A Yearlong, Simulated Mars Mission Has Begun in Texas...

NASA

At NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, the four members of NASA's Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) project have entered their home for the next year.

The CHAPEA crew—consisting of Anca Selariu, Nathan Jones, Ross Brockwell and Kelly Haston (who is the commander)—is simulating a Mars mission that will help assess health and performance influenced by resource limitations in confinement and isolation that would be experienced during an actual sojourn on the Red Planet.

The door to the Mars-like habitat is officially closed and the mission has commenced. Godspeed, CHAPEA Crew 1!