Who hasn’t looked up at the sky and wondered if someday you could live on another planet?
For NASA scientists, that’s often been the goal. Is there a way to let humans live on another planet?
In this case, they knew they could only do one thing – send people to Mars. Well, sort of.
Earlier this summer, NASA announced that four people would be sent to live on a simulated Mars.
“Four volunteers are about to embark on an out-of-this-world experience without leaving Earth!” NASA’s Johnson Space Center announced on Twitter.
The volunteers, who will spend 378 days isolated in a Mars-like environment, were chosen out of more than 4,000 volunteers, NASA said in a press release. The Mars habitat is located at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
NASA said on its website that the goal is to understand what it would be like for humans to live on Mars for an extended time period, and would help set goals for “one-year missions to the Martian surface.”
Four volunteers are about to embark on an out-of-this-world experience without leaving Earth!
Watch live on June 25 at 6:30 p.m. CDT as the very first CHAPEA crew enters our simulated Mars habitat to begin their yearlong journey to support human health and performance research.… pic.twitter.com/Ur2EvgRDsq
— NASA’s Johnson Space Center (@NASA_Johnson) June 20, 2023
The experiment, named CHAPEA (Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog), is being conducted in a 3D-printed habitat with no outside contact for the entire year-long mission, NASA said.
The crew will conduct tests that “may consist of simulated spacewalks including virtual reality, communications, crop growth, meal preparation and consumption, exercise, hygiene activities, maintenance work, personal time, science work, and sleep,” officials said.
“We’ve specifically chosen people that we hope to succeed together, very carefully screened, and really clear that they have the ability to work on teams,” Dr. Suzanne Bell, a Behavior Health and Performance Laboratory lead, said. “And so our objectives are really about optimizing that human health and performance.
And that means dealing with the surprise of challenges that they may or may not expect to happen. “The habitat will be as Mars-realistic as feasible, which may include environmental stressors such as resource limitations, isolation, equipment failure, and significant workloads,” NASA said in its press release.
The four Mars scientists chosen for the mission are: Kelly Haston, commander; Ross Brockwell, flight engineer; Nathan Jones, medical officer; and Anca Selariu science officer.
The four scientists prepare to enter the Mars simulation habitat for 378 days. Photo by NASA
The habitat they are now living in is 1,700 square feet. They will have a kitchen, private crew quarters, bathrooms, along with work, medical and areas for relaxing.
While NASA said they can’t recreate the gravity on Mars, they will be using virtual reality to allow the crew experience in dealing with spacewalks, repairs and dealing with dust from the red planet.
On July 7, the crew waved their goodbyes to a room full of reporters, before entering the habitat.
The Mars simulated environment where scientists will work to grow food and other plants while living there. Photo by NASA
“CHAPEA mission one is a go,” Grace Douglas, the mission’s principal investigator said after the habitat was officially sealed until July 7, 2024.
“The knowledge we gain here will help enable us to send humans to Mars and bring them home safely,” she said.
Watch below for the exciting new plans for ‘Mars’ and its crew.
