I've been following these efforts closely. For these projects, crewed endurance space efforts, I strongly believe the most difficult component is the human. It's really difficult to be isolated in a high stress environment. And we don't adequately simulate or study what that might truly be like. I know that this was about nutrition but I just don't think nutrition is going to be the hard part of these missions.<p>I say this with experience. Living and working doing science in the Arctic and on ships is grueling. It's grueling, and not anywhere near as difficult or unpredictable as being in space. The things that happen in that pressure cooker are really hard to explain to people who haven't lived it.<p>It's not ethical or easy to do the kinds of simulations that would actually be useful. How do you simulate "your colleague is gravely wounded and on life support. now you have to work for 90 hours straight to fix whatever mamed them". Oh, also, you have 9 months of mission left with one less crew.<p>It was mediocre at best but "for all man kind" highlights just how weird things might get in these places. The only analogous efforts I can imagine are the adventures of sea-fairing people of centuries past. Maybe we should invent time travel and do some sociological studies.
One thing I don't understand: In over two decades of ISS operation, there apparently was never time to do a zero-g pregnancy experiment on mice or other small mammals. Zach/Kelly Weinersmith mentioned this in an interview with Sean Carroll on Mars colonization: <a href="https://youtube.com/watch?v=dJqr_cCi9tM" rel="nofollow">https://youtube.com/watch?v=dJqr_cCi9tM</a><p>If it turned out that mice can't properly reproduce in the zero-g environment of the ISS, it would be very likely that (much heavier) humans can't properly reproduce in the low-g environment of Mars. Which would be a very important thing to figure out. Perhaps more important than the mostly psychological Mars simulation project.
I found this quote from the article especially heartfelt. To me it doesn't just convey a hopeful message, it also shows the attitude and inner strength of someone who just endured the closest thing we have to living & working on a new frontier. It's a powerful message when read through that lens.<p>> "We can do these things together," Brockwell said. "We can use our senses of wonder and purpose, to achieve peace and prosperity and to unlock knowledge and joy for the benefit of everyone in every part of planet Earth," he added.
I bet they did not give even a minute thought about the people who live and die in tiny boxes on desolate icefields. There was weird customs and rules to make this life possible, as for example Peter Freuchen documented.<p>This should be the starting point, imho. Those cultures were honed in 10000 years just for Mars survival perfection.
Browsing the modern web would be a nightmare from Mars, with a 30-minute ping and all the HTTP back-and-forth that modern pages require.<p>I guess you would have to use an Earth-based remote desktop.
This is quite a sacrifice for humanity's sake, so thank you to these people for taking part in this experiment.<p>I'm surprised more effort wasn't put in to making the habitat homely. It's very austere and scientific. I'd have thought that this experiment would also provide means to test ways to provide comfort in trying situations.