If you're wondering when we set foot on the planet Mars and didn't take it for granted, you're right. No, no man has gone to Mars yet. NASA runs one program simulation here on Earth.
Two men and two women have since June 25, 2023 “landed” and are surviving on a fake planet Mars, in a sensational NASA experiment for survival and assessment of behavior in isolation conditions.
The four-member volunteer crew of astronauts is obliged to live for a whole year in a place identical to the planet Mars and with the same conditions. All was going well until about halfway through when Dr. Nathan Jones, the crew's physician, said he "accidentally destroyed" one of their rovers.
Destroying a robot is serious business when you are on a foreign and inhospitable planet so the event is considered tragically dangerous.
Jones, Selariu, Brockwell and mission leader Kelly Haston volunteered to live in a 3D-printed habitat on Mars for a year as a dress rehearsal for life on the Red Planet.
The home of approximately 157 square meters is located at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Outside the habitat, called Mars Dune Alpha, is a domed facility designed to resemble the surface of Mars, complete with red dust and craggy faces.
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And it is the first of at least three groups to participate in Mars-like isolation studies for the sake of research into human behavior. NASA to achieve its purpose has made its best efforts to simulate life on the fake Mars as realistically as possible.
This includes restricting the crew from communicating with their friends and family, as well as simulating the delay in communication the astronauts would have with Earth from space.
The crew has experienced various mission activities such as Mars exploration, habitat conservation, plant cultivation, physical excercise and the operation of robots.
Part of the study also involves deliberately placing the crew in stressful conditions, such as limiting their food resources and working through equipment failures. With that in mind, it's unclear whether Jones accidentally damaged the rover or whether NASA intended it to malfunction on purpose as part of the experiment.
The crew can also wear spacesuits when they go outside their home. The crew is also afforded the luxury of a 'window' where the view changes depending on the time of day. However, it is actually a large screen TVs that plays a video, which matches the conditions of the sun as seen from Mars.
When they have free time, the crew plays board games, video games from a PS4 brought into the habitat, or their musical instruments. Jones brought along a Fender guitar, while Haston has a travel-sized ukulele.
The crew has formed a book club to read and discuss books they have with them, and they also enjoy watching movies and TV shows from a limited database.
In a recent information from the crew, Haston, reported that some of their crops should be ready to harvest around the new year.
