CO2 Levels were monitored again today with a similar pattern seen before where the CO2 levels would spike in the morning.