University of Idaho Engineering Student Going to Mars By Way of Hawaii
Tuesday, October 14 2014
MOSCOW, Idaho – Oct. 14, 2014 – University of Idaho mechanical engineering student Sophie Milam is about to find out what life is like on Mars, by spending eight months in seclusion in Hawaii.
Milam has been selected from hundreds of international applicants to participate in the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation, or HI-SEAS Mission 3, a project funded by the NASA Human Research Program that simulates a long-duration Mars mission here on Earth. Mission 3, the longest to date, begins Oct. 15 and will last for 273 days.
Milam will complete her master’s degree in mechanical engineering online through UI Engineering Outreach program. She is scheduled to graduate in December – from the HI-SEAS mission habitat.
Milam and her five crewmates (three male, two female) will spend the next eight months in a two-story, 36-foot-diameter geodesic habitat on an abandoned lava quarry on the northern slope of the Hawaiian island of Mauna Loa.
Over the eight-month period, “mission support” researchers will continuously monitor the crew using surveillance cameras, body movement trackers and other methods to study the group’s cohesion over time, gathering data on a wide range of cognitive, social and emotional factors that may affect team performance.
“The HI-SEAS site presents a remarkably high-fidelity environment for this type of long-duration space study,” said University of Hawaii, Manoa’s Kim Binsted, the principal investigator for the study. “Looking out the single porthole window, all you can see are lava fields and Maunakea (a dormant volcano) in the distance. Once the door is closed, and the faux airlock sealed, the silence and physical separation contribute to the ‘long way from home’ experience of our crew members.”
Milam said she’s “over the moon” with excitement to start the adventure. “Or ‘over Mars’ is probably more applicable.”
For the complete feature on Vandal terrestrial astronaut Sophie Milam and the HI-SEAS research project, visit bit.ly/VandalTerrestrialAstronaut.
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Rob Patton
Communications & Marketing
College of Engineering
208-885-7511
rpatton@uidaho.edu
About the University of Idaho
The University of Idaho is one of only 72 land-grant research universities across the country. Home to nearly 12,000 students, the UI is a leader in student-centered learning and excels at interdisciplinary research, service to businesses and communities and in advancing diversity, citizenship and global outreach. U-Idaho is home to the Vandals and competes in the Big Sky Conference and Sun Belt Conference. Learn more: www.uidaho.edu.