For more than a year, four crew members participating in NASA’s Mars Dune Alpha simulated experience communicated, ate, slept and explored as if they were stationed more than 200 million miles away on the Red Planet.
The mission, which marked the first completed installment of three programs planned by NASA’s Analogue Health and Performance Exploration (CHAPEA), lasted 378 days and began on June 25, 2023.
Kelly Haston, Anca Selariu, Ross Brockwell and Nathan Jones were greeted by a standing ovation over the weekend as they emerged from the 1,700-square-foot, 3D-printed habitat at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
In this image taken from video provided by NASA, members of the first CHAPEA mission crew, Kelly Haston, center, shake hands with NASA Deputy Director of Flight Missions Kjell Lindgren, second right, as the rest of the Ross crew Brockwell, exits their spacecraft, July 6, 2024, at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
NASA via AP
“Hello. It’s actually so great to be able to greet you all,” CHAPEA Commander Haston said during a press conference as she exited the habitat.
The program was designed to investigate how crew members would respond to the conditions and constraints of a year-long mission, with NASA saying they could send astronauts to Mars as early as the 2030s.
Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) is a series of analog missions that will simulate year-long stays on the surface of Mars. Each mission will consist of four crew members living in Mars Dune Alpha, an isolated 1,700 square meter habitat.
Bill Stafford/NASA
“Mars is our goal,” Stephen Koerner, deputy director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center, said during the press conference Saturday. “As global interests and capabilities in space exploration continue to expand, America stands ready to lead,” he said, adding, “The completion of the CHAPEA-1 mission is an important step toward that goal.”
Simulated spacewalks, robotic operations, habitat maintenance, training and crop growing were among the crew members’ daily activities during the mission.
The CHAPEA crew simulated a realistic Martian communications delay of up to 22 minutes one way, according to NASA, which includes messaging with mission control and communicating with the crew’s friends and family outside the mission.
Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) is a series of analog missions that will simulate year-long stays on the surface of Mars. Each mission will consist of four crew members living in Mars Dune Alpha, an isolated 1,700 square meter habitat.
Bill Stafford/NASA
There were no fresh food deliveries, so team members were limited to prepackaged, shelf-stable foods and the ability to grow a few crops during the mission.
The crop growing system within the CHAPEA habitat is similar to systems used for home gardening and can support the growth of leafy crops, herbs and small fruits, according to NASA.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to live out the idea that we should use resources no faster than they can be replenished and produce waste no faster than they can be processed back into resources,” crew member Brockwell said during the press conference.
Mars Dune Alpha offered four separate sleeping quarters for crew members, with a total interior of 1,700 square feet, according to NASA. The habitat included a bathroom and shower area, a kitchen and a living room with a table and furniture, as well as designated fitness and laundry areas.
Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) is a series of analog missions that will simulate year-long stays on the surface of Mars. Each mission will consist of four crew members living in Mars Dune Alpha, an isolated 1,700 square meter habitat.
Bill Stafford/NASA
Suzanne Bell, director of NASA’s Behavioral Health and Performance Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center, spoke to ABC News in February when the agency was recruiting for its second mission.
“We mimic what we expect for a surface mission of the Martian habitat,” Bell said. “We collect all kinds of data so we can learn how people can survive and thrive in that circumstance.”
Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) is a series of analog missions that will simulate year-long stays on the surface of Mars. Each mission will consist of four crew members living in Mars Dune Alpha, an isolated 1,700 square meter habitat.
Bill Stafford/NASA
The next CHAPEA mission is planned for spring 2025; the third is expected to start in 2026.
Bell said the three missions are designed to eliminate “the anomaly of a particular crew or individual.”
“We’re looking at how we can best support people in their human health circumstances. We’re starting to see trends that we can interpret to better support people of the future,” Bell explained.
To qualify for the program, volunteers must be healthy, non-smoking US citizens or permanent residents between the ages of 30 and 55 and proficient in the English language.
Crew members must have a master’s degree with STEM qualifications and experience in the field or at least 1,000 hours of piloting an aircraft or the required military experience.
“I’ve been asked many times: Why the obsession with Mars? Why go to Mars?” said crew member Selariu after the mission was over. “Because it is possible,” Selarius continued, adding, “Because space can unite and bring out the best in us. Because it is a defining step Earthlings will take to light the way in the coming centuries.”