Scientists reappear after a year in Mars simulation project – DW – 07/07/2024

A year later, four scientists in United State The life simulation experiment ended on Saturday. Mars.

Amidst loud applause, the four volunteers left the venue. NASA– They built the Mars Dune Alpha rover, where they spent the past 378 days completely isolated from the outside world.

The 160-square-meter building at the Johnson Space Center in Houston is designed to simulate conditions on the Red Planet. The habitat is a 3D-printed facility, complete with bedrooms, a gym, common areas and a vertical farm to grow food.

The building also includes an outdoor area, separated by an air chamber. This space is filled with red sand, and is where the team changed into the suits needed to conduct the “Mars walks.”

What did the scientists do?

Anca Celario, Ross Brockwell, Nathan Jones and team leader Kelly Haston have spent the past year growing vegetables, conducting “mars trips” and working under what NASA calls “extra stress.”

These difficulties included delayed communication with “the land,” including with their families; isolation; and confinement.

As they left the habitat on Saturday, the four volunteers were visibly emotional.

“We can do these things together,” Brockwell said. “We can use our senses of wonder and purpose to bring peace and prosperity and unleash knowledge and joy for the benefit of everyone in every part of the planet.”

What space exploration missions await us in 2024?

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What is the purpose of the mission?

This mission was the first in a series called the Crew Health and Performance Analog Exploration (CHAPEA). Its goal is to help NASA prepare to send humans to the Moon and, one day, to Mars.

“This project gives us an opportunity to learn all these important things about these complex systems, and it will make going to Mars and back safer,” said Julie Kramer, NASA’s director of engineering.

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Additional CHAPEA missions are planned for 2025 and 2027, she said.

A year-long mission to simulate life on Mars in habitats in Hawaii was launched in 2015 and 2016. NASA participated in the mission but did not lead it.

As part of its Artemis program, the United States plans to to send humans to the moon To learn how to live there long-term. This would help prepare for a trip to Mars sometime in the late 2030s.

D/M/T (AFP, DPA)

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