Approximately four people have applied to live in Mars Dune Alpha for a year in preparation for sending astronauts to Mars. Using a 3D printer, this complex in Houston's Johnson Space Center was made to resemble a Martian habitat.
Volunteers will be trained for a simulated Mars exploration mission that may include spacewalks, communications breakdowns, and limited food and resources.
This will be the first of three experiments planned by NASA for fall of next year. At this time, there are no windows and all food will be ready-to-eat space food.
NASA opened the application process on Friday, but it isn't looking for just any applicant. Pilots must have at least one year of command experience in the air and to have a master's degree in a science, engineering, or math field. The competition is open only to Americans and permanent U.S. residents. The applicant must be between the ages of 30 and 55, a physically fit and healthy individual, without dietary restrictions or motion sickness.
That shows NASA is looking for people who are close to astronauts, said former Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield. And, he said, that’s a good thing because it is a better experiment if the participants are more similar to the people who will really go to Mars. Past Russian efforts at a pretend Mars mission called Mars 500 didn’t end well partly because the people were too much like everyday people, he said.