The HI-SEAS habitat module on Mauna Loa volcano

Halfway.

How many explorers turned that word over in their minds, contemplating the journey ahead, and the paths behind them?

For the last 60 days, the second HI-SEAS crew and I have worked, ate, slept, read, investigated, cooked, constructed, researched and LIVED in the mock habitat module you see in the photo above.  This is our office, our laboratory, and our home.

The simulation we are a part of cannot replicate every aspect of life on Mars, there is no way to reduce atmospheric pressure or Earth’s gravity, for example.  But many of the other factors that future planetary explorers will face are ever-present here.  We are isolated enough from civilization and modern conveniences to experience them as astronauts would.

In the last 60 days, the crew and I have faced power system failures, water shortages, illness, fatigue, electrical fluctuations, spacesuit leaks…