The third in a series of four simulated missions to Mars planned by NASA kicked off last week at a remote site on the Hawaiian island of Mauna Loa.A six-person team, comprising theHawai'i Space Exploration Analog and Simulation3 mission, is inhabiting a dome for an eight-month study of the human factors that contribute to astronaut crew function and performance over time.The HI-SEAS team is equally divided between women and men. One of the women, Martha Lenio, is its commander.The program is being conducted by theUniversity of Hawai'i at Mānoa.The project's purpose is to study crew psychology and social dynamics among crew members during long journeys in space, said Kim Binstead, principal investigator for the HI-SEAS project and an associate professor at the university.The project dome is on the Mauna Loa side of the saddle area on the Big Island, the largest island in the Hawaiian chain.It is an isolated, Mars-like site about 8,200 feet above sea level that's accessible year round.At the site, which resembles theTharsisplateau on Mars, crew members will perform analog tasks, such as geologicalfield work, as if they were on Mars.They will have to adhere to longstanding rules that would apply in a real-life setting on Mars -- don simulation space suits and submit a plan to mission support for extra-vehicular activity when they go outside, and move around in pairs. They are limited as to how far they can go from the dome, Binstead told TechNewsWorld.Communications have a 20-minute lag -- "the time it takes a signal to go to and from Mars," she noted, and the crew eatsshelf-stable food.Crew members will be assigned researchprojects to conduct during their stay.NASA "has funded one research investigation on team function and performance on long-duration exploration missions that uses the HI-SEAS space analog facility during its current mission in Hawaii," NASA spokesperson RachelKrafttold TechNewsWorld.A NASA employee currently on leave is participating in HI-SEAS, but not in an official capacity as a member of the agency.