SSince being released from a year-long stay on Mars Dune Alpha, Nathan Jones has many questions as he readjusts to life on his home planet.
What do Martians eat? How do Martians get along with each other? What do Martians actually do all day?
“Living on Mars … has been an incredible experience, unlike anything else on Earth,” said Jones, one of four crew members aboard the simulated Martian habitation mission, Chapea 1, at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
“It felt very real. The only thing that wasn’t real was the lack of Martian gravity, but I don’t think that’s a reasonable expectation.”
Chapea-1, or crew health and performance Exploration Analog, the first of three experiments to gauge how humans could survive and thrive on Mars, employed private sector volunteers as crew members and used a giant 3D printer to build a 1,700-square-foot living space.
One of the few places in the solar system with conditions that suggest life, even in a simple form, could exist, learning about the Red Planet could tell us more about Earth’s past and future. Getting there is one thing, surviving there is another.
“Knowing that this mission is what will lead humanity to the next giant leap has been by far one of the greatest experiences, along with working with so many incredible experts at NASA,” Jones said. I answered the “Martians Wanted” ad. Posted by NASA in 2022.
Mars’ Dune Alpha was created using a giant 3D printer
Bill Stafford/Chapea Crews/NASA
“The worst times are as you would imagine: not having time with family and friends, not seeing the people that really matter, births, deaths, weddings? All of those things.”
Analog missions are NASA’s way of using environments that have physical similarities to those on Earth – real environments or human-created environments – to field test the unique challenges associated with living and working in deep space.
They explore similar environments – the Arctic, Antarctica, the ocean floor, deserts, volcanic lava fields – to identify hazards and develop safety and mitigation strategies. Crew members must know how to repair and maintain equipment, devise solutions, grow food, stay healthy, and maintain good relationships.
Astronauts will train inside life-size mock-ups of spacecraft, underwater in NASA’s 27-million-liter zero-gravity laboratory — one of the world’s largest indoor swimming pools — and aboard a zero-gravity aircraft nicknamed the “Vomit Comet,” which uses roller-coaster-like flight patterns to simulate the weightlessness of space.
NASA said it chose Jones because he was able to take on a “unique challenge.”
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Preparation for future interplanetary exploration will involve testing new technologies, robotic devices, vehicles, habitats, communications, and infrastructure, as well as the effects of isolation and confinement on human health and behavior.
Radio signals from Mars, NASA The goal is to send humans to space in the 2030s. Even traveling at the speed of light, the one-way trip would take 23 minutes, meaning that by the time an astronaut reports an emergency and mission controllers on the ground respond, they could already be dead.
Jones will never know whether the simulated communications delays between the inhabitants of Mars Dune Alpha and the outside world affected his skill at the card game Uno that he played with his kids via email. “I don’t know if any of the games we played were open to cheating,” he said, laughing.
No one will say whether there were any violent conflicts among the crew, but the psychological tendency to create interpersonal conflicts is one of the traits NASA tries to eliminate in the selection process.
Team Aerospace crew members will be selected according to the same criteria NASA uses for astronaut candidates, and part of the process involves finding recruits who have the “fit” to live and work with others in a hostile environment without becoming mentally ill, breaking down or becoming violent.
Other requirements included a master’s degree in a technical field such as engineering, mathematics or computer science, or at least 1,000 hours of piloting experience.
Mars Dune Alpha included a red sandbox where crew members could simulate a “Mars walk.”
Bill Stafford/Johnson Space Center/NASA
Jones, an emergency physician from Springfield, Illinois, specializes in “prehospital and aggression medicine,” a highly pressured area of patient care where access to resources can be limited and the risk of life-threatening outcomes is increased. He is also an associate professor of emergency medicine.
NASA selected Jones, citing his ability to tackle “unique challenges” and his “expertise in problem-solving and effective communication in time-constrained, resource-limited environments.” Joining him on the team were crew commander Kelly Haston, a scientist who studies human diseases; U.S. Navy microbiologist Anka Serariu; and structural engineer Ross Brockwell.
Jones endured depression and tears during his 378 days of detention while the crew carried out an intense research schedule that included scientific work, robotics testing and “Mars walks” in pressure suits and helmets on a simulated surface environment.
“I cried when I entered and when I left. I’m an emotional person,” he said, referring to his choking up as he entered the space habitat on June 25, 2023, and when he left on July 6 to say goodbye and return to Earth.
NASA began recruiting astronaut candidates two years ago.
NASA/Alamy
Their daily menus were similar to those on the International Space Station and were designed by food scientists and nutritional biochemists to minimize “menu fatigue,” which can lower morale and cause astronauts to eat less than they should. The specially packed meals, which could be woken up by adding heat and water, were accompanied by fresh vegetables, which were grown on board the space station, to provide a morale boost.
Brockwell built basketball hoops to help fill the crew’s free time, and Jones relieved stress by working on art, surprising himself with the results of some of his sketches.
When Jones heard about a worrisome diagnosis his family received while on his mission, he felt wracked with guilt and lamented not being able to be there with them. “I wish I could have been there as a doctor and as a family member to ask questions and offer support,” he said.
“But I had great support from NASA. I was a little worried that worrying about my family would be a stressor or a weakness for me, but it actually became a strength.”
The habitat was climate-controlled to keep people comfortable despite temperatures on Mars sometimes dropping to minus 128 degrees Celsius. The larger test took place two days after the crew escaped from Mars Dune Alpha. Houston was hit by Hurricane Beryl.
NASA wants to send astronauts to Mars in the 2030s
Michael Benson/ESA/Getty Images
“Coming in, it took me a little while to get used to not having sunlight, so when I left it felt really good to be back in sunlight and feel the radiation. Houston didn’t need to be this dramatic,” Jones said.
The biggest thing he learned, he said, is “how the small steps we take can lead us to the next big leap in space exploration.”
When Jones got home, his first priority was “hugging my family and letting them know how much I missed them and how much I cared about them,” but secondly, having fun: “I actually like burgers. I haven’t been out in over a week and a half and I haven’t had one yet.”
