Want to live on Mars?

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR BIG ISLAND STUDY ON RED PLANET, FOOD

BY JOHN BURNETT

STEPHENS MEDIA

jburnett@hawaii.rr.com

HILO — What would it be like to live on Mars?

Researchers from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and Cornell University are seeking people to participate in a study aimed at developing foods that astronauts would eat on a mission to the red planet. The study will be conducted on the Big Island early next year.

“Essentially, what we’re doing is taking a crew of six people, (including) two alternates, sticking them in a habitat for four months, and trying to determine what food systems work best for them and keep them best fed,” said Kim Binsted, UH associate professor of information and computer sciences and a co-investigator for the NASA-funded project.

Binsted said several sites are being considered on the Mauna Loa side of Saddle Road.

“We’re being very careful that we find somewhere that meets our needs and is not environmentally or culturally sensitive,” she explained.

Candidates should be between the ages of 21 and 65 and researchers are seeking participants with qualifications similar to those required by NASA for prospective astronauts.

“We’re trying to get people who are as astronaut-like as possible, both in strengths and weaknesses,” Binsted said. “NASA tends to look for people with experience in a complex operational environment.”

Participants will be paid a $25 daily stipend plus a bonus when they finish the study, which will require them to live 120 days in a module similar to the one NASA might use in a future Mars mission.

“The habitat itself is a portable, low-impact, small-scale habitat. It’s going to be about 800 square feet or so,” she said. “The habitat’s not going to be pressurized, but it will have similar floor space and personal space as one might expect on an actual mission.”

Since there is gravity on Mars’ surface, there will be a basic kitchen in the module, a departure from the way astronauts currently eat on missions, with individual, pre-prepared meals that are heated or reconstituted.

“There’s been a lot of anecdotal evidence that there’s some change in the way people taste things in space,” Binsted said. “Astronauts use a lot more hot sauce, for example. They really like to spice things up in space. Even food that they say doesn’t taste bland on the ground, for some reason, seems to once they get to space. There are a bunch of possible reasons for this, and that’s one thing we’re going to be looking at in the study.”

The application deadline is Feb. 29. Applications and more information are available at: manoa.hawaii.edu/hi-seas.