Six scientists returned to human civilization on Sunday, after spending a year isolated on a dormant Hawaiian volcano to simulate the conditions astronauts could face on Mars.
The mission, funded by NASA, was the fourth one organized by the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation program, or HI-SEAS. The six crew members lived in a 1,200-square-foot dome, venturing outside to “explore” the Mauna Loa volcano—aka Mars—only while wearing space suits. They even suffered through a 20-minute delay every time they communicated with their mission support team, waiting for the messages to travel through “space.”
Here you can watch the six would-be astronauts come back to Earth—at least psychologically—as they exit their shelter wearing normal Earthling clothing and interact with other humans for the first time in 12 months.
