For NASA’s simulation of a stay on the red planet, 4 volunteers return home after 378 days in a mock Mars habitat. The crew — Kelly Haston, Anca Selariu, Ross Brockwell and Nathan Jones — plans to leave the 3D-printed habitat in Houston this evening. You can watch their return live on NASA TV (below) beginning at 5PM ET.
This marks the end of NASA’s first Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) mission. There are already plans for two more one-year missions, one of which NASA recently accepted applications.
The Mission 1 crew entered the 1,700-square-foot habitat at Johnson Space Center on June 25 of last year, and have spent the months since then conducting simulated Marswalks, growing vegetables, and performing other tasks designed to support life and work in the environment. habitat maintenance. No exact dates have yet been set for the second CHAPEA mission, but it is expected to launch in the spring of 2025.
