Scientists Are Testing Astronauts In Long Mars Simulations, And The Results Are Worrying – IFLScience

In our lifetimes, it is almost certain we will see humans set foot on Mars. If the modern-day space racebetween private companies and nations continues, it is not out of the question that we will see a long-term human presence on either the Moon or Mars in that time frame too, an incredible yet insane concept.

But and it is a big but researchers simply have no idea how a team of astronauts isolated almost 380 million kilometers (236 million miles) from home would fare insuch a scenario. Wouldthey maintain constant communication with Earth and work perfectly as a team? Or would they descend into anarchy, even cutting communication withtheir superiors and forming an autonomous colony? Russian researchers are aiming to figure that out beforethey spend billions on the real deal, by placing a group of individuals in a Mars colonizationsimulation.

ProjectSIRIUS (Scientific International ResearchInUniqueterrestrialStation yes, they reached a bit to make theacronym cool) is an effort to understand the psychology of astronauts during long space flights. The results have recently been published inFrontiers in Physiology. Seventeen and 120-day isolation experiments in 2017 and 2019, respectively, were designed to simulate a team isolated in an extraterrestrial environment.

The results confirmed their worries the delay in communication due to the distance, coupled with the extended period away from Mother Earth, resulted in the astronautsbecoming detached from mission control and becoming almost autonomous.

Previous simulations suggested that once the astronauts left on their voyage, there was a strong chance that they would begin to disconnect from mission control,reducing the number of situations they would report on.Toconfirmthe results of previous simulations, namely the Mars-500 missions, the researchers carried out the two isolations using a mixed-gender, international crew. The missions were testing how participants communicated withmission control and how well they worked together to form a successful colony.

They began with a take-off procedure, before landing on the inhospitable environment of a specialized area withinthe training facility. The crew were then locked away in pods together, given minimal rations and supplies, and subjected to the full isolation of the real deal.

Analysis of the experiments suggested a number of conclusions, some positive, while others were more problematic. The crewactually increased their communication with the mission controlcenter(MCC) at the halfway stage of the simulation, which involved theMars landing, but then subsequentlybecamedetached,reducing the volume of communicationwith MCC. They relied less on the recommendations of MCC, becoming more autonomous as they adapted to their mission.

While it is positive the crew were able to take matters into their own hands and live autonomously, a disconnect from MCC is a worrying phenomenon.

"The negative side is that the mission control loses the possibility to understand the needs and problems of the crew, which consequently hinders mission control's ability to provide support," said co-author Dmitry Shved of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Moscow Aviation Institute, in a statement to CNET.

There was also an interesting correlation between the male and female crew members. Similarto previous experiments, thewomenreported on problems to the MCC more often, and expressed their support, while their communication styles were more emotional. The men, however, were less likely to report to MCC. Interestingly, by the end of the simulation, both the men and womenhad adapted to each other's communication styles, forming a similar level of emotion and regularity of communication.

Of course, due to only 12 people taking part in the simulations, it is also possible that deviances between groups and individuals are purely down to individual differences, so generalizations cannot be made before more research is conducted.

In the meantime,anotherProject SIRIUS experiment is now underway,involvingan 8-month isolation that began on November 4th.

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Scientists Are Testing Astronauts In Long Mars Simulations, And The Results Are Worrying - IFLScience