What is HI-SEAS?

On the last day of 2013, Dr. Kim Binsted announced that I would be participating in the next 4-month HI-SEAS mission. HI-SEAS stands for the Hawai’i Space Exploration Analog and Simulation, which is a research study focussed on discovering strategies for future astronauts travelling to Mars.

Here is a description of the upcoming HI-SEAS mission from the HI-SEAS application page:

The upcoming missions are focused on evaluating the social, interpersonal, and cognitive factors that affect team performance over time. Researchers from outside of the space analog habitat will monitor each mission to evaluate the communications strategies, crew work load and job sharing, and conflict resolution / conflict management approaches that contribute to the success of a long-duration mission.

Like the astronaut mission specialists they will represent, each participant will be expected to bring a significant research project or other scholarly work of his or her own to complete while inside the space analog habitat – for instance, biological or geological field research, engineering design and technology evaluation, scholarly writing, or artistic endeavors compatible with the limitations of small living quarters in an isolated location with limited internet bandwidth.

Subjects will be compensated for their participation and for associated travel and housing costs. Successful applicants will be placed into a pool from which researchers will assemble three well-balanced teams for the various study periods.

For the last two weeks I’ve been looking at the world with an entirely different perspective. What will I bring with me? What will I do in my spare time? How will I digest the news from the outside world?

I will be updating this page with more news as it arrives, so if you’re interested in the project, check out the HI-SEAS website and some of the articles written during last year’s mission.

(Photo credit: Angelo Vermeulen)