A crew member of the University of Hawaii at Manoa Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) Mission VI was admitted Monday morning to Hilo Medical Center for required medical attention and was under observation for a few hours before being released.
The crew member was taken to the hospital from the HI-SEAS dome at the 8,200-foot level of Mauna Loa at about 8 a.m.
Under Institutional Research Board regulations, no further medical information can be provided without the crew member’s permission.
Crew safety is the top priority, university spokespeople said in a press release Monday. In line with safety protocols, the mission has been postponed and the crew has left the dome, according to HI-SEAS Principal Investigator Kim Binsted. The mission will remain suspended until an inspection of the dome and investigation are completed.
HI-SEAS Mission VI started on Feb. 15 with four crewmembers and was scheduled to last eight months. The crewmembers are from Australia, Korea, Scotland and Slovakia.
The NASA-funded project studies human behavior and performance and aims to help determine the individual and team requirements for long-duration space exploration missions, including travel to Mars.