Everyone needs a feel-good show.
Killing time
Confined to a small but high-tech living space, stranded in a cold desert world completely different from our own, what do you do to relieve stress after a arduous day of scientific fact-finding and exploring on foot?
NASA Simulation of Mars habitation experiment — the Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) mission — may provide the answers.
According to microbiologist Anka Serariu: 4 participants After 378 days living without any contact with the outside world inside a 3D-printed replica Mars base, the crew’s downtime consisted of “a lot of TV and downloaded books,” she said. Said Parents.
To stay sane, Serariu has also tried to improve her painting skills. “I can’t say I was successful,” she added.
we They also know their habitat. It came with a PlayStation 4 and a board game like Starfarers of Catan. — and we eagerly await the admission of one of these brilliant minds that they indulged in these guilty pleasures.
Stress testing
These are fun little details about life as extraterrestrial settlers, but they also provide important insights for NASA, which wants to ensure the well-being of the astronauts who will have to work together to survive for potentially many years on Mars and other planets.
During their stay in the settlement, the sub-colonists were required to grow their own food and manage their own limited supplies, and they also had to contend with a realistic time delay for communications with Earth, approximately 44 minutes round trip.
On top of that, participants were forced to don full protective gear every time they left Dune Alpha, a relatively small building, and embarked on the expedition, which included a mock “Mars walk” and the many scientific objectives they were expected to accomplish. Mission managers also sometimes introduced stressful scenarios, such as supply shortages or equipment failures, to observe how the crew would react.
“This study integrates all kinds of data from a behavioral and team dynamic perspective,” Serariu said. Parents“And the question wasn’t necessarily whether humans could survive the kind of isolation and confinement they would find on Mars, but rather, ‘how would we adapt?'”
Building bonds
Serariu found the experience “really exhilarating” – and, fortunately, it seems others in his group felt the same way.
“We were an incredibly functional crew, very cohesive, and had a lot of cherished moments together,” Serariu said. Parents“Obviously, there are times when you realize you don’t have friends and family nearby, but you feel the support from everyone on the ground.”
NASA plans to conduct two more one-year CHAPEA missions, with the next one scheduled to launch in 2025.
“The CHAPEA mission is critical to developing the knowledge and tools humanity will need to live and work on the Red Planet in the future,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. statement after the crew completed the mission earlier this month.
More about life on Mars: NASA to monitor solar impacts on Mars to see impact on astronauts
