2023-04-18 22:55:00
The NASA seeks to be able to go beyond the knowledge we have about the universe and thoroughly investigate the astral bodies that surround us. That is why it prepares missions so that, in the near future, it can reach Marte.
The main idea would be to send astronauts to the nearby planet to late 2030s or early 2040s. For this to happen, researchers will have to overcome challenges, both from the technological capabilities of the aircraft and from the human aspects of the crew.
NASA invested millions of dollars to build houses on the Moon and Mars
The aerospace agency has developed a new project that will seek to observe the negative consequences of spend a year on the red planetsimulating its extreme conditions.
Scouting missions and crew performance, CHAPEA (for its acronym in English), will challenge research teams to a series of challenges that could be experienced on Marssuch as resource constraints, equipment failures, communication delays, and other stressors.
In June 2023, the operations of the first of three missions to be carried out in the Johnson Space Centerlocated in Houston. For a year, four people will be locked in a 518-square-meter habitat, prepared for them to live and work as if they were on the so-called red planet.
“The simulation will allow us to collect physical and cognitive performance data to give us more information about the potential impacts of long-duration missions to Mars on crew health and performance,” says Grace Douglas, the project’s principal investigator.
What will the habitat be like to simulate life on Mars?
Known in English as Mars Dune Alphathe habitat prepared by NASA is a 3D printed structure con wash offa high-strength concrete that can be printed at high speed without losing its shape.
The chosen material is due to the fact that, in the future, the settlements destined for the planet will possibly be built with this technology, since it would avoid having to transport large amounts of materials from the earth to mars.
Within the created surface, the spaces will be divided between sectors for living and sectors for working, with:
- Four private crew quarters.
- Work stations.
- Medical station.
- Common rooms.
- Cooking stations and growing food.
Voyages on “Mars” within the habitat
In the spaces created for the investigation of survival on Mars, the participants will face simulated crossings. They will be carried out in pairs in a part of the habitat full of arena rojato simulate the Martian landscape.
The sandbox will contain various equipment, such as a treadmill to emulate walks or virtual reality devices, which will allow members to simulate long journeys, beyond the physical limits of 112 square meters of space.
He objective of each route will vary throughout the research year. For example, at times the team will focus on field geology work, locating and identifying rocks of interest, taking photographs for documentation, and retrieving a sample for analysis.
Some of the virtual reality rides will also include scientific and maintenance activities such as setting up experiment packs or taking steps to mitigate dust and optimize solar panel functionality.
“We would ask them to do geology work, then they would probably do some construction and also some exploration. Those are the three categories we are looking at for CHAPEA: geology, construction and exploration,” explained Raina MacLeod, deputy project manager for CHAPEA at Johnson.
A “bear” on Mars? The curious photo that NASA took on the red planet
The team that will spend a year on “Mars”
To face the challenge of being locked up for a year in the simulation that recreates the conditions of Mars, NASA selected a four-member teamincluding two men and two women.
The participants were selected through a call for applicants launched by the Aerospace Agency in 2020:
- Kelly Haston: commander. She is a research scientist with experience building models of human disease.
- Ross Brockwell: flight engineer. Specialized in structural engineering and public works administrator.
- Nathan Jones: emergency medical specialist.
- Alyssa Shannon: scientific officer. advanced practice nurse
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