WE TALK ABOUT
Volunteers start year-long Mars simulation
IT SOUNDS like something from a sci-fi film – four people are trapped on a mission to Mars where they are forced to find ways to survive the barren planet. But this is no make-believe story.
This is the situation researchers find themselves in after starting a new ground-based simulation of life on the planet Mars.
The four researchers moved to their new specially built habitat at Nasa’s Johnson Space Center in Houston in the US last month, aiming to shed light on challenges that future human explorers may encounter on the Red Planet. The team also want to find out how long-term habitation on another planet will affect human emotional wellbeing.
The mission, known as Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (Chapea), is the first of three such missions planned between now and 2026. These missions are part of the American space agency’s plan to send the first astronauts to Mars.
WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?
For the next 12 months, the crew will be sealed
