NASA puts Air Force Major and three astronauts into year-long isolation to study survival on Mars

As we edge ever closer to facing survival on Mars, NASA has launched a year-long isolation study where an Air Force Major will lead three astronauts in acclimatizing to the conditions on the red planet.

It’s well known that going into space has very specific effects on your body, as time passes at a completely different rate, and the atmospheres on different moons and planets would pose significant issues to humans.

But first on every astrophysicist’s list is Mars.

Now, as programs led by NASA inch us ever closer to setting foot on the planet, four people will be going through rigorous training to prepare for that day.

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NASA launches year-long study for four astronauts to get ready for survival on Mars

The race to colonize Mars is well and truly on, and leading the charge is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), with SpaceX coming in hot on its heels.

With its focus fixed on getting the human race to Mars, NASA has been preparing candidates for the day with lifelong training regimes.

Now, in a bid to get humans ready for survival on Mars and the changes to their bodies that may come into play, four people are being put into a special simulation, lasting over a year.

The simulation of a Mars mission will take place in a habitat inside the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

There, they will face ‘realistic resource limitations, equipment failures, communication delays, isolation and confinement, and other stressors.’

Air Force Major and Commander of the unit Ross Elder (right) will be joined by Medical Officer Ellen Ellis (left), Science Officer Matthew Montgomery, and Flight Engineer James Spicer (not pictured).

Some astronauts aiming to get out to Mars in this lifetime have revealed a list of problems that the human body will deal with.

Chief among them is making sure that a rocket can be loaded up with enough food to last at least six years, as current trips to the planet take three years in one direction.

How close are we to visiting Mars?

Already, humans have identified certain areas of Mars that look primed to accept our lifeform, captured by various Rovers and satellites.

With this new study, NASA is hoping to follow through on its goal to visit the planet in the 2040s – although it may send a humanoid before the Air Force and astronaut specialists.

“The simulation will allow us to collect cognitive and physical performance data to give us more insight into the potential impacts of […] long-duration missions to Mars on crew health,” said Grace Douglas, CHAPEA principal investigator.

“Ultimately, this information will help NASA make informed decisions to design and plan for a successful human mission to Mars.”

Survival on Mars could be paramount to ensuring our future, should generations pass and Earth become inhospitable, and this venture could be key to getting there.

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