Crewmembers participate in the first phase of testing and training for a Mars simulation mission at Cornell University in June. (Photo courtesy of Cornell University)

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After receiving more than 700 applications, a team of researchers from the University of Hawaii at Mānoa and Cornell University have selected six individuals to make up the crew of a simulated Mars mission intended to test new forms of food and food preparation strategies for deep-space travel.

The mission, dubbed HI-SEAS (Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation), is part of a study for NASA to determine the best way to keep astronauts well nourished during multiple-year missions to Mars or the moon.

The six-member prime crew was chosen from a group of nine that participated in an intense first phase of testing and training held in mid-June. The three remaining individuals will make up the reserve crew.

“It was very difficult to narrow the pool down. We had about 150 highly qualified applicants, and pretty much everyone we interviewed would have done very well in the habitat,” said Kim Binsted, associate professor of information and computer sciences at UH Manoa and a member of the research team conducting the study.

“We ended up with a fantastic crew, including the reserve crew, who are ready to step in if someone on the prime crew has to leave the study for some reason,” Binsted said.

The individuals selected for the prime crew include:

* Oleg Abramov, a research space scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology branch in Flagstaff, Ariz.

* Simon Engler, a scientific programmer specializing in robotics currently on an internship at the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Penn.

* Kate Greene, a science and technology journalist, amateur filmmaker and avid open-water swimmer who is a native of Kansas and currently resides in San Francisco, Calif.

* Sian Proctor, a geology professor at South Mountain Community College in Phoenix, Ariz.

* Yajaira Sierra-Sastre, a materials scientist and educator who resides in Ithaca, N.Y., and is currently working with disadvantaged school districts and communities in Puerto Rico

* Angelo Vermeulen, a biologist, space researcher and visual artist from Belgium

The reserve crew includes:

* Yvonne Cagle, a NASA astronaut and family physician who is currently on faculty and serves as the NASA liaison for exploration and space development with Singularity University in California

* Crystal Spring Haney, a small business owner, personal trainer and at-home mother of two from Kapolei, Oahu

* Chris Lowe, a space systems engineer from Southeast England who currently resides in Glasgow, Scotland

The crew will participate in a two-week training session in late 2012 prior to the four-month simulation mission in early 2013 on a barren lava field on Hawaii Island.

Once they head to Hawaii, the team of volunteers will be required to live and work like astronauts, including suiting up in space gear whenever they venture out of a specially built simulated Martian base.

Each crewmember also has a personal project in research or outreach that they will be working on during the mission, in addition to their role in the food study.

The research team includes Binsted and three Cornell scientists: Jean Hunter, associate professor of biological and environmental engineering, Bruce Halpern, professor of psychology and neurobiology and behavior, and post-doctoral associate Bryan Caldwell.

The team is joined by Rupert Spies, chef and senior lecturer at Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration. Spies led the hands-on kitchen training sessions and will assist in the development of a custom menu for the study.

According to Hunter, one of the biggest food challenges astronauts face is menu fatigue. Over time, they not only tire of eating foods they normally enjoy, but also tend to eat less, which can put them at risk for nutritional deficiency, loss of bone and muscle mass and reduced physical capabilities.

The HI-SEAS mission will test whether crew nutrition, food intake and food satisfaction can be improved if crews cook for themselves and will assess the additional resource cost of a crew-cooked food system.

The research team will compare the palatability of available instant foods and food prepared by the crew, and determine whether food preferences change over time.

They will also compare the time, power and water required for meal preparation and cleanup for instant and crew-cooked foods, and compile recipes and cooking tips.

Video courtesy of Cornell University: