NASA Mars simulation crew marks 200 days into 378-day mission
Updated
Updated · NASA · May 7
NASA Mars simulation crew marks 200 days into 378-day mission
5 articles · Updated · NASA · May 7
The four-person CHAPEA 2 team at Johnson Space Center in Houston is in a simulated two-week communications blackout and is due to leave the habitat on 31 October.
Commander Ross Elder and crewmates Ellen Ellis, Matthew Montgomery and James Spicer are operating without mission control contact, following preplanned procedures while conducting spacewalk drills, maintenance, robotics and crop growth.
NASA says the mission is collecting health, stress and productivity data under isolation, delayed communications and limited supplies to improve habitat design, support systems and planning for future Moon and Mars expeditions.
As crews risk 'psychological hibernation,' can Earth-based tests truly prepare astronauts for the mental toll of a real Mars mission?
To conquer Mars, should NASA prioritize astronaut psychological resilience or developing faster rockets to simply shorten the brutal journey?
With concepts from 3D-printed bases to living fungi, which revolutionary habitat technology will actually get humans to Mars first?