NASA Selects New Crew for Next Simulated Mars Journey
NASA has selected a new crew of four volunteers to participate in a simulated mission to Mars within a habitat at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Jason Lee, Stephanie Navarro, Shareef Al Romaithi, and Piyumi Wijesekara will step into the agency’s Human Exploration Research Analog, or HERA, on Friday
Once inside, the team will live and work like astronauts for 45 days. The crew will exit the facility on June 24 after they “return” to Earth.
HERA enables scientists to study how crew members adapt to isolation, confinement, and remote conditions before NASA sends astronauts on deep space missions to the Moon
This crew is the second group of volunteers to participate in a simulated Mars mission in HERA this year.
The most recent crew completed its HERA mission on March 18. Two other missions will follow this year, with the final HERA crew slated to wrap up on Dec. 20.
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As with the previous HERA mission this year, NASA’s Human Research Program is conducting 18 human health studies during the mission.
The experiments will evaluate the physiological, behavioral, and psychological responses of crew members in an environment similar to what astronauts will face on a trip to Mars.