NASA’s Simulated Mars Crew Marks One Year Inside Habitat 

Members of NASA’s CHAPEA (Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog) Mission 2 crew stands in their workspace after spending a year in their isolated and confined habitat at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. (from left: James Spicer, Matthew Montgomery, Ellen Ellis, and Ross Elder).NASA The four crew members in NASA’s simulated Mars mission have spent the past year living and working in isolation in a confined habitat at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. For the past 365 days, the Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) Mission 2 crew members have operated as though they were on the Red Planet, growing crops, managing limited resources, navigating communication delays, and conducting suited extravehicular activities on a simulated Martian surface. Crew members include Ross Elder, mission commander; Ellen Ellis, medical officer; Matthew Montgomery, science officer; and James Spicer, flight engineer. They entered their 1,700 square foot 3D-printed habitat Oct. 19,...