NASA’s Johnson Space Center reminded everyone on Monday that its four volunteers have been inside its Mars simulation habitat for a whole month now, though they still have 344 days to go before they emerge.
Johnson released a short video (below) showing the four-person CHAPEA (Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog) crew entering the Mars Dune Alpha habitat on October 19, where they’re now living “like Martian explorers” to assist NASA as it gets ready to send humans back to the moon, and later to Mars in the first-ever crewed mission to the distant planet.
The crew of volunteers comprises Ross Elder, an experimental test pilot in the U.S. Air Force; Ellen Ellis, a colonel and acquisitions officer in the U.S. Space Force; Matthew Montgomery, a hardware engineering design consultant; and James Spicer, a technical director in the aerospace and defense industry.
Living inside the 1,700-square-foot Mars Dune Alpha habitat at the Johnson Space Center in Houston will allow NASA to analyze the crew’s health and behavior as the agency prepares for renewed human adventures far beyond the 250-mile low-Earth orbit of the International Space Station.
Life inside the habitat may sometimes be tough for the crew, too, as they’ll have to cope with challenges like reduced resources and issues with technical equipment, not to mention things like isolation and confinement. The team also has to deal with managing communication delays, habitat maintenance, while also carrying out daily tasks like tending to crops.
The specially designed habitat includes around nine rooms. There’s a shared bathroom and a space for communal meals and socializing, while each member has their own private bedroom. There’s also a section beside the habitat that simulates the Martian surface, where the team can practice Mars walks.
This isn’t the first time NASA has a sent a crew of volunteers into its Mars simulation site, as a similar mission concluded in July last year.
Commenting at the end of the 378-day mission, crew member Kelly Haston said, “We had to rely on each other and our training to navigate the challenges we faced. Every day brought new obstacles, but also new opportunities for growth and learning.”
It’s not clear when NASA might attempt its first crewed mission to Mars, though it’s unlikely to happen until 2033 at the very earliest.
