EuroSpaceHub proudly supports the Hana Hou mission, which will take place later this week at HI-SEAS Base, Hawaii, as an initiative of one of the founding partners: Lunex EuroMoonMars. Follow us in the coming days for daily updates on the mission and astronaut life on the base: we will share stories, interesting facts and updates on the mission’s progress.
Blue Planet Energy Lab / Mauna Loa Blue , Hawaii. Mission Day -1
Everything is ready to start our EMMIHS 2023 Hana Hou Mission at the HI-SEAS habitat on the Big Island, Hawaii! Our complete crew landed on the island today, after a long journey from Europe, with a step on the way at the Golden Coast. The HI-SEAS base is located on Mauna Loa Volcano in Hawaii and is owned by the International Moon Base Alliance. The Hana Hou mission is special: it marks the beginning of a new series of missions that will be organized at the HI-SEAS base starting this spring 2023. In the past November and December 2022, strong eruptions made the Mauna Loa volcano active again for 12 days, threatening the safety of the habitat. Fortunately, the lava flows did not flood the HI-SEAS habitat, but totally transformed the surrounding landscape. For this reason, the crew chose a special name: “Hana Hou”, meaning “rebirth,” “beginning again”. This name is meant to be a good wish for this new beginning for the upcoming missions!
But who are the brave seven astronauts who will spend the next four days at the Lunar base? Here is our crew: Henk Rogers, as Commander; Kato Claeys, in the role of Executive Officer and Habitat Manager; Bernard Foing, as Mission Scientist; Serena Crotti as Communication and Outreach Officer; Celia Avila-Rauch, as Mission Psychologist and Health Officer; Brent Reymen, as second Mission Psychologist and Crew Chef; Andrew Cox, as Mission Engineer.
During this pre-mission day, the crew was very busy preparing and consolidating all organizational aspects of the coming days. Mission Day -1 took place at Mission Commander Henk Rogers’ Puu Waawaa Ranch, where the crew is staying on pre and post-mission days. It is a special, incredibly sustainable place where innovative energy management solutions are explored. The entire ranch is off-grid thanks to the use of solar panels and storage batteries. Here, astronauts had the opportunity to enjoy a guided tour of the Blue Planet Energy Lab, where cutting-edge solutions are explored every day with a hands-on, experimental approach.
Preparation for the mission consisted of several training sessions. The crew had a short workshop with Dr Martin Pepper, a well-known science communicator and Professor in Communication for Science. Together with him, the astronauts were able to learn tricks and techniques to better talk about their experiments and activities. They also recorded some short interviews under Dr Pepper’s guidance to learn how to play both the role of interviewer and interviewee. After this learning moment, the crew had another training time: a session on Emotional Intelligence led by Mission Psychologist Celia Avila Rauch. During this first session, the crew experimented with the emotion of anger through specific breathing exercises. The emotion management training program for this mission includes a wide range of exercises related to all the primary emotions.
Throughout the day, the crew was also busy preparing items and equipment to be bring into the habitat. The astronauts procured food supplies for the mission and consolidated the mission schedule. The crew also gathered to verify the scientific objectives of the campaign, and to consolidate the roles and duties of the different crew members in the coming days. Each crew member’s experiments and outreach projects were defined. The evening ended with a potluck dinner, anticipated by the debrief of mission day -1. The mood of the crew is high: everyone is excited for the new adventure that will begin tomorrow!
During the week we also planned a special outreach event, coordinated with IPSA University. There will be a unique outreach connection: astronauts from the EMMIHS Hana Hou mission will connect with the EMMPOL 15 Crew, currently on another analog mission in Poland, at the Analog Astronaut Training Center facility. Follow the event on the EuroMoonMars Youtube channel! Save the date for March 6, 7:30 PM CET.
Follow us on @euromoonmars and @eurospacehub instagram accounts for more!
THE EMMIHS 2023 CAMPAIGN IS ORGANIZED AS A COLLABORATION BETWEEN INTERNATIONAL MOONBASE ALLIANCE (IN ITS HI-SEAS HABITAT) AND LUNEX EUROMOONMARS, WITH SUPPORT OF EUROSPACEHUB ACADEMY.
EUROSPACEHUB IS FOUNDED BY VILNIUSTECH, INTERNATIONAL SPACE UNIVERSITY, COMPLUTENSE UNIVERSITY OF MADRID, COLLABWITH, LUNEX FOUNDATIONS AND FUNDED BY THE EIT HEI INITIATIVE LEAD BY EIT MANUFACTURING & EIT RAW MATERIALS.
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