Day 6 of HI-SEAS Lunar Mission: Unfavorable Weather Forces Crew to ‘Low Power Mode” Commander Reports

Dr. Michaela Musilova, director of the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog Simulation or HI-SEAS program, reports that unfavorable weather has forced the crew to go into 'low power mode.'

HI-SEAS Mission Explained

HI-SEAS is an analog martian and lunar exploration research station, operated by the International MoonBase Alliance. Located roughly 8,200 feet above sea level, the HI-SEAS habitat is a 1,200 square foot dome on the Mars-like site at the Mauna Loa mountain range, Hawaii.

To date, the HI-SEAS has been home to 5 successful long-duration NASA Martian simulation missions. From 2013-2017 6 missions were funded by research grants in partnership with NASA's Human Research Program, which aims to understand the risks and restrictions linked with long-term human space exploration.

The HI-SEAS habitat is a low-impact, semi-portable feature that is designed to have all necessary analog features to carry out scientific research on Mars and the Moon. It has a habitable volume of roughly 13,000 cubic feet, a six crew sleeping quarters, a laboratory, a kitchen, bathrooms, and a simulated airlock.

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Unfavorable Weather on the HI-SEAS Habitat

On Lunar day 6, last April 5, Dr. Lindsey Kishline, the Crew Operations Office wrote in her report that the crew awoke with enthusiasm and glee at the possibility of finally going on a moonwalk. Unfortunately, instead of the sun greeting them from above, the crew was greeted by raging dust storms outside, reports Space. Which, according to the team, is the equivalent of rainstorms and fog that the crew has been experiencing during their analog missions.

The crew specifically woke up a few hours earlier than normal to avoid the normal dust storms that engulf the habitat typically at noon. The crew's effort to bypass the dust storms in order to perform the first extravehicular activity--moonwalk, was in vain due to the unfavorable weather conditions.

Kishline explains that one of the primary reasons why analog missions are done is to both test and train people to work as a team in order to resolve numerous problems that may be encountered during long-travel missions.

In addition, the crew also performs individual research projects aboard the Habitat. This is why, being forced to stay indoors due to bad weather is challenging for Gustavo Jamanca -Lino, Space Resources Officer. Most of Gustavo's research includes collecting lava rock samples and taking geological measurements using extravehicular activities or EVAs.

Because of the weather constraints, Gustavo spent the last few days reviewing documents to support his research, the characterization of lunar rocks using information from NASA's Robotic Surveyor missions that landed on the lunar surface in 1967.

Gustavo was specifically interested in particle distribution of lunar regolith, which is information he can use for collecting lunar analog samples on the volcano.

Fortunately, most of the crew was not affected by the sudden weather conditions except when the crew had to go into 'low power mode'. Because of the dust storms, the crew were not able to fully recharge the habitat's batteries via solar panel and instead had to conserve energy as much as they could.

To conserve energy, the crew turned off appliances, chargers, including experiments that were not vital to their survival on the moon.