On Sunday, four brave researchers donned black jumpsuits and entered into a red world where they will spend a year living and working in a simulated
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The four volunteers, Kelly Haston, Ross Brockwell, Nathan Jones, and Anca Selariu, were selected in April 2021 to take part in the first of three year-long missions. The 3D-printed, 1,700-square-foot habitat is located at NASA’s Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas and is equipped with a kitchen, two bathrooms, private bedrooms, a work area, as well as a recreational area for socialising.
The mission of the four volunteers is to simulate the challenges of a mission on Mars, including resource limitations, equipment failure, communication delays, and other environmental stressors. Inside the simulated Martian environment, the four volunteers will carry out different activities as though they were on a mission to Mars, including simulated spacewalks, robotic operations, habitat maintenance, personal hygiene, exercise, and crop growth.
NASA, with the help of its international partners, eventually hopes to send humans to Mars and possibly establish a sustainable presence of astronauts in habitats on Earth’s neighbouring planet. Mars is a dry, arid desert with a thin, carbon-dioxide-filled atmosphere and freezing temperatures during its winter season. Those other-worldly factors are likely to make astronauts’ time on Mars a little rough, which is why the space agency wants to be prepared for the challenges ahead.
“The simulation will allow us to collect cognitive and physical performance data to give us more insight into the potential impacts of long-duration missions to Mars on crew health and performance,” said Grace Douglas, lead scientist for NASA’s Advanced Food Technology research effort at NASA’s Johnson Space Centre in Houston. “Ultimately, this information will help NASA make informed decisions to design and plan for a successful human mission to Mars.”
The four volunteers, who are all highly motivated and healthy individuals, are eager to begin their mission and to help NASA prepare for future missions to the Red Planet. Kelly Haston, one of the four participants in the ongoing study, said during a press briefing before entering the habitat, “I feel incredibly lucky and blessed to be a part of this crew and the mission. It is a career and personal highlight to be both scientist and test subject and produce data that may enable new methods and safer space travel.”
The mission has now officially begun and the four volunteers have locked themselves in the simulated Martian habitat for a full year. They will be conducting experiments and gathering data that will help NASA understand the challenges of long-duration space missions and prepare for future manned missions to Mars.
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