NASA begins first yearlong analog mission to mimic Mars-like conditions on Earth

Crew members of the first analog mission

CHAPEA Mission 1 commenced on Sunday, June 25, as the four volunteers entered the habitat designated as "Mars Dune Alpha". Kelly Haston, Ross Brockwell, Nathan Jones, and Anca Selariu, the crew handpicked for CHAPEA, will reside and operate within a 1,700-square-foot habitat constructed using 3D printing technology.

They will not leave the habitat for the whole year, with the exception of a few Mars walks in an adjacent enclosed Mars 'sandbox'.

According to Space.com, the four volunteers were selected based on a variety of criteria, including a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) degree, professional experience in their chosen industry, and flying or military training. All volunteers were subjected to the same medical and psychological tests that would be necessary for real astronaut missions. 

Leading the mission is commander Haston, who is also a human disease research scientist. While Brockwell is a structural engineer and the mission's flight engineer, Jones is a medical officer with emergency medicine experience, and Selariu is a microbiologist in the United States Navy.

They will live in the 3D-printed habitat, which comprises various activity rooms for the crew including private quarters, a kitchen as well as designated facilities for medical research, recreation, exercise, work, and crop development activities. It also hosts a technical work area and two restrooms.

Tasks to be performed in the habitat

As per NASA, the crew will need to adjust to various activities similar to those future explorers would experience while on the Martian terrain.

The Earth-based expedition will simulate the challenges faced on Mars, including survival on limited resources, technology failure, communication delays, and other environmental stresses. Additional activities, like simulated spacewalks, robotic operations, and habitat maintenance, will also be performed by the crew. 

Due to the absence of Martian gravity within the habitat, the crew will be spared from the necessity of utilizing specialized space toilets. Furthermore, they will work and live on Earth time rather than Sols (Mars days time). 

In all other aspects, the CHAPEA crew will reside and engage in activities mirroring those of an eventual Mars crew, creating an environment that closely emulates the conditions on Mars.

The communication delay between Mars Dune Alpha and mission control will be approximately 22 minutes, akin to the duration it takes for a message from Mars to reach Earth during a call. 

For sustenance, the crew will depend on freeze-dried, thermostabilized, and shelf-stable food items throughout the mission. 

Mission scientists will remotely watch and study the four participants. "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, CHAPEA principal investigator in a statement released by NASA in April 2023.

Ultimately, the mission will aid NASA in designing and planning successful manned missions on the Martian surface. The first mission will end on July 7, 2024, while the second such mission is likely to start in 2025.