Volunteer Crew to Exit NASA’s Simulated Mars Habitat After 378 Days

The four volunteers who have been living and working inside NASA’s first simulated yearlong Mars habitat mission are set to exit their ground-based home on Saturday, July 6. NASA will provide live coverage of the crew’s exit from the habitat at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston at 5 p.m. EDT.

NASA will stream the activity, which will include a short welcome ceremony, on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, the agency’s website, and NASA Johnson’s X and Facebook accounts. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms, including social media.

The first Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) mission began in the 3D printed habitat on June 25, 2023, with crew members Kelly Haston, Anca Selariu, Ross Brockwell, and Nathan Jones. For more than a year, the crew simulated Mars mission operations, including “Marswalks,” grew and harvested several vegetables to supplement their shelf-stable food, maintained their equipment and habitat, and operated under additional stressors a Mars crew will experience, including communication delays with Earth, resource limitations, and isolation.

In addition to the CHAPEA crew, participants include:

• Steve Koerner, deputy director, NASA Johnson
• Kjell Lindgren, NASA astronaut and deputy director, Flight Operations
• Grace Douglas, principal investigator, CHAPEA 
• Judy Hayes, chief science officer, Human Health and Performance Directorate
• Julie Kramer White, director of engineering 

Due to facility limitations and crew quarantine requirements, NASA is unable to accommodate requests to attend the event in person. Media interested in speaking with the mission’s crew members in the days following the conclusion of their mission must send a request by 4 p.m. July 6, to the Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 or jsccommu@nasa.gov.

NASA is leading a return to the Moon for long-term science and exploration through the Artemis campaign. Lessons learned on and around the Moon will prepare NASA for the next giant leap – sending the first astronauts to Mars.

Learn more about CHAPEA:

https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/chapea/

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Rachel Kraft
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
rachel.h.kraft@nasa.gov

Laura Sorto
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
laura.g.sorto@nasa.gov