NASA Begins Locking Four People On Fake Mars For A Year

NASA started a Mars simulation mission (photo: nasa dock)

JAKARTA - The American Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) began a Mars simulation mission that will take a full year. In this case, four volunteers will be locked in the habitat of the fake planet.

The ground-based Mars Planetary Simulation is placed at the Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, USA. The four crew members will undergo a mission dubbed the Analog for Health Exploration and Crew Performance (CHAPEA) for 378 days, starting on Sunday, June 25 yesterday.

The mission is the first of three planned surface simulations of Mars over a year, in which crew members will live and work in a 3D printed habitat covering an area of 1,700 square feet.

Meanwhile, NASA researchers will simulate the challenges of human missions to Mars, including resource constraints, equipment failures, communication delays, and other environmental pressures.

"This simulation will allow us to collect cognitive and physical performance data to give us more insight into the potential impact of long-term missions on Mars on crew health and performance," said CHAPEA lead investigator Grace Douglas in a statement.

"In the end, this information will help NASA make a decision to design and plan a successful human mission to Mars," he added.

The simulation will be packaged with all the supplies to be sent to Mars. However, what cannot be simulated is the gravity of the Red Planet.

The four crews include commander Kelly Haston. He is a research scientist with experience in modeling human diseases, spearheading cell-based innovative projects that produce various types of cells to deal with infertility, liver disease, and nerve degeneracy.

Then, Ross Brockwell, an aviation engineer who is a structural engineer and administrator of public work. His work focuses on infrastructure, building design, operations, and organizational leadership.

Furthermore, Nathan Jones, a medical officer from Springfield, Illinois, is a certified emergency medicine doctor who specializes in pre-hospital and hard treatment.

Currently, Jones is working as an emergency medicine doctor, emergency medical director, and a tactical medical doctor at Memorial Springfield Hospital. Jones is also a professor of emergency medicine at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Illinois.

Finally, Anca Selariu, a science officer who is also a microbiologist in the US Navy. His experience includes the discovery and manufacture of viral vaccines, prion transmission, gene therapy development, and management of infectious disease research projects.

With a scientific and engineering background, crew members will be part of a simulation mission to Mars, where they will eat, drink, and exercise during simulations.

For information, NASA plans to return humans to the Moon in the next three years as part of the Artemis mission, which is used as a basis for sending astronauts to Mars eventually.