In the news

In preparation for the completion of the second mission at a Space Analog for the Moon and Mars (SAM) by Crew Inclusion II, KVOA reporter Megan Spector arrived at 4:30 am to capture the anticipation of the hours leading up to this event. She reported live from within one of the two pressure suits built by Smith Aerospace Garments while standing in the prototype SAM Mars yard.

The second crew to enter the Space Analog for the Moon and Mars sealed the outer airlock hatch today, May 10, at 10:05 AM. Interviews with the French Televisions commenced at 8:30 AM and continued until 9:45 AM when one by one, Bindhu Oommen, Keridwen Cornelius, Sahda Haroon, and Andy Squires entered SAM carrying their personal bins. They left their street shoes on the airlock landing and donned hab shoes provided by Astral Designs.

Bindhu Oommen, Crew Commander and Medical Officer, MD MPH FACS is a board-certified, practicing general surgeon from Dallas, Texas, U.S.A. Keridwen Cornelius, Crew Journalist, is a freelance journalist and editor whose work has been published in Scientific American, Science, The New York Times, Sapiens, Medscape, Outside, and more. Sahda Haroon, Crew Engineer, is a freshman at Purdue University going into Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering. Andy Squires, Crew Communications and Accessibility Officer, is a Senior Applications Administrator at American University and live in Arlington, Virginia.

Learn more about Inclusion II …

The Mission Objectives for Inclusion II are as follows:

1. Validate and implement a working draft of Standard Operating Procedures Manual for SAM.
2. Document the feasibility and experiences of the early analog missions at SAM.
3. Create acoustic and tactile maps of SAM.
4. Initiate and establish a water quality monitoring protocol at SAM.
5. Install and evaluate the utility of a 3-D printer at SAM.
6. Study stress mitigation in closed environments within a pressurized and sealed environment at SAM.
7. Evaluate CO2 distribution within SAM during simulation.
8. Contribute to the feasibility of analog missions for visually-impaired crew members at SAM
9. Study air quality at SAM
10. Train non-medical persons on use of portable ultrasound for evaluation and diagnosis of medical problems.

As with the first crew, Inclusion II will be operating SAM in Mode 2 (pressurized, flow-through) for the majority of their mission, but with intervals of Mode 3 (pressurized, sealed) in order to monitor discrete rise and fall of carbon dioxide (CO2) and the overall leak rate of SAM, in this configuration. The crew will enjoy an all vegetarian diet of dehydrated and freeze-dried foods, with an exciting (from a vegetarian point of view) variety of grains and legumes, pasta, and spices, and opportunity to make home made bread.

Crew Inclusion II was sent off by Biosphere 2’s Executive Director Dr. Joaquin Ruiz and original Biospherians Linda Leigh (Mission I, 1991-93) and Bernd Zabel (Mission II, 1994). Linda lived sealed inside the Test Module prototype for 21 days as part of a series of experiments to demonstrate a closed-loop bioregenerative life support system prior to building the Biosphere 2 proper. Bernd was construction manager for Biosphere 2, and continued his work at Biosphere 2 as Columbia University transitioned the facility into a climate change research center in the mid to late ’90s.

by Kaley O’Kelley
Posted at 4:56 AM, May 10, 2023

It was the first quest of its kind, with a mission to learn more about living and working on the moon or Mars.

On April 27, a four-person crew was sealed inside the Space Analog for the Moon and Mars (SAM) for six days in Oracle, Arizona, for the Inclusion 1 mission.

The goal of the mission was to simulate the physical reality of being far from Earth. The crew went into the mission with no access to the outside world, aside from [access] to email.

SAM is a highly specialized, air-tight facility just steps away from the iconic dome at the University of Arizona’s Biosphere 2. It was created to study what it might be like to live and work on the surface of the Moon or Mars.

Read the full article and watch the broadcast at ABC 15, Phoenix, Arizona.

Crew Inclusion I has concluded the first mission at SAM. At 10:00 AM Mountain Time, May 2, 2023, the crew released the pressure from the habitat via three ports, and once the internal pressure was equal to the outside, ambient pressure, Lindah Leigh of the original 1991-93 two year Biosphere 2 mission opened the hatch and greeting the crew on the airlock landing.

New channels KVOA, KGUN, and KOLD were on-site to capture the story during an hour pressure conference held in the Mars yard adjacent to SAM.

KGUN – Channel 9
Space simulation wraps up at Biosphere 2

KVOA – Channel 4
Six-day Inclusion I Mission concludes on Biosphere 2 grounds

Mission accomplished on Biosphere 2 grounds

Six-day Inclusion I Mission concludes on Biosphere 2 grounds

KOLD – Chanel 13
Six day space study mission concludes in pressurized habitat at Biosphere 2

Today the very first visiting research crew entered SAM. Inclusion I was welcomed by three television crews, two radio crews, Linda Leigh of the original Biosphere 2 mission, Executive Director of Biosphere 2 Joaquin Ruiz, Deputy Director of B2 John Adams, and more than 60 persons watching the first closure of this unique hermetically sealed, pressurized habitat. Interviews commenced at 5:00 AM and continued until 10:00 AM when one by one, Cassandra Klox, Eiman Jahangir, Bailey Burns, and Sheri Wells-Jensen entered SAM carrying their personal bins. They left their street shoes on the airlock landing and donned hab shoes provided by Astral Designs.

This event follows yesterday’s arduous 13+ hrs training in which the crew was given a hands-on course in the management of SAM pressure regulation, three-stage water recycling, networked fire detection and alert system, air quality monitoring, inedible food stabilization, A/C and dehumidifiers, hydroponics, and more.

Cassandra Klos, Commander and Crew Photographer, is a fine art photographer, curator, and analog astronaut. Eiman Jahangir, Medical officer, MD MPH is a Cardiologist, scuba diver, space enthusiast, and two-time NASA Astronaut Candidate finalist (2009 and 2013). Bailey Burns, Engineer, is an Aerospace Systems Engineer with Blue Origin, focusing on Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS), lunar dust mitigation, and lunar operations. Dr. Sheri Wells-Jensen, Communications officer, Accessibility officer, is a linguist who teaches in the Linguistics/TESOL program at Bowling Green State University, Ohio.

Learn more about Inclusion I …

The Mission Objectives for Inclusion II are as follows:

1. Understand whether the application of adaptive techniques can mitigate physiologic impact from isolation and mission induced stress during a terrestrial space analog mission.
2. A study by Bailey Burns for Blue Origin (under NDA).
3. Monitor carbon dioxide levels in SAM.
4. SpaceKind Training in an Analog Environment.
5. Construct a New Science Fiction through Documentation of Space Simulations, Mockups, and Ephemera
6. Human Factors Study with University of Central Florida
7. Accessibility Tasks and Experiments

Inclusion I will be operating SAM in Mode 2 (pressurized, flow-through) for the entirety of their mission. The crew will enjoy an all vegetarian diet of dehydrated and freeze-dried foods, with an exciting (from a vegetarian point of view) variety of grains and legumes, pasta, and spices, and opportunity to make home made bread.

Inclusion I is an assembly of motivated individuals who share a common passion for science. We are honored to receive this first team at SAM, with anticipation for their first EVA in a pressurized space suit in our prototype Mars yard, and egress two days before the start of the Analog Astronaut Conference.