Becca Browder, The Mars Generation blog editor and writer
The Mars Generation is excited to announce that we’re doing a feature of the HI-SEAS Mars Analog Mission! Our blog editor and writer, Becca Browder, will conduct an interview with the crew that includes questions submitted by The Mars Generation members, a perk offered to members only.
The Hawai’i Space Exploration and Analog Simulation (HI-SEAS) project is a NASA-funded research program operated by the University of Hawai’i in which crew members live in isolation for a long-duration mission with conditions simulating those of an actual mission to Mars. The crew experiences a simulated 20-minute communications delay, lives in the 1,200-square-foot habitat, and goes outside only while wearing mock spacesuits. Led by UH Mānoa professor Kim Binsted, the mission’s purpose is to study crew selection and the effects of long-term isolation on teams.
Four crews have previously completed missions at the site on Mauna Loa in Hawai’i, and now the six crew members of Mission V are nearing the end of their eight-month mission. We solicited questions from our members and selected a few of these to include in the interview. The crew gathered together to answer the questions as a group.
Come back to watch the whole interview and see what it’s like to live on “Mars”!
Meet the Crew
Originally posted by the University of Hawai’i News
The HI-SEAS Mars Analogue Mission crew before entering the habitat on Mauna Loa in Hawai’i on January 19, 2017. (L to R) Joshua Ehrlich, Laura Lark, Sam Payler, Brian Ramos, Jay Bevington and Ansley Barnard. Photo courtesy of the University of Hawai’i.
Ansley Barnard is an engineer from Reno, Nevada who has worked for NASA and Boeing on advanced composite structures and has designed aerodynamic bodywork for cars racing in the 100th Indy 500. She has a BS in aeronautics and astronautics from the University of Washington. Prior to HI-SEAS, she worked in engineering optimization for Ford Motor Company.
James Bevington is a freelance researcher with a passion for space. He has a BSC from the University of Tennessee, an MSc from the University of Georgia and an MSc from the International Space University. Prior to HI-SEAS he was a visiting researcher at International Space University and a consultant for Northwestern University.
Joshua Ehrlich is a systems engineer for Lockheed Martin working on test and verification of the Orion European Service Module. He has a BS in aerospace engineering from the University of Florida and an MS in mechanical engineering from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. His previous work experience includes integration and testing on both the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Veggie and Advanced Plant Habitat payloads at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre.
Laura Lark is a computer scientist who grew up on a small farm in unincorporated Whatcom County, Washington. She has a BS in computer science from Brown University and, prior to joining the HI-SEAS crew, spent five years as a software engineer at Google working on search serving and indexing infrastructure.
Samuel Payler is a doctoral candidate at the UK Centre for Astrobiology, University of Edinburgh. He has been involved with a number of analog programs including NASA’s BASALT program, the MINAR project and BISAL which is the world’s first deep subsurface astrobiology laboratory. He has an MSci from the University of Birmingham and prior to HI-SEAS was researching life in hypersaline deep subsurface environments.
Brian Ramos is a Portuguese-American with dual engineering degrees in biomedical and electrical engineering. He also has a master’s degree in international space studies from the International Space University. Prior to joining HI-SEAS his professional experience included project work at NASA’s Johnson Space Centre and work with Engineering World Health to repair media equipment in Rwanda.
