2023-04-17 18:51:38
This is the hidden face of the preparation of Martian missions. Because it’s not just the Starship or the SLS, the Space Launch System, which are essential to achieve this, the astronauts must also be ready. NASA intends to carry out similar missions in a new habitat starting this summer.
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It is a discreet phase in the very long preparation for a manned mission to Mars. Never has such a flight been undertaken and it is out of the question to set off on an adventure without being able to anticipate what awaits the crew. Analog missions are among the best solutions to prepare astronauts for a mission to Mars. The ultimate missions will no longer be on Earth, but on the Moon with Artemis.
Three similar long-term missions are planned in this new habitat presented by the NasaNasa.
The Mars Dune Alpha Habitat
On April 11, NASA invited the press to the Johnson Space Center (Texas) dedicated to astronaut training, to show the new habitat where a long-duration similar mission is planned from this summer: the Mars Dune Alpha Habitat , housed inside a large hangar.
The habitat will accommodate four people. It has four rooms, a room dedicated to sports activities, as well as a space simulating outdoor outings, including mursmurs are adorned with life-size photos of Martian landscapes. There is also a bathroom and one of the rooms is dedicated to medical care. There is also a vertical farm, several workstations and a relaxation area.
The total living area is 160 m². What is unique is that everything was built by impression 3Dimpression 3D. « It is one of the technologies that NASA sees as potential for building habitat on other planetary or lunar surfaces. said Grace Douglas, principal researcher of experiments Cope (Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog, the Mars Dune Alpha Habitat-like mission program). To remain realistic, part of the floor will be made of sablesable red. Moreover, some of the exterior equipment, such as the weather Channelweather Channelwill be partially covered with sand at the start of the missions.
A one-year mission starting this summer
The crew that will inaugurate the habitat has not yet been revealed. He will spend a year of mission there, the first out of three in the Chapea program. This is a first for NASA. The agency had never conducted such long missions. The experience is one of isolation. NASA intends to monitor health physiquephysique and mental health of the crew members in the face of such long confinement. They were also recruited in the same way as astronauts, with the emphasis, however, on scientific knowledge.
To simulate the expeditions outside without being able to leave the hangar protecting the habitat, NASA has planned that the walk of the analog astronauts will be on conveyor beltconveyor belt, they will be suspended from cables in order to reproduce as closely as possible the Martian gravity, corresponding to only 38% of ours. Regularly, the crew will be put to the test with stressful situations, such as a restriction of access to the water, or equipment failures.
Almost on Mars
Similar missions have been around for decades. Astronauts regularly participate in the program’s underwater missions Nemo or underground with the European program Caves. Beyond the agencies, there are several sites dedicated to similar missions. The best known is the Mars Desert Research Stationin the desertdesert of Utah, which welcomes crews (including students) for missions of a few weeks. There is also a desert station in Israel, as well as in the Gobi Desert, China. The most notable analogous mission dates from 2010-2011 with the international Mars 500 mission, where a crew of 7 was confined for 520 days.
These similar missions make it possible to get to know each other better and to work better as a team. It is a mental work over the long term and for which NASA and the space agencies need to know more. Because, apart from the Apollo missions passing on the other side of the Moon, the astronauts have never been cut off from the Earth. In L’ISSISS, they are constantly working while being connected with dozens of people on the ground. During the trip to Mars, they will be alone for at least 18 months. The Artemis missions to the Moon will also help to prepare for the great voyage, being analogous missions but in real conditions.
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