HI-SEAS Mission Will Study How Life On Mars Affects The Mind

For the next four months, six researchers will experience a Martian lifestyle on the Big Island of Hawaii to study what it does to their emotions.
The three men and three women, each handpicked by NASA out of 700 applicants, moved into their 1,000-square-foot dome habitat on March 28. It will be a tight fit for the second Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation mission crew, but the whole point of the exercise is to prepare for future manned, long-duration missions to places such as Mars.
Mauna Loa's volcanic soil, it turns out, is a great stand-in for the volcanic regolith on Mars. "Both volcanoes are basaltic," Kim Binsted, HI-SEAS’s principal investigator, told the Huffington Post. "Mauna Loa is like a young Mars."
HI-SEAS, which is funded by NASA and organized by the University of Hawaii at Manoa, conducted its first test at Mauna Loa in 2013 when researchers looked at cooking and the problem of “menu fatigue.” This time, the goal is to monitor crew cohesion ahead of a two-and-a-half year Mars mission currently slated for sometime around 2030. What happens to the mind, researchers want to know, when people are stuck in close confinement for extended periods of time?
“We’re going to stress them,” Binsted said.
Aside from coexisting and working in the tight quarters, it will be a remote life 8,200 feet above sea level. The only outside communication will be through email (which will be artificially delayed 20-minutes to simulate space communications); each crew member will only get eight minutes of shower time each week; and they will only be allowed outside if they wear the puffy simulation space suit.
“They’re going to be taking a whole bunch of different psych tests, looking at their mood, how they relate to each other, looking at their cognitive skills and how they change over time,” Binsted said.
Another factor researchers are trying to study is what's known as the "third-quarters problem," the point at which the project is almost over and home is close, just not close enough. “It’s the three-quarters point where we see signs of depression and difficulties," Binsted explained.
When the crew, which includes a neuropsychologist, an Air Force veteran studying human factors in aviation, and an aerospace engineer, emerges from the dome in four months, they’ll have completed studies that impact much more than just the HI-SEAS mission. The group is also working on other projects such as testing 3D-printed surgical tools, growing plants in harsh conditions, and repurposing trash into useful commodities.
“Not only does it make for a realistic mission,” Binsted said, “but we’ll be giving NASA a really big bang for their buck.”

Josh Elliott Says Leaving Good Morning America for NBC Sports Was 'Too Good to Pass Up'

Josh Elliott says he did not leave Good Morning America for a higher salary.

"In the end, it had nothing to do with money," Elliott, 42, told PEOPLE in an exclusive statement, speaking for the first time since announcing he is exiting the No. 1 morning show for a job at NBC Sports.

Though the popular news anchor declined to comment on specific figures – a source says ABC offered him $5 million but he asked for $10 million, while another source says Elliott will be paid about $4 million a year by NBC – he said: "There were two great offers on the table, and it certainly was a difficult choice to make. I feel I made the best one."

"It wasn't at all about anyone or anything at ABC," Elliott said, shooting down reports to the contrary. "It was about what lies ahead for me at NBC Sports. I have always wanted to be part of an Olympics broadcast, and the opportunity to cover sports that captivate America was too good to pass up."

Shark kills woman off Australia's east coast

SYDNEY (AP) - A large shark killed a woman near her terrified husband and friends as they took their daily morning swim Thursday off a popular Australian east coast beach, police said.
Christine Armstrong, 63, was taken by the shark as she attempted to swim the 600 meters (1,970 feet) between the wharf and beach near the village of Tathra, 340 kilometers (210 miles) south of Sydney, police said.
The victim was some distance from the other five swimmers, including her husband, Rob Armstrong, when they saw a 3-to-4-meter (10-to-13-foot) shark nearby, said Police Inspector Jason Edmunds.
"The group joined up together and did their best to keep the shark at bay, although it didn't directly attack them," Edmunds told Nine Network television.
The swimmers did not see the attack, but a witness onshore did. Edmunds said the species of the shark was unknown.
The Tathra Wharf to Waves - a swim off a rocky coastline from the wharf to the beach and back again - is an annual event that attracts hundreds of swimmers each summer.
Local council general manager Leanne Barnes said locals meet at the beach every morning to swim out to the wharf and back.
"It's a beautiful little coastal village and this is one of those sad things that can happen," Barnes said.
Armstrong's family said in a statement that she had been swimming at the beach for 14 years and had been a trainer at the local volunteer lifeguard club.
"Swimming brought her much joy and many friends," the statement said. "She will be sadly missed by all who loved her, especially by Rob, her husband of 44 years."
Police said a helicopter and boat were used to search for Armstrong's remains. The fruitless search was called off late Thursday afternoon.
Although sharks are common off Australia's coast, the country has averaged fewer than two fatal attacks per year in recent decades. But fatal attacks are becoming more common. Two men were killed in shark attacks off the east and west coasts in the space of a week in November last year. They were the only fatalities in 2013.
Police on Wednesday recovered remains of a 38-year-old man reported missing last week while diving south of the west coast city of Perth. Police said the remains had shark bites, but it was not clear whether the man had been bitten before or after he died.