A Martian Adventure

Woke up this morning to the following email: Dear HI-SEAS applicant,I am sorry to say you have not been selected to be on the first HI-SEAS crew. Frankly, all of the interviewees were very highly qualified, and all would have made excellent crewmembers. Our final selection was driven by the need for a range of backgrounds and skill sets – and even so, it was a very difficult decision to make. We would be delighted if you would let us keep your data on file for future missions.If you […]

Information on the HISEAS project has been relatively light, with the main website containing little information on the actual field site or habitat. Today I was surprised to find a publicly available 2011 NASA Astrobiology Institute report on the search for potential locations for the HISEAS habitat.The report includes several photos taken by the Project Investigator of HISEAS, Kim Binsted, with the captions "Potential site for HI-SEAS habitat."Potential H-SEAS habitat location. Credit: NASA […]

No word yet regarding HISEAS!Woke up to this email:Dear HI-SEAS applicants,The panel needs just a little more time to review your interview recordings. Please be patient. This would be much easier if you weren't all such excellent candidates!Given this is Mothers Day weekend, I wouldn't expect them to have a decision until early next week.While we all wait in breathless anticipation, are there any more HISEAS finalists lurking in the shadows of this blog? Already two others have […]

All of the interviews are finished! According to the HI-SEAS selection committee their last interview was Wednesday and I am now free to talk about what went on in the actual interview.The interview was conducted via Skype and the panel consisted of: Kim Binstead, University of Hawaii, Jean Hunter, Cornell UniversityBryan Caldwell, Cornell UniversityDean Eppler, Johnson Space Center Desert RATS program No surprises in the composition of the panel. Cornell and Hawaii are the host […]

Well the interview is done!I can't talk about the exact interview questions as they are still interviewing people, but I can share that they plan to have The Final 8 ( 6 crew members and 2 alternates ) selected by Friday of next week!One of my answers was not as refined as it could have been, but overall it went fairly smoothly.Next Thursday after the interviews are concluded I will post a brief summary of the interview, what I knew ahead of time, and my take on it.