Isolated for one year, simulate life on mars

The cinema has recently been thinking about the theme of Mars' colonization, thanks to Ridley Scott's film The Martian, starring a masterly and funny Matt Damon. The Hollywood star was an abandoned botanist in the red planet during an exploration mission in the future, which went wrongly due to a violent sandstorm. While waiting for the rescue, he must find the resources to move forward and reach the point where he will be in contact with his personal lifeboat.

Not exactly as in the film, six scientists have lived inside a dome that simulated the living conditions of Mars and have just come out these days. Located on the slopes of the great volcano Mauna Loa in Hawaii, the team has personally verified what it means to be isolated from the rest of the world in a hostile environment. A space travel simulation involving six members of both sexes, after an exhausting year spent together.

They, isolated from the rest of the world, could not attend major events, for example the grandmother of one of the astronauts died and had to renounce the funeral. Of course, the most important aspect is science. Isolation involves a real abstraction from today's world and a series of issues that NASA and other space entities involved in a possible future exploration of Mars need to take into account.

In fact, simulation has shown that theories are of no use if you don't have the practice of real problems to solve, such as getting food, trying to survive, establishing a connection with the outside world and building a collaborative and profitable relationship within the team.

Humans, evolution demonstrates it, have the ability to unravel even under very severe environmental conditions and this experiment puts a strain on their ability to survive in an environment that goes beyond the challenges proposed by our planet. The main problem that Mars poses is that of continuous exposure to solar radiation, not having an atmosphere strong enough to shield them, as happens with our planet. For the rest, as shown in Ridley Scott's film, it is possible to "colonize" the planet by building housing modules capable of conserving food and resources, as well as producing them, taking advantage of our advanced knowledge of chemistry and physics. According to some scientists, life on Mars could be possible, as a replica of terrestrial conditions, not only by preparing domes (in man's fervent imagination this model has been proposed for at least 40 years), but also by going underground, to shield oneself from radiation. However, the way of arriving on Mars without damaging the crew is still unsurpassed or not studied enough, bearing in mind that the red planet is at a prohibitive distance from the current means in our possession.