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Every time they run one of these similations they ignore the common realworld analogue: sailors. All around the world are tiny communities of mostly men living

Every time they run one of these similations they ignore the common realworld analogue: sailors. All around the world are tiny communities of mostly men living inside metal boxes for months or years at a time. Historic voyages regularly lasted even longer than the proposed mars missions, and where much more dangerous. Astronaughts could learn much from common sailors.

sorenn111 5y ago
You can even take it a step further to the subset of sailors that operate on submarines.
- sandworm101 5y ago
  Military is different. Those are much larger crews and dont spend as much time at sea, generally only a few months at a time.
  - madaxe_again 5y ago
    Depends on your military, I guess. I know in the U.K. 9 months isn’t an unusual deployment for a submariner, and a few months underwater isn’t unusual either. Isolation is pretty much their number one challenge. Machines are easier to keep running than minds.
awsthro00945 5y ago
It doesn't seem like they ignore it. Sailors might be a decent analogue for astronauts while isolated within a space vessel, but that's not what this experiment is. NASA wants to research the environment while on a Martian surface mission, including doing stuff like suiting up in spacesuits to go do work outside, deal with communication delays, and having research responsibilities. It's somewhat similar to being confined on a sailing ship, but is still different, and the minute details really matter for something like this.
aasasd 5y ago
E.g.: > The ship, without a mast or a rudder, was carried across the northern Pacific Ocean by currents. It drifted for 14 months, during which the crew lived on desalinated seawater and on the rice of their cargo. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otokichi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otokichi
- ransom1538 5y ago
  "The Makah took the three survivors of the broken ship and held them as slaves for several months before taking them to Fort Vancouver." ^ Their story only got worse! The tribe turned them into slaves. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makah https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makah
  - aasasd 5y ago
    I know there are different gradations of slavery, but I'd take working for food and shelter over fourteen months of rice and water. Especially seeing as eleven of fourteen men outright died on rice and water.
ffitch 5y ago
I think it's not about proving that the long isolation is possible, but rather about carrying this experiment in a controlled environment and doing a study.

sorenn111 5y ago

You can even take it a step further to the subset of sailors that operate on submarines.

sandworm101 5y ago
Military is different. Those are much larger crews and dont spend as much time at sea, generally only a few months at a time.
- madaxe_again 5y ago
  Depends on your military, I guess. I know in the U.K. 9 months isn’t an unusual deployment for a submariner, and a few months underwater isn’t unusual either. Isolation is pretty much their number one challenge. Machines are easier to keep running than minds.

awsthro00945 5y ago

It doesn't seem like they ignore it. Sailors might be a decent analogue for astronauts while isolated within a space vessel, but that's not what this experiment is. NASA wants to research the environment while on a Martian surface mission, including doing stuff like suiting up in spacesuits to go do work outside, deal with communication delays, and having research responsibilities. It's somewhat similar to being confined on a sailing ship, but is still different, and the minute details really matter for something like this.

aasasd 5y ago

E.g.: > The ship, without a mast or a rudder, was carried across the northern Pacific Ocean by currents. It drifted for 14 months, during which the crew lived on desalinated seawater and on the rice of their cargo. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otokichi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otokichi

ransom1538 5y ago
"The Makah took the three survivors of the broken ship and held them as slaves for several months before taking them to Fort Vancouver." ^ Their story only got worse! The tribe turned them into slaves. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makah https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makah
- aasasd 5y ago
  I know there are different gradations of slavery, but I'd take working for food and shelter over fourteen months of rice and water. Especially seeing as eleven of fourteen men outright died on rice and water.

ffitch 5y ago

I think it's not about proving that the long isolation is possible, but rather about carrying this experiment in a controlled environment and doing a study.