A volunteer crew members have gone on a simulated voyage to Mars within a ground-based habitat at NASA to investigate the isolation and confinement of exploration missions.
The 45-day simulation of a mission to Mars’ moon Phobos started on Friday at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The volunteer crew, including Jared Broddrick, Pietro Di Tillio, Dragos Michael Popescu, and Patrick Ridgley, entered the Human Exploration Research Analog, or HERA, which is intended to serve as an analog for the hardships of genuine space exploration missions, according to NASA.
The four guys were spotted entering the HERA structure before the door was formally locked and will not be opened until March 14, according to a video sent to NASA’s Johnson Space Center Twitter account.
According to the agency, the guys will have up to five minutes of delayed connection with the rest of the world while within the HERA structure. According to NASA, the purpose is to teach the crew and NASA coordinators to communicate under these conditions while guaranteeing a seamless operation.
A Good Grip On Emotional Regulation
They’re learning more about how teams perform in an autonomous environment with little interaction with Earth in this HERA campaign, as Brandon Vessey, research operations and integration element scientist for NASA’s Human Research Program, or HRP stated.
What they’re going to discover will influence future exploration missions beyond low-Earth orbit. This will assist guarantee that our astronaut crews can successfully work through the obstacles of long-duration spaceflight, such as communication delays, as Vessey adds.
According to NASA’s website, this is the second of four “Campaign 6” missions done by HERA to assist study into the behavioral and team performance of extended length missions. The campaign’s last mission is slated for September 12, 2022.
Individuals must be healthy nonsmokers between 30 and 55 to be eligible for the missions. To be considered for the HERA crew, applicants must submit their resumes to Johnson Space Center’s Exam Subject Screening department and pass a medical and psychological test.
HRP plans to conduct 15 research during the missions to gather data that will assist NASA in landing the first woman and first person of color on the moon, a strategy known as “Artemis.” According to NASA, the objective is to build the first long-term presence on the moon, which will advise the agency as it prepares to send the first men to Mars.
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