Table of Contents
Four volunteers have begun a 378-day simulation of life on Mars. They will live in a special building that looks like Mars and face difficult challenges that can happen in space.
NASA is carefully watching and learning from this simulation to help them plan a real trip to Mars in the future.
The four volunteers, scientist Kelly Haston, engineer Ross Brockwell, emergency physician Nathan Jones, and microbiologist Anca Selariu, were chosen from a group of applicants for NASA’s Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) mission, even though they are not trained astronauts.
They are now living inside a special 3D-printed building called Mars Dune Alpha at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The building is similar in size to a big house and has a kitchen, private rooms, bathrooms, and areas for work and exercise.
During the simulation, the volunteers won’t be able to see their families much, and they will face challenges like not having enough supplies and equipment malfunctions.
One thing that will be different from Mars is the gravity because Mars has less gravity than Earth. However, NASA will use virtual reality to make it feel like the volunteers are really on Mars when they go outside for spacewalks and other tasks.
The data collected during this project will help NASA understand what it’s like to travel to Mars and live there. It will also help them plan better for future missions.
The building will stay sealed until July 7, 2024.
Vocabulary
- Volunteer – A person who chooses to help others or do something without being forced to; a person who does something even though nobody tells them to do it
- Simulation – Pretending to do something to practice or learn how to do it; a model of a real activity, created for training purposes or to solve a problem
- Face a challenge – Deal with or work on a difficult problem or task
- Space – the area outside of Earth
- Scientist – a person who studies science or the natural world; researcher
- Engineer – a person who designs, builds, and/or maintains engines, machines, buildings, etc.
- Emergency – a dangerous/serious and sudden/unexpected situation
- Physician – A doctor who helps people when they are sick or hurt
- Microbiologist – A scientist who studies very tiny living things called microorganisms
- Applicant – Someone who applies or asks to get a job or be part of something
- Mission – an expedition into space; an important job that a person is sent somewhere to do; A special task or goal that someone or a group is trying to achieve
- Trained – Having learned and practiced to do something well
- Astronaut – a person who is trained to travel in space
- Supplies – Things that are needed to do a job or task; things or tools needed to live and/or work
- Equipment – machines; tools; gear; hardware
- Malfunction – When something doesn’t work correctly or stops working
- Virtual reality (VR) – special technology that creates a digital world that looks and feels real
- Data – Information or facts that are collected and stored
- Sealed – Completely closed off, so that nothing can get in or out
Quiz
Discussion Questions
- How do you think the volunteers will feel about not being able to see their families much during the simulation? Why?
- What do you think are the most important qualities or skills needed for someone participating in a simulation like this?
- If you had the opportunity, would you want to participate in a Mars simulation like this?
- What do you think would be the biggest challenges of living on Mars for an extended period of time? Why?
- Why do you think it is important for NASA to conduct simulations like this before planning a real trip to Mars?
Original Story
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