Six Mars ‘Explorers’ Return To Earth After Year In Isolation

Monotony was biggest challenge

Six people who went into isolation for a year in Hawaii to help NASA plan for a mission to Mars emerged Sunday, happy to breathe fresh air an eat fresh food again. The team was based on a barren slope inside a dome that 11 meters in diameter and six feet tall. “I think the technological and psychological obstacles can be overcome,” Cyprien Verseux said after emerging from the Hawaiian Mars. Fellow crew member Christiane Heinicke added she was amazed she could draw water from the “little greenhouse construct” in their simulated environment. Click here for more on this story.

photo: Zak Wilson (University of Hawaii at Manoa)