The Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) is a series of missions conducted by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

simulating missions on Mars. It consists of three missions, the first of which began on June 25, 2023. The mission is contained in a hangar at the

Johnson Space Center The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is NASA's center for human spaceflight in Houston, Texas (originally named the Manned Spacecraft Center), where human spaceflight training, research, and flight controller, flight control are conducted. ...

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. Efforts to mimic a real Mars mission include a 22-minute delay in communications, resources limitations, simulated equipment failures, and simulated

spacewalks Extravehicular activity (EVA) is any activity done by an astronaut in outer space outside a spacecraft. In the absence of a breathable atmosphere of Earth, Earthlike atmosphere, the astronaut is completely reliant on a space suit for environme ...

Habitat

The habitat, known as Mars Dune Alpha, is a 1700 square foot

3D-printed 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, is the Manufacturing, construction of a three-dimensional object from a computer-aided design, CAD model or a digital 3D modeling, 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material i ...

area designed to simulate the type of structure that would be built on a mission to Mars. It includes crew quarters, an exercise area, a work room, a recreation area, and a crop area. The crop area has been used to grow peppers, tomatoes, and other vegetables. The exterior of the habitat simulates the surface of Mars complete with a backdrop of cliffs and a ground made of red soil, which on a real mission to Mars could be used to 3D print the habitat. To leave the hangar out to the exterior, crew members go through an

airlock An airlock is a room or compartment which permits passage between environments of differing atmospheric pressure or composition, while minimizing the changing of pressure or composition between the differing environments. An airlock consist ...

Missions

The CHAPEA project consists of three missions.

CHAPEA 1

NASA began looking for applicants for CHAPEA 1 in 2023 with the following qualifications: # Be either a permanent resident or a citizen of the United States # Be between 30 and 55 years old # Have either 1,000 hours of pilot-in-command time on a jet aircraft or have two years of experience in a related

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field # Pass the NASA long-duration flight astronaut physical exam # Have a master's degree in STEM, two years of work toward a doctoral program in a STEM field, a

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degree, or have completed a pilot school program. The first CHAPEA mission began on June 25, 2023, with four crew members: Kelly Haston, a research scientist and the mission's commander, Ross Brockwell, a

structural engineer Structural engineers analyze, design, plan, and research List of structural elements, structural components and structural systems to achieve design goals and ensure the safety and comfort of users or occupants. Their work takes account mainly of ...

and public works administrator, Nathan Jones, an emergency medicine physician, and Anca Selariu, a

microbiologist A microbiologist (from Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, fungi, and some types of par ...

. The mission concluded July 6, 2024, with a total duration time of 378 days.

CHAPEA 2 and 3

The second CHAPEA mission is scheduled to begin in the Spring of 2025, with the application process being open from February 16 to April 2, 2024. The third and final scheduled CHAPEA mission is scheduled to begin at some point in 2026.

References

{{Reflist NASA programs Human analog missions

Habitat

Missions

CHAPEA 1

CHAPEA 2 and 3

See also

References