12/09/2026
# Part Time # DM
NASA Needs Volunteers to Spend a Year Living in a Simulated Mars Mission.
Preparing humans for Mars isn't just about building powerful rockets—it also means understanding how people will cope with months of isolation, limited resources, and delayed communication millions of kilometers from Earth. That's why NASA is recruiting volunteers for its next long-duration Moon and Mars analog mission, building on the lessons learned from the CHAPEA (Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog) program.
Participants will spend an entire year living inside a highly realistic habitat at NASA's Johnson Space Center, carrying out astronaut-like tasks such as simulated spacewalks, equipment maintenance, scientific research, and crop cultivation. They will also experience communication delays, resource limitations, and other challenges designed to mirror the conditions future crews will face on journeys to Mars.
The goal isn't to test rockets—it's to test people. By studying how crews adapt physically and psychologically during long periods of confinement, NASA hopes to improve spacecraft design, mission planning, and astronaut health for future expeditions to the Moon and, eventually, the first human mission to Mars.
Every day spent inside these simulated habitats brings scientists one step closer to answering one of humanity's biggest questions: what will it take for people to survive—and thrive—on another world?
