After a Year, Crew Steps Out of Simulated Mars Environment

The crew of a NASA mission to Mars has emerged from its craft after a yearlong voyage that never left Earth. The four volunteer crew members spent more than 12 months inside NASA's first simulated Mars environment at Johnson Space Center in Houston, coming out of the artificial alien environment around 5pm Saturday. Kelly Haston, Anca Selariu, Ross Brockwell, and Nathan Jones entered the 3D-printed habitat on June 25, 2023, as the inaugural crew of the space agency's Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog project, the AP reports.

Haston, the mission commander, began by saying: "Hello. It's actually just so wonderful to be able to say 'hello' to you all." Jones, a physician and the mission medical officer, said the 378 days in confinement "went by quickly." The quartet lived and worked in the space of 1,700 square feet to simulate a mission to the red planet, the fourth from the sun and a frequent focus of discussion among scientists and sci-fi fans alike concerning a possible voyage taking humans beyond our moon. Crew members focused on establishing possible conditions for Mars operations through simulated spacewalks, as well as growing and harvesting vegetables to supplement their provisions and maintaining their habitat and equipment.

They also worked through challenges a real Mars crew would be expected to experience, including limited resources, isolation, and delays in communication of up to 22 minutes with their home planet on the other side of the habitat's walls, NASA said. Two additional missions are planned, and crews will continue conducting simulated spacewalks and gathering data on factors related to physical and behavioral health and performance, per the AP. Steve Koerner, deputy director of Johnson Space Center, said most of the crew members' experimentation focused on nutrition and how it affected their performance. "They've been separated from their families, placed on a carefully prescribed meal plan and undergone a lot of observation," Koerner said. "Mars is our goal."

(More NASA stories.)