Crew of Nasa's earthbound simulated Mars habitat emerge after a year

HOUSTON: The crew of a Nasa mission to Mars emerged from their craft after a yearlong voyage that never left Earth. The four volunteer crew members spent more than 12 months inside Nasa's first simulated Mars environment at Johnson Space Center in Houston, coming out of the artificial alien environment Saturday around 5 p.m.

Kelly Haston, Anca Selariu, Ross Brockwell and Nathan Jones entered the 3D-printed habitat on June 25, 2023, as the maiden crew of the space agency's Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog project.

Haston, the mission commander, began with a simple, "Hello."

"It's actually just so wonderful to be able to say 'hello' to you all," she said. Jones, a physician and the mission medical officer, said their 378 days in confinement "went by quickly."

The quartet lived and worked inside the space of 17,000 sq ft to simulate a mission to the red planet, the fourth from the sun and a frequent focus of discussion among scientists and sci-fi fans alike concerning a possible voyage taking humans beyond our moon.

The first CHAPEA crew focused on establishing possible conditions for future Mars operations through simulated spacewalks as well as growing and harvesting vegetables to supplement their provisions and maintaining the habitat and their equipment.