KCRA » On Sunday – research scientist Kelly Haston, structural engineer Ross Brockwell, emergency medicine physician Nathan Jones, and U.S. Navy microbiologist Anca Selariu – started their 378-day stay at a mock-Mars base in Texas.
CHAPEA (Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog) is a ground-based mission at the NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The mission is the first of three planned one-year Mars surface simulations, during which crew members will live and work in a 3D-printed, 1,700-square-foot habitat.
Researchers will simulate the challenges of a human mission to Mars, including resource limitations, equipment failure, communication delays, and other environmental stressors.
The results of CHAPEA and the knowledge gained from the analogs could impact future NASA missions including those to the surface of Mars.