The inaugural CHAPEA (Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog) crew is “back on Earth” after leaving its simulated Martian habitat at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on July 6. The first of three simulated missions, CHAPEA Mission 1, was designed to help scientists, engineers and mission planners better understand how life on another world might affect human health and performance.
Kelly Haston, commander, Ross Brockwell, flight engineer, Nathan Jones, physician, and Anca Selariu, science officer, lived and worked in a 1,700-square-foot, 3D-printed, isolated environment to support research into human health and performance. future missions to Mars.
“Congratulations to the CHAPEA 1 crew for completing a year in a simulated Mars environment,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “Through the Artemis missions, we will use what we learn on and around the Moon to take the next giant leap: sending the first astronauts to Mars. CHAPEA missions are critical to developing the knowledge and tools needed for humans to one day live and work on the Red Planet.
The crew exited the habitat and returned to the arms of family and friends after a 378-day simulated mission to the surface of Mars that began on June 25, 2023.
This high-fidelity simulation involved the crew performing various types of mission objectives, including simulated “Marswalks”, robotic operations, habitat maintenance, exercises and crop growth. The crew also faced intentional environmental stressors in their habitat, such as resource limitations, isolation, and confinement. For the next two weeks, volunteers will complete post-mission data collection activities before returning home.
“We have planned for the past 378 days with many of the challenges that crews can face on Mars, and this crew has dedicated their lives during that time to achieving these unprecedented operational goals,” said CHAPEA Principal Investigator Grace Douglas. “I look forward to diving into the data we have collected in preparation for the CHAPEA 2 mission and ultimately a human presence on Mars.”
As NASA works to establish a long-term presence for scientific discovery and exploration on the Moon through the Artemis campaign, analog missions like CHAPEA provide science data to validate systems and develop technology solutions for future Mars missions.
Two more one-year CHAPEA missions are planned, with the next scheduled to begin in 2025. Subsequent missions will be nearly identical, allowing researchers to collect data from more participants to expand the dataset and provide a broader view of Martian impacts. realistic resource constraints, isolation, and constraints on human health and performance.
NASA has several other avenues for collecting isolation research, including the Human Exploration Research Analog, Antarctica and other analogs, as well as human spaceflight missions to the International Space Station to ensure that key research objectives can be completed to inform future human missions to the moon. and Mars.
CHAPEA’s simulated missions are unique because they test the effects of extended isolation and confinement with the addition of realistic Earth communication time delays—up to 44 minutes round trip—along with limited resources relevant to Mars, including more limited food. system that can be supported on the space station and in other analogues.
To view the crew’s departure ceremony from their station, visit here.
NASA’s Artemis campaign will establish the foundation for long-term scientific exploration of the Moon, land the first woman, first person of color and its first international astronaut partner on the lunar surface, and prepare for human expeditions to Mars. benefit of all.
Learn more about CHAPEA at:
www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/chapea/