A New Four-Person Crew Will Simulate a Year-Long Mars Mission, NASA Announces (nasa.gov) 43
Somewhere in Houston, four research volunteers "will soon participate in NASA's year-long simulation of a Mars mission," NASA announced this week, saying it will provide "foundational data to inform human exploration of the Moon, Mars, and beyond."
The 378-day simulation will take place inside a 3D-printed, 1,700-square-foot habitat at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston — starting on October 19th and continuing until Halloween of 2026: Through a series of Earth-based missions called CHAPEA (Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog), NASA aims to evaluate certain human health and performance factors ahead of future Mars missions. The crew will undergo realistic resource limitations, equipment failures, communication delays, isolation and confinement, and other stressors, along with simulated high-tempo extravehicular activities. These scenarios allow NASA to make informed trades between risks and interventions for long-duration exploration missions.
"As NASA gears up for crewed Artemis missions, CHAPEA and other ground analogs are helping to determine which capabilities could best support future crews in overcoming the human health and performance challenges of living and operating beyond Earth's resources — all before we send humans to Mars," said Sara Whiting, project scientist with NASA's Human Research Program at NASA Johnson. Crew members will carry out scientific research and operational tasks, including simulated Mars walks, growing a vegetable garden, robotic operations, and more. Technologies specifically designed for Mars and deep space exploration will also be tested, including a potable water dispenser and diagnostic medical equipment...
This mission, facilitated by NASA's Human Research Program, is the second one-year Mars surface simulation conducted through CHAPEA. The first mission concluded on July 6, 2024.
The 378-day simulation will take place inside a 3D-printed, 1,700-square-foot habitat at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston — starting on October 19th and continuing until Halloween of 2026: Through a series of Earth-based missions called CHAPEA (Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog), NASA aims to evaluate certain human health and performance factors ahead of future Mars missions. The crew will undergo realistic resource limitations, equipment failures, communication delays, isolation and confinement, and other stressors, along with simulated high-tempo extravehicular activities. These scenarios allow NASA to make informed trades between risks and interventions for long-duration exploration missions.
"As NASA gears up for crewed Artemis missions, CHAPEA and other ground analogs are helping to determine which capabilities could best support future crews in overcoming the human health and performance challenges of living and operating beyond Earth's resources — all before we send humans to Mars," said Sara Whiting, project scientist with NASA's Human Research Program at NASA Johnson. Crew members will carry out scientific research and operational tasks, including simulated Mars walks, growing a vegetable garden, robotic operations, and more. Technologies specifically designed for Mars and deep space exploration will also be tested, including a potable water dispenser and diagnostic medical equipment...
This mission, facilitated by NASA's Human Research Program, is the second one-year Mars surface simulation conducted through CHAPEA. The first mission concluded on July 6, 2024.
Haven't they done this before? (Score:5, Interesting)
Didn't they end up playing a lot of video games to stave off boredom? What's different this time? They 3D printed a building but they didn't pressurize it so its not even testing actual simulation conditions and its the same building they used last year...
We've been doing these isolated human studies since Biosphere, maybe before if you count the isolation experiments by NASA, what exactly are they trying to figure out about human psychology and conditions of isolation? I'm all for space exploration but I really don't understand these LARP (live action role playing) "Mars simulators"..
Re:Haven't they done this before? (Score:4, Interesting)
They 3D printed a building but they didn't pressurize it so its not even testing actual simulation conditions and its the same building they used last year...
They're testing the performance of the crew, not the structural integrity of their habitat. Full bio-isolation in a sealed structure might be useful, but perhaps it's not essential at this stage.
[...] what exactly are they trying to figure out about human psychology and conditions of isolation?
Per TFS:
The crew will undergo realistic resource limitations, equipment failures, communication delays, isolation and confinement, and other stressors, along with simulated high-tempo extravehicular activities. These scenarios allow NASA to make informed trades between risks and interventions for long-duration exploration missions.
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They 3D printed a building but they didn't pressurize it so its not even testing actual simulation conditions and its the same building they used last year...
They're testing the performance of the crew, not the structural integrity of their habitat. Full bio-isolation in a sealed structure might be useful, but perhaps it's not essential at this stage.
[...] what exactly are they trying to figure out about human psychology and conditions of isolation?
Per TFS:
The crew will undergo realistic resource limitations, equipment failures, communication delays, isolation and confinement, and other stressors, along with simulated high-tempo extravehicular activities. These scenarios allow NASA to make informed trades between risks and interventions for long-duration exploration missions.
Mars apparently no farther away than any less affluent area.
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They're testing the performance of the crew, not the structural integrity of their habitat.
Hardly. That's in my I'm-not-a-rocket-surgeon opinion.
While I'm no psychologist I can figure out that this simulation is not likely to stress the people the same way as an actual mission to Mars. Not likely to be even close. They know that if there's some failure that they can just open up a door and walk away, that such a failure is not likely to result in their death, or even some permanent harm. They must know if they screw up bad enough then a lot of people will rush in to help, including hauling th
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We can look at submarine crews to see the psychological effects of long periods of close confinement.
Answer: People adapt to the close quarters and do their jobs.
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Like I said:
What's different this time?
Science is testing theories, and again, I'm not sure what's different this time than the last few attempts or what additional data they can garner from putting four people in the same situation they keep putting people in. Keep in mind this is NOT even close to the first attempt - https://www.nasa.gov/analog-missions/ [nasa.gov]
Normally NASA is pretty good about saying exactly what science is being done, the experiments or tests being executed, and what data they are gathering. We know how peopl
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Suppose the question remains, what is *different* compared to the previous experiments of similar design, or is it just a matter of "yeah, it's the same experiments, just trying to get a larger sample size"?
The person recognized this is a test of the crew, not the tech, but just wondering why since we've experimented with crew before.
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The crew will undergo realistic resource limitations, equipment failures, communication delays, isolation and confinement, and other stressors, along with simulated high-tempo extravehicular activities. These scenarios allow NASA to make informed trades between risks and interventions for long-duration exploration missions.
If the goal is to find out whether people will snap under all these stress factors then first, these are highly trained very dedicated people who are fully aware of all the risks, and second, the stressors will be massively different given they know full well that this is a simulation. People may react very differently knowing that equipment failure is simulated and if all else fails they can just walk out of the testing environment as opposed to really being on Mars where the equipment failure may condemn
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People may react very differently knowing that equipment failure is simulated and if all else fails they can just walk out of the testing environment as opposed to really being on Mars where the equipment failure may condemn them all to a very unpleasant death.
True, but pilots, f'rinstance, find aircraft sims to be very useful, despite having similar flaws. Does length of time on task affect usefulness, or something else?
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Its called Science.
You don't trust a single simulation. You test, validate, re-test, re-validate, rinse and repeat over again with different variables tweeked to ensure validity.
Re:Haven't they done this before? (Score:4, Funny)
Are they getting the radiation exposure too?
You know, for science?
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Not forgetting the lack of/low gravity piece as well?
Because that's not exactly a negligible issue.
Should also throw in having to deal with the extremely fine, toxic, grit that wouold be a constant reminder the universe hates us.
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If ever there was a case for unsaturated experimental design, this is it. Very likely there are variable interactions you cannot measure unless your changes capture them. Funny how science or engineering teams never really learn how to do experiments for all the noise we hear about it, especially in the States.
"Move fast, break people"
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You test, validate, re-test, re-validate, rinse and repeat over again with different variables tweeked to ensure validity.
That's nice.
Meanwhile, the government has $31 Trillion in debt.
Is it sensible to be spending tax dollars on something SpaceX is already doing with private dollars?
BIO[DOME]SPHERE 2 (Score:1)
This was attempted at Biosphere 2, just outside Tucson, Arizona. Also don't miss the Pauly Shore/Steven Baldwin/Tia Carrera movie "Biodome" which made it seem almost as funny as it really was.
The joke around Tucson was that if you wanted to meet a Biospherean, just go to Pizza Hut for buffet lunch... because they kept opening the doors to let more oxygen in... because concrete takes YEARS to cure and absorbs a ton of oxygen along the way.
Eventually the failure of an experiment was destroyed by its hippie e
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What's different this time?
It could just be different people. Experiment 1: all alpha males,experiment 2: B ark candidates only, etc.
can we noninate someone? (Score:4, Insightful)
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He already lives all by himself in the twattersphere, receding from the rest of humanity with ict
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I was thinking that the guy that wants to live on Mars should be in this simulation.
Don't you mean the man that wants to die on Mars?
I'm fine with the first few missions to Mars being intended to be a one way trip. Not that the people would be expected to take a poison pill once the food and oxygen run out. I mean they'd go with a plan to stay with the intent to die of old age, or die trying. That changes the mission parameters that there would be no need for a return vessel. I doubt such a mission could get the required approvals though.
Then is that if there's a ship that can carry a
Spending for the sake of spending (Score:4, Insightful)
There is no chance of NASA sending anyone to Mars in the next 10-15 years.
Simulating anyone living on Mars with current technology is the complete waste of time. By the time NASA have any real chance of sending people to Mars, the technology available, e.g. automated robots for chores, AI for companionship, synthetic food, etc, would be so vastly different that the result of this simulation would be no different than studying people living in a cave for a year.
This is purely spending money for the sake of spending, so NASA's budget would have something there in hopes of it won't get slashed next year. But it will in any case, we can hope this project is the one getting axed rather than other projects that might give some useful results.
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There is no chance of NASA sending anyone to Mars in the next 10-15 years.
There will be a SpaceX welcoming party when they arrive.
CHAPEA (Score:5, Funny)
Okay, as long as it's not named Capricorn One [wikipedia.org].
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Good news! They're very aware of the baggage associated with that name, so they're referring to it as Andromeda. The initial testing is happening in Houston, but then they're redeploying to a spot just outside Piedmont Arizona.
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Live streamed? (Score:2)
I'd watch the live stream if Pauly Shore is part of the crew.
Will they simulate death at end of mission ? (Score:2)
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I mean, in a more perfect world it would be a *simulated* death.
They'll make them go and live in Boisie?
Life on mars (Score:1)
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I think to give an American centric pioneer perspective, Most people who say they want to go tot he moon are thinking like late 18th century Denver/Kansas city. Small towns, rustic living, most basic necessities available. They aren't thinking early 18th, where the native people of the land were rather upset at having their land stolen and were fighting back, and no train access to the more civilized east. You want something from New York/ Boston, you
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Three-legged giants. That's what.
Compare to space station (Score:2)
Simulation Incomplete (Score:1)
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Predicting training fatalities. (Score:2)
pointless (Score:2)
Pretending to do something while actually doing nothing. If one of them gets seriously sick, will they stay isolated?
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Welcome to Biosphere 3 (Score:2)
where do I sign up (Score:2)