NASA Crew Living Inside Simulated Mars Habitat For A Year To Come Out Soon

After more than a year, the first volunteer crew that lived and worked inside NASA's Mars habitat is all set to exit its ground-based home on July 6.

The four volunteers had been living inside the first simulated 3D-printed Mars habitat of 1,700 square-foot size at the US space agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

NASA will be providing live coverage of the four-member crew's exit from the habitat at 5 PM EDT (2:30 AM on Sunday in India).

The live streaming, which includes a short welcome ceremony, will be done on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, the agency's website as well as the NASA Johnson's accounts on social media platforms X and Facebook. 

About the Mission

The four crew members – Kelly Haston, Anca Selariu, Ross Brockwell and Nathan Jones – started the first Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) mission in the 3D-printed habitat on June 25 last year.

In the last one year, the crew simulated Mars mission operations, which included 'Marswalks'. They even grew and harvested several vegetables to supplement their shelf-stable food, besides maintaining their equipment and habitat, read a statement from NASA.

It further noted that the crew has been operating under additional stressors a Mars crew will experience. This included communication delays with the Earth, resource limitations and isolation.

As per the NASA website, the 3D printed structure – known as the Mars Dune Alpha, simulated a Mars habitat to "support long-duration, exploration-class space missions." 

Those on Mars Dune Alpha experienced a life resembling the expected experience for the ones living in a future Mars surface habitat. 

Besides the CHAPEA crew, the other participants included Steve Koerner, Deputy Director, NASA Johnson; Kjell Lindgren, NASA astronaut and deputy director, Flight Operations; Grace Douglas, principal investigator, CHAPEA; Judy Hayes, chief science officer, Human Health and Performance Directorate; Julie Kramer White, director of engineering.

NASA said that it will be unable to accommodate requests for attending the event in person due to the facility limitations and crew quarantine requirements.

The statement added, "NASA is leading a return to the Moon for long-term science and exploration through the Artemis campaign. Lessons learned on and around the Moon will prepare NASA for the next giant leap – sending the first astronauts to Mars.”