--- title: "NASA Locks Test Subjects Inside Simulated Mars Base" description: "What The CHAPEA 1 mission is officially underway. As CBS reports, NASA just locked four non-astronaut volunteers in a simulated Mars habitat, marking the beginning of NASA's much-anticipated Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA 1) missions. The participants — a group that includes research scientist Kelly Haston, structural engineer Ross Brockwell, emergency medicine physician […]" date: "2023-06-28" modified: "2023-06-28" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-test-subjects-simulated-mars-base" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Mars" - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "mars" - "mars simulation base" - "NASA" - "the digest" --- # NASA Locks Test Subjects Inside Simulated Mars Base ![NASA just locked four non-astronaut volunteers in a simulated Mars habitat, marking the beginning of the much-anticipated CHAPEA missions.]() *\Image: NASA\* ## Locked Down NASA's Mars simulation mission is officially underway. As [*CBS* reports](), NASA locked four non-astronaut volunteers inside a simulated Mars habitat on Sunday, marking the beginning of the space agency's Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA 1) missions. The participants — [a group that includes]() research scientist Kelly Haston, structural engineer Ross Brockwell, emergency medicine physician Nathan Jones, and US Navy microbiologist Anca Selariu — will remain in the 3D-printed Mars simulator for a full 378 days. CHAPEA 1 is the [first]() of three planned CHAPEA simulations and is designed to help us learn more about the "potential impacts of long-duration missions to Mars on crew health and performance," as NASA's Grace Douglas, the mission's principal investigator, said in an April [statement](). And with limited space and a dizzying array of complicated challenges to tackle, the mission is incredibly daunting — and NASA certainly isn't taking the crew's commitment lightly. "Thank you all for your dedication to exploration," Douglas told the crew during a Sunday [briefing](). "Our best wishes go with you." ## Extreme Challenges The experiment is no joke. According to [NASA](), the simulator includes "private crew quarters, a kitchen, and dedicated areas for medical, recreation, fitness, work, and crop growth activities, as well as a technical work area and two bathrooms," all within just 1,700 square feet. As *CBS* notes, the duties of the crew range from managing equipment failures, environmental stressors, and resource limitations to performing simulated spacewalks and growing crops. And in between all of that, participants also need to maintain their exercise, hygiene, and meal preparation routines. If we're being honest, most of us have a hard time managing our exercise and hygiene regimens on a day-to-day basis — let alone while trapped inside a Mars simulator with three other grown adults for an entire year. Close quarters aside, Haston, who has been crowned the team's commander, commended her fellow crewmates during the press briefing as an "amazing group of dedicated individuals who feel very passionate about space exploration and science," adding that space exploration "exemplifies some of the best qualities of humankind." "The crew has worked so hard this month to get ready for this mission," said Haston. "It has been very special to be a part of such a tremendous group of scientists and specialists from a diverse set of backgrounds working together to bring CHAPEA 1, the first of three missions, to reality." **More on CHAPEA:** [*NASA Selects Test Subjects to Contain in Simulated Mars Base*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()