Beginning in 2013, NASA’s Human Research Program hosted six long-term studies designed to research various effects on humans of a trip to Mars: the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS).

HI-SEAS IV began on August 28, 2015, and ran a full year. The six-person crew shared a 1,200 square foot solar-powered dome on the side of a Hawaiian volcano, with no physical contact with the outside world.

A significant part of the study monitored how participants were able to interact with each other over long periods of isolation. Of special interest was how they got along, as well as how they resolved the inevitable conflicts that arose.

German geophysicist Christiane Heinicke was a participant in the mission. Surprisingly, she credited emergencies for resolving some interpersonal tensions.

“If you had some arguments,” she said, “it really helps to have an emergency to work on together because everyone has new motivation.”

The scientists of HI-SEAS literally gave up a year of their lives as living sacrifices. They endured difficulties and discomfort to further a cause they believed in.

Similarly, God calls us to give ourselves to further His cause. When we live our lives in His service, sacrificing the petty, vain, short-term things of Earth, He promises out-of-this-world blessings as our eternal reward.