Volunteers to leave simulated Mars habitat after year-long mission

Four volunteers spent over a year in a Martian habitat. The mission will conclude on Saturday, July 6, at 5 p.m. EDT. The crew will leave the simulated habitat and return to regular Earth life.

Four volunteers, namely Kelly Haston, Anca Selarius, Ross Brockwell, and Nathan Jones have stayed in a 3D-printed Martian habitat since June 25, 2023. Their task was to live in a simulated Martian mission. This included activities such as growing vegetables to produce long-lasting food, maintaining equipment for the entire habitat, and functioning in stressful conditions that involved limited resources, isolation from other people, and communication problems with Earth.

As part of the first Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog mission, the volunteers were placed in a hangar at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The mission's conclusion will be broadcast on NASA media, including Facebook and X (Twitter).

NASA announced that due to the constraints of the facility housing the habitat and the crew's quarantine procedures, the event will proceed without journalists or the general public. The crew will be available for meetings in the upcoming days.

Living in Mars-like conditions is one way to prepare for a Martian mission. Another element that prepared NASA for the Mars voyage was the Artemis program. Its goal is to return humans to the Moon and establish a base on Earth's natural satellite. The program will primarily involve scientists, distinguishing it from the Apollo program, where the crew mainly composed of military personnel.