Roscosmos ends simulated Moon-landing project; astronauts out of isolation after 8 months

Five of the six international astronauts, who were subjected to eight months of isolation under an international project, finally emerged from their experimental laboratory at 3:30 pm IST on July 3. These astronauts from three different nationalities were part of the Scientific International Research In Unique terrestrial Station or SIRIUS-21 which was conducted at the Russian Institute of Medical and Biological Problems in Moscow.  

“Five members of the international crew (three men and two women) spent 240 hours within its framework in the environment simulating operation of a real space expedition at a near-Moon orbital station and the Moon’s surface,” the Institute said in an official release earlier today as per TASS news. “The crew will leave ‘the spacecraft’ and return to the Earth.”

Objectives of the SIRIUS-2 project

The project involved three Russian candidates- Oleg Blinov, Victoria Kirichenko, Ekaterina Karjakina, two Americans- William Brown and Ashley Kowalski and one from the UAE- Saleh Omar al Ameri, who spent 240 days in isolation and conducted multiple experiments. 

During their isolated stay, the candidates were subjected to real-life space missions at the lunar station and the lunar surface, and performed simulated Moon landing operations, moonwalk and rover control. Studies in various areas, such as psychology, psychophysiology, physiology, sanitary hygiene, microbiology, and biochemistry were also part of the project. 

And since the conditions of their habitat were made for a mock of outer space, they also experienced a five-minute delay in communication, something astronauts would actually experience on the Moon. The recently concluded study was a follow-up of the previous stages of SIRIUS-17 and SIRIUS-19, which were carried out in 2017 and 2019, respectively. 

Under SIRIUS-17, which lasted just 17 days, scientists investigated the adaptation of the human body to the conditions of isolation in a pressurised object. Whereas, under the 120-day-long SIRIUS-19 experiment, six astronauts experienced the simulation of a real space flight to the Moon. The next isolation experiment is likely to begin between July and November 2023 and would last for an entire year. Roscosmos has also planned three-year-long studies which are expected to begin no earlier than 2028.

Image: Roscosmos