In December 2019, I embarked on a simulated astronaut mission in Hawaii. The EMMIHS-II mission is a collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) funded Euro Moon Mars Initiative (EMM), the International Lunar Exploration Working Group (ILEWG) and the International Moon Base Alliance (IMA). It took place at the renowned Hawai'i Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) habitat. For two weeks, our international crew of astronauts lived, worked and researched in this habitat just like astronauts on the Moon.
In addition to being completely 'isolated' from Earth, the simulation included eating food made from freeze-dried ingredients; leaving the habitat only on approved extravehicular activities (EVA) while wearing spacesuits with integrated life support systems, and being restricted to eight minutes of shower time per week – all while conducting scientific experiments.
As a crew engineer, I was responsible for fixing anything...