In an effort to simulate the conditions in which astronauts would have to live during a hypothetical mission to Mars, NASA has organized and started an experiment that locks away six people in a dome for the space of a year.

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The experiment will study the participant's reactions to isolation, providing them shelter in a place with limited privacy and no fresh air or fresh food. The BBC reports all six willing participants - an Astrobiologist, physicist, pilot, architect, journalist, and soil scientist - will live together in this 36x20 space beneath a barren volcano in Hawaii. To maintain the simulation, each of the participants must completely suit up before venturing outside.Each of the participants will be given a cot on which to sleep and a desk for their rooms. For food, they will be given space-proof food items such as powdered cheese and canned tuna.A human expedition on the Red Planet is estimated to take between one to three years, which is why the organization decided to extend this experiment to one year in length. The participants were sealed in on Friday, August 28th and will remain there until the same time in 2016.For more about Mars colonization, check out what Buzz Aldrin's been up to with his new institute

Cassidee is a freelance writer and the co-host of a podcast about freelancing. You can chat with her about that and all other things geeky on Twitter