WASHINGTON, March 23. /TASS/. The United States and Russia will continue their joint isolation experiment, SIRIUS-2021, simulating a flight to the Moon, NASA Associate Administrator of the Human Exploration Kathy Lueders said.
"We have done a couple of isolation studies. It's actually something you can do here on Earth. And we're actually doing one currently with our Russian partners. We still are having one with our Russian partners, and we're getting ready to do another round with them," said Lueders, who is in charge of NASA’s human spaceflight programs and international cooperation, including the International Space Station (ISS).
In her words, the isolation experiments helps to gain more understanding of "what you can do to better help isolation of both the crew member and the families, it is going to be really important."
According to the NASA official, the experiment even simulates delays in the Moon mission.
About the experiment
The SIRIUS (Scientific International Research In Unique Terrestrial Station) international project is a series of joint isolation experiments carried out by Russia’s Institute of Biomedical Problems and the NASA Human Research Program with the participation of the Russian, German and Canadian space agencies and specialists from Russia, the United States, Germany, France, Italy and other countries.
The first experiment was held in November 2017 when the crew spent 17 days in isolation. The isolation experiments conducted in 2018-2019 lasted four months. Three year-long isolation experiments are planned before 2028.
On November 4, 2021, the SIRIUS-2021 eight-month isolation experiment kicked off on the premises of the Institute of Biomedical Problems within the Russian Academy of Sciences to simulate a crewed expedition to the Moon. The crew, comprising three Russians, two US nationals and a UAE representative, embarked on a 240-day simulated space journey to travel to the Earth’s natural satellite, fly around the Moon to search for a landing site, land on the lunar surface and come back to Earth.
Throughout the expedition, the crew will stay in the autonomous ground compound and communicate only with the experiment control center through audio systems and maintain communications with their relatives by email.