SIRIUS 23 participants practice virtual surface moonwalk

MOSCOW. March 22 (Interfax) - The participants in the SIRIUS (Scientific International Research in Unique Terrestrial Station) experiment have practiced a virtual extravehicular activity (EVA) on the surface of the Moon, the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medical-Biological Problems said in a statement on Friday.

"The crew of the SIRIUS 23 year-long experiment successfully completed a second practice of a simulated EVA on the surface of a nominal Moon, using virtual reality and lunar gravitation simulation systems, on March 18-21," the statement said.

Specialists are now examining the specifics of the crew's work, it said.

They are "using systems for constructing a lunar landscape and functioning of objects in a virtual space, adaptive weightlessness of a human for simulated lower gravitation, communication and coordination systems for the participants, and apparatus for the registration of physiologic parameters and telemetry," the institute said.

The specialists are also studying changes in the motion behavior, cardiac activity, cerebral activity, and assessing the specifics of body movements under the influence of virtual reality and gravity discharge models, the institute said.

In addition, "once a month during the isolation and before each landing on the surface of the Moon, the crewmembers run a virtual model of a lunar rover to practice tasks of varying complexity on the simulated surface of our satellite," the statement said.

The 365-day experiment began at the Institute's facilities on November 14, 2023.

The main crew consists of Commander Yury Chebotaryov (Russia), physician Ksenia Orlova (Russia), flight engineer Anzhelika Parfyonova (Russia) and researchers Rustam Zaripov (Russia), Ksenia Shishenina (Russia) and Olga Mastitskaya (Belarus).

The plan includes about 70 scientific programs, the institute's director Oleg Orlov said on November 7.

The main partner in the project is the Belarusian National Academy of Sciences, the experiment also involves international organizations and scientists from India, the United States, Turkey, Canada and other countries, Orlov said.

The experiment, hosted by the institute's Ground Experimental Center, simulates space flights.

The project seeks to facilitate space exploration beyond near-Earth orbit by assessing the risks to human health and working capacity through a program of fundamental, applied and operational research.