NASA wants to send a manned mission to Mars by 2030. The agency will take its first steps by sending six people to test the boundaries of sustainable living on a Hawaiian volcano.
The group entered the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation dome (Hi-Seas) on Oct. 15, according to The Guardian. NASA and the University of Hawaii run the 36-foot diameter geodesic dome on the slopes of the Mauna Loa volcano, the second biggest volcano in the solar system.
The mission will last eight months and test living in confinement for an extended period of time. The group's leader Martha Lenio, a renewable energy entrepreneur, will also explore sustainable living under the toughest conditions.
"It's a very pared-down existence in space. You can only use the energy from the sun, the water that you bring with you, the food that you grow," Lenio told The Guardian. "On Earth it is so large and forgiving we forget that we have to live within our limits. And that's where I see the crossover between space and applications on Earth: if we can live like this in our space station it might be easier to do it on Earth."
