What To Know
- This series of analog missions aims to prepare humans for exploration of the Red Planet by testing the long-term effects of isolation and confinement, as well as the operations and technologies needed for a Mars mission.
- Crew selection criteria follow NASA‘s standards for astronaut candidates, which are a master’s degree in a STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) field from an accredited institution with at least two years of professional experience in a STEM field or a minimum of 1,000 hours of flying an aircraft.
- ” The quartet’s experiences on board will inform NASA’s planning for real-world manned missions to the Red Planet, which the agency hopes to launch in the late 2030s or early 2040s.
On June 25, 2023, four volunteers were locked in a simulated Mars habitat at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston. The quartet left the habitat on Saturday, July 6, returning to normal Earth life after a staggering 378 days.
Simulating Martian life
The program CHAPEA (CHAllenge for Planetary Exploration Analog) is a NASA initiative designed to simulate living conditions on Mars. Specifically, this series of analog missions aims to prepare humans for exploration of the Red Planet by testing the long-term effects of isolation and confinement, as well as the operations and technologies needed for a Mars mission. To do this, CHAPEA missions recreate the environments and challenges that astronauts might encounter on Mars. This includes managing limited resources, delayed communications with Earth, and psychological isolation. They also test technologies and protocols that will be used on the red planetsuch as life support systems, communications tools, and resource management strategies. Crew selection criteria follow NASA’s standards for astronaut candidates, which are a master’s degree in a STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) field from an accredited institution with at least two years of professional experience in a STEM field or a minimum of 1,000 hours of flying an aircraft. Candidates who have completed two years of work toward a doctoral program in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, a medical degree, or a test pilot program are also eligible to apply.
Construction of the Mars Dune Alpha habitat inside a building at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Credit: ICON/NASA
First one-year simulated mission completed
The four volunteers of the last mission of this program were Kelly Haston, Anca Selariu, Ross Brockwell and Nathan Jones. For over a year, they had been living in Mars Dune Alpha, a 3D-printed habitat of 158 square meters designed to resemble an isolated outpost on the Red Planet. It was NASA’s first simulated one-year mission to Mars. During his staythe crew simulated mission operations, including “Mars walks,” grew and harvested several vegetables to supplement their shelf-stable diet, and maintained their equipment and habitat. The “astronauts” also operated under additional stressors, including communication delays with Earth of up to 22 minutes, resource limitations, and isolation. Nathan Jones, the mission’s physician and medical officer, said upon his release that their 378 days of confinement “went by quickly.” The quartet’s experiences on board will inform NASA’s planning for real-world manned missions to the Red Planet, which the agency hopes to launch in the late 2030s or early 2040s. Two other additional missions are also already planned during which crews will continue to conduct simulated spacewalks and collect data on factors related to physical and behavioral health and performance.
