NASA Shows Mars Habitat where Four People Will Live for One Year

NASA Shows Mars¹ Habitat where Four People Will Live for One Year

NASA showed off a simulated³ Mars environment this month where four volunteers will live for one year to help the American space agency prepare to send humans to the planet.

The volunteers, who are not astronauts, are expected to enter the environment, called a habitat, in June. It was built at a major research base at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

During their stay, crew members will take part in many different activities, NASA said in a statement. This will include taking part in simulated spacewalks, doing robotic work, caring for the habitat, exercising and planting crops.

The 160-square-meter habitat is also designed to recreate environmental pressures that future visitors to Mars could face. Examples of this will be carrying out activities with limited resources, being isolated⁵ and experiencing equipment failures, NASA said.

The simulated environment was built using 3D printing technology. 3D printers have been used in recent years to build increasingly large structures, including entire homes.

The Mars habitat is part of a NASA program known as the Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog⁶ (CHAPEA). It is expected to include a total of three simulated environments.

Grace Douglas is the lead researcher of the CHAPEA experiments. She told the French news agency AFP that NASA has been looking at 3D printing technology as a possible way "to build habitats on other planetary or lunar surfaces."

NASA officials are still in the early stages of preparing for a mission to Mars. However, most of the agency's current efforts support upcoming Artemis missions, which aim to return humans to the Moon for the first time in half a century.

While in the habitat, NASA workers will continuously follow the volunteers' physical and mental health.

With that data, NASA will be better equipped to study how astronauts can learn to use only the resources they have, Douglas said. "We can really start to understand how we're supporting them with what we're providing them," she said. "And that's going to be really important information to making those critical resource decisions," she added.

The habitat includes an "outdoor" area that simulates⁷ the Martian surface and environment. That area, however will still be within the simulated environment.

The volunteers who will take part in the first experiment have not yet been named. NASA says the process of choosing the individuals will follow the same guidelines⁸ that are used to choose astronauts. The team members will be expected to have rich backgrounds in science, technology, engineering and math.

In addition, only American citizens or permanent U.S. residents can be chosen. Interested individuals have to be between 30 and 55 years old, in good physical health and have no dietary issues or motion sickness.

Former Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield told The Associated Press in 2021 that he thinks the requirements show that NASA is looking for people who are close to being astronauts. That, he noted⁹, is a good thing because it will make the experiment better.

A past Russian effort to create a simulated Mars environment, called Mars 500, was not highly successful, Hadfield said. This is because the people involved were too much like everyday people, he added.

For the right person this could be great, Hadfield said. He spent five months in orbit in 2013 at the International Space Station.

"Just think how much you're going to be able to catch up on Netflix," Hadfield joked. "If they have a musical instrument there, you could go into there knowing nothing and come out a concert musician, if you want," he added.

Words in This Story

simulate² – v. do or make something that behaves or looks like something real but is not

isolate⁴ – v. separate someone or something from other people or things

mission – n. a flight by an aircraft or spacecraft to perform a specific task

dietary – n. things related to a person's diet

concert – n. a performance of music and or singing

1 Mars   

n.火星，战争

参考例句：

• As of now we don't know much about Mars.目前我们对火星还知之甚少。
• He contended that there must be life on Mars.他坚信火星上面一定有生物。

2 simulate   

vt.模仿，模拟，假装，冒充

参考例句：

• The wood had been painted to simulate stone.木头上刷了漆以看起来像块石头。
• A sheet of metal was shaken to simulate the noise of thunder.猛力抖动金属片以模仿雷声。

3 simulated   

a.伪装的，模仿的

参考例句：

• The effects of weathering can be simulated in the laboratory. 在实验室里可以模拟各种天气产生的影响。
• She showed simulated enthusiasm towards us. 她向我们表示了虚假的热情。

4 isolate   

vt.使孤立，隔离

参考例句：

• Do not isolate yourself from others.不要把自己孤立起来。
• We should never isolate ourselves from the masses.我们永远不能脱离群众。

5 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

6 analog   

n.类似物，模拟

参考例句：

• The analog signal contains high-frequency video information,which helps make up the picture.模拟信号包括有助于构成图像的高频视频信息。
• The analog computer measures continuously,without proceeding step by step.模拟计算机不是一步一步地进行，而是连续地进行量度。

7 simulates   

假装( simulate的第三人称单数 )； 模仿； （用计算机或模型等）模拟

参考例句：

• Viral bovine rhinotracheitis simulates and may be combined with shipping fever. 牛病毒性鼻气管炎和运输热相似，并可能和运输热同时发生。
• The insect simulates a twig. 这种昆虫看上去像一个小树枝。

8 guidelines   

n.指导方针，准则

参考例句：

• The government has drawn up guidelines on the treatment of the mentally ill. 政府制订了对待精神病人的指导方针。
• Planners seem a little uncomfortable with the current government guidelines. 规划师似乎不太接受现行的政府指道方针。

9 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。