Crew conducted simulated Marswalks, grew vegetables and maintained equipment
Exit from habitat livestreamed on NASA TV on July 7, 2024
Mission informs planning for real-life crewed missions to Mars in late 2030s or early 2040s
NASA's Mars simulation mission, CHAPEA, ends after 378 days for four volunteers
Volunteers missed significant global events including Hamas attacking Israel and killing around 1,200 people
NASA's year-long Mars simulation mission, known as CHAPEA (Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog), is coming to an end. Four volunteers - Kelly Haston, Anca Selariu, Ross Brockwell and Nathan Jones - have spent 378 days inside a mock Mars habitat at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. The crew entered the habitat on June 25, 2023 and have since conducted simulated Marswalks, grown vegetables for sustenance, maintained equipment and performed tasks designed to support life on Mars. They missed significant global events during their stay including Hamas attacking Israel and killing around 1,200 people. The crew is scheduled to exit the habitat on July 7, 2024.
This marks the end of NASA's first CHAPEA mission. Applications are currently being accepted for the second mission which is expected to begin in spring 2025.
The volunteers have grown vegetables like tomatoes, peppers and leafy greens for sustenance. They have also experienced communication delays with Earth and isolation, as they would on Mars. Their experiences will inform NASA's planning for real-life crewed missions to the Red Planet in the late 2030s or early 2040s.
The quartet's exit from the habitat will be livestreamed on NASA TV starting at 5PM ET. The volunteers have spent over a year living and working inside NASA's Mars Dune Alpha habitat, a 1,700-square-foot (158 square meters) 3D-printed structure designed to feel like an isolated Red Planet outpost.
The article mentions the crew missed significant global events including Hamas attacking Israel and killing around 1,200 people. However, no sources are provided to verify this information.
NASA’s yearlong simulation of a Mars stay, called CHAPEA, is coming to an end.
The four volunteers - Kelly Haston, Anca Selariu, Ross Brockwell and Nathan Jones - have spent 378 days inside a mock Mars habitat.
They are scheduled to exit the habitat in Houston on a specific evening.
This is the first of three planned one-year missions, with applications currently being accepted for the second mission expected to begin in spring 2025.
The crew has conducted simulated Marswalks, grown vegetables and performed tasks designed to support life and work on Mars.
The volunteers missed significant global events including Hamas attacking Israel and killing around 1200 people, global temperature records being shattered, Donald Trump’s criminal conviction for falsifying business records to commit election fraud, South Koreans changing their age counting system and the premiere of Barbie and Oppenheimer in cinemas.
They grew their own vegetables like tomatoes, peppers and leafy greens for sustenance.
Accuracy
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No informal fallacies found. Some exaggeration and potentially misleading statements. Dichotomous depiction present in the context of Mars exploration goals and events missed during the mission. Appeals to authority by mentioning NASA's plans for Moon return as a springboard for Mars exploration.
Speaking at a news conference after they were allowed back into the world, Ms Selariu said bringing life to Mars was the "one thing dearest to my heart".
The crew is the first of three to undertake such missions at the Johnson Space Center, in Houston, Texas.
NASA is still planning for a return to the Moon - which they hope will act as a springboard for Mars exploration.
The quartet simulated Mars mission operations, grew and harvested vegetables, maintained equipment and habitat, and experienced communication delays with Earth.
They missed significant global events including Hamas attacking Israel and killing around 1,200 people.
