The four volunteers who have been living and working inside NASA’s first simulated yearlong Mars habitat mission will leave their ground-based home on July 7, 2024 (AEST).
The first Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) mission began in the 3D-printed habitat on June 25, 2023, with crew members Kelly Haston, Anca Selariu, Ross Brockwell, and Nathan Jones.
For more than a year, the crew simulated Mars mission operations, including “Marswalks,” grew and harvested several vegetables to supplement their shelf-stable food, maintained their equipment and habitat, and operated under additional stressors a Mars crew will experience, including communication delays with Earth, resource limitations, and isolation.
In addition to the CHAPEA crew, participants include;
- 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; and
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Julie Kramer White, director of engineering.
NASA will provide live coverage of the crew’s exit from the habitat at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston at 7 a.m. AEDT. The coverage will be available on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, NASA’s website, and NASA’s Johnson’s X and Facebook accounts.
