Over a year on Mars: Volunteers complete nasa simulation mission

Four volunteers spent over a year in a Martian habitat. The mission will end on Saturday, July 6 at 5:00 PM Eastern Time. The crew will leave the simulated habitat and return to regular Earthly life.

Four volunteers, Kelly Haston, Anca Selarius, Ross Brockwell, and Nathan Jones, have been residing in a 3D-printed Martian habitat since June 25, 2023. Their task was to live in a Mars mission simulation. This included growing vegetables to produce long-lasting food, maintaining the habitat and equipment, and functioning in stressful conditions involving limited resources, isolation from other people, and communication problems with Earth.

As part of the first Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog missions, the volunteers were placed in a hangar at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The mission's end will be broadcast on NASA media, including Facebook and the platform X (formerly known as Twitter).

NASA reported that due to the limitations of the facility housing the habitat and the procedures related to the crew's quarantine, the entire event would proceed without the presence of outside individuals such as journalists or the general public. The crew will be available to meet in the coming days.

Living in conditions simulating Mars is one way to prepare for a Martian mission. Another element preparing NASA for a Mars flight is the Artemis program. Its goal is to return humans to the Moon and establish a base on Earth's natural satellite. The program is expected to primarily involve scientists, distinguishing it from the Apollo program, where the crew members were mainly military personnel.