From the mauna to the moon — and maybe Mars

Astronauts from Apollo missions 13 through 17 — launched in 1970 and ‘72, respectively — trained on Hawaii island. So, it’s fitting that potential crew members for a trip to Mars are simulating space exploration there, too.

Both have staged exercises at remote volcano sites, with Apollo crews navigating a “moon buggy” vehicle and scooping dirt on Mauna Kea, and HI-SEAS (Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation project) confining a series of crews to a dome-like tent on Mauna Loa for several months at a time. The latest HI-SEAS crew will emerge into the open air this weekend. If all goes well, NASA could be sending astronauts to the red planet as soon as the 2030s.

A new way to buy medical marijuana

Taking the cash out of cannabis is a complicated business.

Banks and credit card companies won’t touch transactions involving marijuana, recreational or medicinal, because the plant is an illegal drug under federal law.

But Hawaii’s fledgling medical cannabis industry got a boost from the state’s affiliation with a Colorado credit union, which will provide limited financial services for Hawaii’s cannabis dispensaries.

Customers will be able to use a mobile app called CanPay to conduct cashless transactions. Let’s hope this makes the local industry safer and transactions more transparent.