NASA's Mars Isolation Experiment in Hawaii Ends Sunday Aug 28,2016

Six scientists who spent a year in near isolation to simulate life on Mars finally came out of their dome in Hawaii on Sunday Aug 28,2016

The group spent 12 months in a dome on Mauna Loa volcano , 8,500 feet above sea level.

They could go outside only if they wore spacesuits, to explore a barren landscape as similar to Mars' environment as planet Earth can get.

As the simulation ended on Sunday Aug 28,2016, the crew came out and announced the simulation had shown a mission to Mars could succeed in the near future. 

Six people (Carmel Johnston, Christiane Heinicke, Tristan Bassingthwaighte, Cyprien Verseux, Andrzej Stewart, Sheyna Gifford shown here in 2015) shut themselves inside a dome for a year in Hawaii, in the longest US isolation experiment aimed at helping NASA prepare for a pioneering journey to Mars

WHAT WAS THE HI-SEAS MISSION?

The Hi-Seas (Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation) mission's crews spent months 8,500 feet above sea level in a geodesic-dome habitat on the northern slope of the Mauna Loa volcano.

The volcano is a barren landscape, an abandoned quarry with little vegetation that's as similar to Mars' landscape as planet Earth can get.

The crew members live under Mars-like conditions. According to Hi-Seas 

'communication latencies and blackouts, in close quarters, under strict water-use rules, etc' are part of the deal.

The food study was designed to test food preparation strategies for long-term space exploration.

Hi-Seas aims to address problems that may be encountered in future space missions by simulating exploration in areas of the world similar to space environments.

The aim mission, funded by Nasa's Human Research Program, the University of Hawaii and Cornell University, is to learn about living sustainably on Mars.

The third mission started on 15 October 2014 and lasted for eight months, while the final mission lasting a year began in August 2015.