As we as a civilization are now officially on a course that would eventually lead to humans landing for the first time on an alien planet, a lot of work needs to be conducted to get everything ready. And that does not mean in terms of hardware only, but also in terms of how humans will cope will long journeys to another world.
To date, the longest time someone has continuously been in space is 355 days. The record belongs to Mark Vande Hei, who recently returned from the International Space Station.
That’s ten days short of a full year, and one would think a trip to Mars, which should last about seven months, is well within the realm of possibility, given Vande Hei’s record. But one would be wrong, on account of several things, including the fact that Mars-goers will not be so close to home, but will be surrounded by hundreds of miles of empty, black space.
To study how humans react to such prolonged isolation, NASA kicked off in 2021 something called the Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA). That’s a closed habitat located at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, where studies on a number of things can be performed.
The first HERA stay concluded in late 2021, and the second one in March this year. On May 27, the third crew will make an imaginary trip to Mars and will be “en route” until July 11.
This time, NASA selected four people for the task: aerospace and robotics engineer Roberto Carlino, aerospace engineer Alejandro Diaz, systems engineer Brad Hensley, and nurse anesthetist Jennifer Milczarski. Senior data scientist Russ Klvacek is included on the list as backup.
The four’s simulated mission to Mars will have them become the subject of study to see how they cope with isolation and confinement. During their stay in HERA, they will have to perform science and maintenance, and as they get virtually closer to Mars’ moon Phobos, they’ll even be faced with some challenges, including communication delays.
Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies. Full profile
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