What's it like spending four months cooped-up inside a pseudo "Mars Base" cut-off from the rest of the world?

Each of the six volunteers that were part of the second "Hawaii Space Exploration Analog & Simulation" mission or HI-SEAS 2 had their own opinions but most of them said it was being deprived of the everyday things they take for granted that affected them the most.

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Things like a refreshing wind and a drenching rain.

"I haven't seen a tree, smelled the rain, heard a bird, or felt wind on my skin in four months," said mission commander Casey Stedman, an officer in the U.S. Air Force Reserve.

HI-SEAS 2 was a "Mars analog habitat" designed to simulate the physical and psychological environment of a Martian exploration mission. Mars analog habitats prepare astronauts, engineers, and researchers for the future challenges of traveling to and living on Mars.

Stedman and five other volunteers spent four months "imprisoned" inside a replica Mars base atop the active Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii, 8,000 feet above sea level.

Beginning late March, the HI-SEAS 2 crew lived and worked in a cramped, two-story, 11 meters wide, solar-powered dome on the slopes of Mauna Loa on the Big Island of Hawaii.

The team only left their Mars Base during simulated "Marswalks." They wore replica spacesuits to explore the "Marslike" environment of the tortured landscape of Mauna Loa.

They conducted a series of personal research projects during the pseudo Mars mission.

The crew's base included a kitchen stocked with non-perishable, freeze-dried food they cooked for their meals.

The three women and three men exercised at least an hour each day and spent their leisure hours playing board games, reading and interacting on social media, among others.

Apart from Stedman, the other members of HI-SEAS 2 were Physics Ph.D. student Ross Lockwood; spaceflight research assistant Tiffany Swarmer; space-engineering Ph.D. candidate Lucie Poulet; NASA scientist Anne Caraccio and neuropsychologist Ronald William.

After leaving their mock Mars habitat on July 25, the crew webcast their "return to Earth" live on a Google Hangout.

They're now looking forward to returning to normal life, and experiencing all the things they've missed on their four-month-long stay on "Mars."

The mission was run by the University of Hawaii at Manoa and funded by NASA's Human Research Program.