NASA’s Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) is a series of analog missions built to test and simulate the harsh life and environmental conditions on Mars
In the Johnson Space Center, a 1700 sq. ft. 3D printed artificial habitat called Mars Dune Alpha is built for performing analog simulations using astronauts as volunteers ← CHAPEA-1 mission (part of 3 one-year missions)
- The color scheme of the habitat is rust red in color to imitate the colour of Mars’ land and atmosphere. It will be useful in 3D printing construction components to be built on Martian soil
- The crew’s downtime and work activity was all closely monitored by the crew responsible for conducting the simulation and performing studies
- Communication with ground control was one of the most challenging aspects because the time taken for a message to be sent from Mars to Earth is ~22 minutes, and the simulation delayed messages this much to replicate actual communications
My thoughts
I think that the experiments are pretty interesting and thorough. Plenty of potential challenges and teamwork dynamics are being simulated as accurately as possible but the most important thing that cannot easily be simulated is the real fear of realizing you’re trapped in a desolate planet far away from Earth, your home. The Mars Dune Alpha simulations aren’t psychologically accurate because they are still happening in Earth and the volunteers are closely monitored. If any seriously critical issue happens, the volunteers will receive quick support and the simulations can be paused for a while. What if they’re actually marooned in Mars?