NASA is not quite sending astronauts to Mars, but four research volunteers will be sent to the Johnson Space Center in Houston next month to simulate a Mars mission for more than a year, according to the federal agency.
Beginning on Sunday, Oct. 19, those four researchers — Ross Elder, Ellen Ellis, Matthew Montgomery and James Spicer — will carry out missions like growing a vegetable garden, operating robots and simulations of walking along the red planet's surface.
That team will live in a 1,700-square foot, 3D-printed habitat, called the Mars Dune Alpha habitat, until Oct. 31, 2026 — a total of 378 days.
They will also go through "realistic resource limitations, equipment failures, communication delays, isolation and confinement, and other stressors," according to a NASA news release.
"The simulation will allow us to collect cognitive and physical performance data to give us more insight into the potential impacts of the resource restrictions and long-duration missions to Mars on crew health and performance," Grace Douglas, principal investigator of the initiative, said in the news release. "Ultimately, this information will help NASA make informed decisions to design and plan for a successful human mission to Mars."
This is the second such mission from the Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog, or CHAPEA. The previous mission wrapped up its pseudo-expedition on July 6, 2024.
Though the initiative is specifically tailored to simulate a Mars mission, NASA said the research it yields could contribute to its planned Artemis missions to the Earth's moon.
"As NASA gears up for crewed Artemis missions, CHAPEA and other ground analogs are helping to determine which capabilities could best support future crews in overcoming the human health and performance challenges of living and operating beyond Earth's resources – all before we send humans to Mars," said Sara Whiting, project scientist with NASA's Human Research Program at the Johnson Space Center.
Elder, the mission’s commander, comes from Williamstown, West Virginia, as an Air Force pilot. Ellis, the medical officer, is an acquisitions officer in the U.S. Space Force, coming from North Kingstown, Rhode Island. Montgomery, serving as the mission’s science officer, is a Los Angeles-based engineering design consultant who works in LED lighting and robotics. Spicer, the flight engineer, is a technical director in the aerospace and defense industry.
Emily Phillips, a U.S. Marine Corps pilot from Pennsylvania, and Laura Marie, a commercial airline pilot from the United Kingdom, are the alternate crew members.
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