A Feast Fit for Martians: Forget the waiting list for the most exclusive restaurant in town, Mars is the new and highly exclusive venue for adventurous entrees and offbeat desserts. In fact, it’s so exclusive that only six diners will eat there, continuously, for four months.
From the 700 applicants who applied, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa and Cornell University researchers could only select a half-dozen volunteers to occupy the Mars analog mission that would simulate the actual living conditions of a handful of would-be space colonists. Dubbed HI-SEAS (Hawai’i Space Exploration Analog and Simulation), the mission is part of a study for NASA to work out the best ways to keep astronauts fed and healthy for long duration spaceflight, including the possibility of setting a base up on the moon or Mars.
So, in 2013, the team will pack their bags for ‘Mars’ to live in isolation on a barren lava field in Hawai’i. They will eat, sleep and live like a Martian, suiting up whenever they go outside and experiment with the menu.
The ultimate aim is Mars; first stop Hawaii? Sounds just fine to me. via Astrobio.net
