Volunteers are imprisoned for a year in conditions that simulate life on Mars
A novel experiment is now being carried out by NASA. It has kept four volunteers captive in an environment meant to replicate life on Mars for more than a year, whether they are inside a base or out exploring. The “Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog” (CHAPEA) operation, which entails imprisoning four people in a replica Martian habitat situated in Houston, has been begun by the US space agency NASA. For precisely 378 days, they will be required to live together in an enclosed space the size of a huge 160 square meter apartment without ever leaving. This project will advance the study of limited and isolated human health and performance.
The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center of NASA 3D printed this remarkable housing. In addition to a shared living room and a “outdoor space” made of red sand, it consists of four tiny private houses. The same facilities will host two more simulations that will span around a year each.
Kelly Haston, the commander, Ross Brockwell, a flight engineer, Nathan Jones, a medical officer, and Anca Selariu, a scientific officer, are the four volunteers. The first experiment would replicate a variety of stressful circumstances that can occur during a long-distance trip, such as a lack of supplies, equipment breakdowns, or communication hiccups. The other tasks will be carried out by the four volunteers in the form of in-vitro cultivation, robotic operations, and excursions out from their headquarters.
To better comprehend the effects of future long-duration trips to Mars on crew health, these simulations will offer information on the volunteers’ physical and cognitive performance. This knowledge ought to aid NASA in properly preparing astronauts for these extraordinary trips.
Before setting foot on Mars’ surface, it will take several years. Through the Artemis program, NASA is preparing to conquer the Moon in the meantime. In order to be ready for future expeditions to the Red Planet, NASA wants to build a sustained presence on the Moon for research and exploration.
