Looking for Martians

This past weekend on February 16, NASA announced they are looking for a few good Martians. It is all part of their Martian Simulation Mission that takes place in Houston, Texas. This is the second of three simulations, with this simulated mission expected to last a year. T four-person volunteer crew will be living and working inside a 1,700-square-foot, 3D-printed habitat. The habitat, called the Mars Dune Alpha, simulates the challenges of a mission on Mars, including resource limitations, equipment failures, communication delays, and other environmental stressors. Crew tasks include simulated spacewalks, robotic operations, habitat maintenance, exercise, and crop growth. Crew selection will follow the general NASA astronaut guidelines.

You can read more about the requirements at https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/martians-wanted-nasa-opens-call-for-simulated-yearlong-mars-mission. You can read about the program CHAPEA (Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog) at https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/chapea/.

Lastly, NASA has released a short video about the program