On Monday, August 29, the HI-SEAS experiment which simulates living on Mars was completed in the U.S. It started one year ago, on August 28.

The Guardian reported about the end of the experiment. Six explorers have participated in this test: four of them are from the U.S., the fifth is from Germany, and the sixth is from France. The experiment was held on the slope of the Mauna Loa volcano located on the Hawaii island. This place was chosen due to its similarity with the landscape on Mars – even the ground looks like the surface of the Red Planet.

The scientists who took part in the experiment lived in a dome-shaped habitat in absolute isolation from the outer world. The experts were able to come out of the habitat only with space suits on them.

This project is the fourth mission of the HI-SEAS program. Three years ago, three groups of volunteers started to live in isolation: the first group spend 4 months away from civilization, and it took twice as long for the second group. The third Mars-500 mission was the longest one: it started 6 years ago and finished in November 2011. The participants of this mission, three Russians, one Chinese scientist and one European expert, spend 17 months in isolation.

The HI-SEAS project aims to study in detail the medical and physiological risks which a person can face during a journey to the Red Planet. This research will help the experts to elaborate appropriate solutions of such problems.

NASA plans to land on the Martian surface in the 2030s. Earlier, a contest was arranged for this mission in order to create a special robot which would be able to work on the Red Planet. Robonaut 5 will serve as a basis for the future device.