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UH seeks volunteers for simulated space mission on Mauna Loa

KRYSTLE MARCELLUS / KMARCELLUS@STARADVERTISER.COM
The 36-foot-diameter vinyl HI-SEAS dome was well equipped and located on a patch of volcanic rock toward the summit of Mauna Loa. Sian Proctor describes the process of rehydrating foods.

University of Hawaii researchers are looking for volunteers to act as crewmembers for a new series of space exploration analog studies scheduled to take place in an isolated research dome on Mauna Loa.

The studies will test whether group cohesion over the short term predicts team performance over the long term. They will also examine how technical, social and task roles evolve over long-duration missions and establish baselines for a variety of cognitive, social and emotions factors over missions of different durations.

The information gleaned from these studies will assist NASA in understanding how teams of astronauts will perform on long-duration missions such as those required for human travel to Mars.

The studies will be conducted a the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation site located on Mauna Loa. Participants will live in the same geodesic dome habitat previously used for a NASA-funded Mars food study.

Missions will range from four months to 12 months.

Applicants must be between 21 and 65 years of age, tobacco free and able to pass a Class 2 flight physical examination. Applicants must also be fluent in English. The deadline for applications is Nov. 1.

For all full explanation of requirements and instructions for application, please visit http://hi-seas.org.

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