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It’s only a matter of time
before humans step foot on a new

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planetary body in our solar
system. And with that in mind

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NASA's Goddard Space Flight
Center is learning how to
develop

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instruments that would be used
by humans to conduct exploration

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and research. One research
program actively involved in

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this pursuit sits in isolation
in a habitat on the slopes of

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the Mauna Loa volcano in
Hawai’i. It’s called HI-SEAS –

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and the Mars-like conditions and
geology of the landscape allow

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the crews there to perform field
tests and experiments that give

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a mission simulation an extra
dose of realism. Today,

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scientists from NASA Goddard are
nearby, deploying an instrument

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known as the mini-LHR, which
measures methane and carbon

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dioxide in the atmosphere. The
goal is to allow the HI-SEAS

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crew to simulate how an
astronaut would interact with

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the instrument on another
planet. The task is also

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designed to explore how NASA
might approach an in-mission

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training with a new instrument
that a crew has never seen

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before. This HI-SEAS adventure
therefore has numerous

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components for NASA to monitor.
And it all begins with the crew

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making the long trek over the
old lava flows to the site of

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the mini-LHR. Once there, the
team will get the instrument

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working so that it can start its
actual data collection. On

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another planet, this atmospheric
data would be important for

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understanding elements related
to climate and habitability. The

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interaction between the HI-SEAS
team and the mini-LHR is in

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itself a test – designed to
monitor changes in the

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environment that are occurring
naturally, or as a response to

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the human presence. By
participating in this type of

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fieldwork study, NASA Goddard’s
instrument field team is making

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great strides toward the larger
mission of getting humans on the

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surface of another planet. And
as the HI-SEAS crew can attest,

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doing so is no easy walk in the
park. 

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[beeping]