Locked inside a habitat in Texas and cut off from the outside world for more than a year, Kelly Heston was the commander of a first-of-its-kind simulation for NASA in preparation for a future mission to Mars.
From conducting mock “marswalks” to tending a vertical garden and battling the occasional boredom — Heston expressed pride in advancing the cause of space exploration, while also admitting the experience made him reconsider the reality of life on the Red Planet.
“Going to space would be an amazing opportunity,” the 53-year-old biologist told AFP. “But I would say it would be even more difficult after experiencing what it feels like to leave your people.”
Photo credit: X/@NASA_Johnson
The overarching goal of this experiment, called CHAPEA (Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog) Mission 1, is to better understand the effects of isolation on crew performance and health.
The project lasted 378 days and finished in early July.
After all, a trip to Mars could easily take more than two years, including six to nine months of transit time and the time NASA is expected to spend on the planet.
The hardest part for Heston was clear: “I could have stayed in that accommodation for another year and survived with all the other restrictions, but your people — you miss your people so much.”
Photo credit: X/@NASA_Johnson
Communications with the outside world were delayed by twenty minutes in each direction, simulating how long it takes for a radio signal to travel between Earth and Mars.
Some limits were also imposed on sending and receiving videos, keeping bandwidth restrictions in mind.
Heston said the worst feeling was when relatives or friends were going through a difficult time. “You couldn’t be there for them all the time.”
Her only direct human contact was with her three team mates and fellow Martian colonists – but she insists there was never any bad blood between them.
“Of course, there were times when we would get irritated, or something would be bothering us, whether it was as a crew or individually,” he explained.
“But communication in this group was very good,” she said, and besides, such problems were few and far between. “Up until the very end, we ate meals together.”
Photo credit: X/@NASA_Johnson
His 1,700-square-foot (160-square-meter) home included crew quarters, common areas, and even an area for growing crops like tomatoes and peppers.
The 3D-printed habitat, called “Mars Dune Alpha,” was installed inside a hangar at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The simulated “Marswalk” was conducted outdoors in an area that recreated the Martian environment with red soil and rocks painted on the walls.
Crew members donned space suits and passed through an airlock to reach the “sandbox,” as it was nicknamed, and actions were coordinated by their colleagues inside.
the sadness
“There were days when you really wished you were outside, I can’t lie,” says the Canadian woman, who now lives in California. But, to her surprise, the pain got worse in the end.
Boredom periods are an inevitable part of long space missions, and it was precisely this extended solitude that set CHAPEA apart from most previous “analog” missions.
Hellston warded off boredom by embroidering mission symbols and pictures of Mars.
“Of course, the analogs cannot solve all the problems or all the issues of the eventual mission to Mars,” he said, although the lessons learned will be helpful in planning.
X/@NASA_Johnson
Each team member’s food intake was carefully documented, blood, saliva and urine samples were collected, and their sleep habits and physical and cognitive performance were analyzed.
“The food system is the biggest driving force for human missions, and we’re going to be short on resources for these missions,” NASA scientist Grace Douglas said on the podcast.
This makes it important to determine the minimum provisions necessary to maintain the health of the astronauts and ensure mission success.
For now, NASA is keeping details of the crew’s operations secret to maintain the element of surprise for the next two phases of the mission. CHAPEA 2 is scheduled for 2025.
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