The simulated Martian habitat includes a massive 1,200-square-foot sandbox with red sand to simulate the Martian landscape. There are living and leisure facilities and other amenities.

How is it going to be?

On Sunday, the four researchers donned their black suits and entered the red world, where they will spend just over a year (378 days) living and working in CHAPEA’s simulated Martian environment.

I feel incredibly lucky and blessed to be a part of this team and mission. Being both a scientist and a subject, collecting data that will enable new methods and safer space travel is both a career and a personal achievement.
– says Kelly Gaston, one of the four participants in the experiment.

In 2021, NASA sent out a call for volunteers to “healthy, motivated” U.S. citizens aged 30 to 55 to join the first of the three-year mission. Thus, Gaston was selected to participate in the study in April, along with civil engineer Ross Brockwell, emergency medicine physician Nathan Jones, and US Navy microbiologist Anka Selarou.

The 1,200-square-foot 3D-printed home is located at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. It has:

• Kitchen.
• Two bathrooms.
• Separate bedrooms.
• Working area.
• Rest area for communication.

Simulation of Martian settlement Mars Dune Alpha / Photo by NASA

Simulation of Martian settlement Mars Dune Alpha / Photo by NASA

Habitat will simulate the challenges of a Mars mission, including resource constraints, equipment failure, communication delays and other environmental stresses. In the simulated Martian environment, four volunteers will perform a variety of activities similar to a Mars mission, including simulated spacewalks, robotic operations, habitat maintenance, personal hygiene, exercise and crop growing.