The crew of a NASA mission to Mars stepped out of their spacecraft after a year-long journey that never left Earth.
The four volunteer crew members spent more than 12 months inside NASA’s first simulated Mars environment at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, exiting the artificial alien environment on Saturday around 5 p.m.
Kelly Haston, Anca Selariu, Ross Brockwell and Nathan Jones entered the 3D-printed habitat on June 25, 2023, as the first crew of the space agency’s Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog project.
Haston, the mission commander, began with a simple, “Hello.”
“It’s actually so great to be able to say ‘hello’ to all of you,” she said.
Jones, a physician and mission medical officer, said their 378 days of confinement “went by quickly.”
The quartet lived and worked inside the 17,000-square-foot (1,579 sq m) space to simulate a mission to the red planet, the fourth from the sun and a frequent focus of discussion among scientists and science fiction fans about a possible trip. people beyond our moon.
CHAPEA’s first crew focused on creating the conditions possible for future Mars operations through simulated spacewalks, called “Marswalks,” as well as growing and harvesting vegetables to supplement their provisions and preserve their habitat and equipment.
They also worked through challenges that a real Mars crew would be expected to experience, including limited resources, isolation and communication delays of up to 22 minutes with their planet on the other side of the habitat’s walls, NASA said.
Two additional CHAPEA missions are planned, and the crews will continue to conduct simulated spacewalks and collect data on factors related to physical and behavioral health and performance, NASA said.
Steve Koerner, Johnson Space Center deputy director, said most of the first crew’s experiments focused on food and how it affected their performance. The work was “essential science as we prepare to send humans to the red planet,” he said.
“They are separated from their families, put on a carefully prescribed feeding plan and subjected to a lot of observation,” Koerner said.
“Mars is our goal,” he said, calling the project an important step in America’s goal to be a leader in global space exploration efforts.
Appearing after a knock on the habitat door from Kjell Lindgren, an astronaut and deputy director of flight operations, the four volunteers spoke of the gratitude they have for each other and those waiting patiently outside, as well as the lessons learned for a staff possible. the mission to Mars and life on Earth.
Brockwell, the crew’s flight engineer, said the mission showed him the importance of living sustainably for the good of everyone on Earth.
“I am very grateful to have had this incredible opportunity to live for a year within the spirit of planetary adventure towards an exciting future, and I am grateful for the opportunity to live the idea that we must use up resources no faster than they can. replenish and produce waste no faster than it can be processed back into resources,” Brockwell said.
“We cannot live, dream, create or explore in any significant time frame unless we live these principles, but if we do, we can achieve and sustain amazing and inspiring things like exploring other worlds,” he said. .
Science officer Anca Selariu said she had been asked many times why there is a fixation on Mars.
“Why go to Mars? Because it is possible,” she said. “Because space can unite and bring out the best in us. Because it is a defining step that ‘Earthlings’ will take to light the way in the coming centuries.”