NASA Research Volunteers Set to Embark on Next Simulated Mars Mission

NASA has selected a fresh team of four research volunteers to participate in a simulated Mars mission within the Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The Volunteer Crew for the Next Mars Simulation

Erin Anderson, Sergii Iakymov, Brandon Kent, and Sarah Elizabeth McCandless are set to commence their simulated Mars journey on Friday, August 9. 

These volunteers will live in the 650-square-foot habitat for 45 days, with their mission concluding on Monday, September 23, after a simulated return to Earth. Jason Staggs and Anderson Wilder will serve as alternate crew members.

Interestingly, Sergii Iakymov is an aerospace engineer of Ukrainian origin who has served as the director of the Mars Desert Research Station, a private, Utah-based research facility that serves as an operational and geological Mars analogue.

Purpose of the HERA Missions

HERA missions provide crucial insights into human responses to isolation, confinement, and the challenging conditions akin to those faced by astronauts on deep space missions. 

These missions are designed for frequent, shorter-duration simulations, working in tandem with the Crew Health and Performance Analog (CHAPEA) in the same facility. This crew is the third to embark on a simulated Mars mission in HERA this year, following the previous crew’s mission, which ended on June 24. In total, four analog missions are planned for this series.

Mission Activities and Experiments

Throughout the summer simulation, the participants will undertake various scientific and operational tasks, such as:

• Harvesting plants from a hydroponic garden
• Cultivating shrimp
• Deploying a small CubeSat for data collection simulations
• Using virtual reality goggles to simulate walking on the Martian surface
• Flying simulated drones over the simulated Martian terrain

The team will also encounter increasingly longer communication delays with Mission Control, reaching up to five minutes as they simulate approaching Mars. Actual Mars missions may experience communication delays of up to 20 minutes.

Human Health Research

NASA’s Human Research Program will conduct 18 human health experiments during each of the 2024 HERA missions. 

These studies aim to understand a Mars-like journey’s mental and physical health impacts on crew members. Additionally, the research will help scientists test procedures and equipment designed to ensure astronaut safety and well-being during deep space missions.