After a year living in isolation, six crew members on a mock mission to Mars are returning home today (Aug. 28). 
 
 The crew members have been living in an isolated habitat on the bare, rocky slopes of Mauna Loa on the island of Hawaii, as part of the HI-SEAS program (Hawaii Space Exploration Analogue and Simulation), based out of the University of Hawaii. The program is helping scientists to understand how the isolation of a deep space mission would impact human participants. 
 
 The mission participants have lived together for 12 months, with limited contact with friends, family and the outside world. The crew is schedule to exit the habitat at 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT). This is the fourth and longest HI-SEAS mission to date. 
 
 The HI-SEAS habitat is an almost entirely self-sufficient structure, where participants utilize a limited supply of food and other necessities. Any communications between the crew and the outside world experiences a 20-minute delay, to mimic the limitations of communicating with deep space locations. Some of the crew members have been writing blog posts about their experience in the habitat. 
 
 The HI-SEAS mock Mars habitat is where six crew members have been living for one year, isolated from the outside world. This, the fourth HI-SEAS mission, ends Aug. 28. Credit: HI-SEAS, Sheyna Gifford 
 
 HI-SEAS is a NASA-funded program that has been operating since 2012. The duration of its isolation missions have gradually increased, with the first mission lasting just short of four months, the second mission lasting a full four months each, and the third mission lasting eight months. The scientific studies done by HI-SEAS researchers "focus on the need to identify psychological and psychosocial factors, measures, and combinations that can be used to compose highly effective teams for self-directing long-duration exploration missions," according to the HI-SEAS website. 
 
 HI-SEAS is currently seeking participants for its next two isolation missions, which will send teams to the mock Mars habitat in 2017 and 2018 for eight months at a time. You can learn how to apply at the project's announcement calling for volunteers here. Applications are due by Sept. 5. 
 
 Follow Calla Cofield @callacofield. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. 

 Six scientists will become the first to complete a yearlong Mars simulation in the United States when they exit a small dome Aug. 28 on Mauna Loa. 
 
 For nearly 365 days, the crew has seen the outside world only through a small porthole or through the lens of their spacesuits, which they must wear to venture outside. 
 
 At 8,200 feet above sea level, the landscape mimics Martian soil somewhat, with hardly any vegetation to be found. 
 
 “They’re doing OK as far as we can tell,” said Kim Binsted, principal investigator for the Hawai‘i Space Exploration Analog and Simulation. 
 
 The University of Hawaii runs the NASA-funded study. 
 
 Three other simulations have been held in the dome, located in a former quarry, for four- and eight-month durations. 
 
 Each scientist works on research projects during their stay and learns how to manage limited resources while avoiding personal conflicts in isolation. 
 
 Any communication with the outside world is put on a 20-minute delay, the length of time it would take to relay messages to and from the red planet. 
 
 Binsted said the only longer simulation held was a 520-day mission in Russia that mimicked a trip to Mars. 
 
 HI-SEAS is more focused on what a crew will do once they get there. 
 
 The crew will be provided fresh fruit and other food not available during the simulation after they leave the dome. 
 
 “They are clamoring to get into the ocean,” Binsted said. 
 
 “I think they will enjoy having a beer as well.” 
 
 Binsted said HI-SEAS will host two more eight-month simulations, with the next one starting in January. 
 
 Applications can be found at www.hawaii.edu. 
 
 Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com. 

 HILO, Hawaii (AP) — Six scientists have completed a yearlong Mars simulation in Hawaii, where they lived in a dome in near isolation. 
 
 For the past year, the group has lived in the dome on a Mauna Loa mountain and could go outside only while wearing spacesuits. 
 
 On Sunday, the simulation ended, and the scientists emerged. 
 
 Kim Binsted, principal investigator for the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation, says the researchers are looking forward to getting in the ocean and eating fresh produce and other foods that weren't available in the dome. 
 
 NASA funded the study run through the University of Hawaii. Binsted says the simulation was the second-longest of its kind after a mission that lasted 520 days in Russia. 
 
 Scientists in the Hawaii simulation managed limited resources while conducting research and working to avoid personal conflicts.
– Six scientists have completed a yearlong Mars simulation in Hawaii, where they lived in a dome on a Mauna Loa mountain in near isolation and could go outside only while wearing spacesuits. On Sunday, the simulation ended, and the scientists emerged, the AP reports. Kim Binsted, principal investigator for the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS), says the researchers are looking forward to getting in the ocean and eating fresh produce and other foods that weren't available in the dome. "I think they will enjoy having a beer as well," Binsted told the Hawaii Tribune-Herald last week. Binsted says the simulation was the second-longest of its kind after a mission that lasted 520 days in Russia, and the fourth HI-SEAS mission. Space.com reports that when communication with the outside world did occur, there was a 20-minute delay reflective of the true communication delay between Earth and Mars.