NASA concludes 378-day Mars mission simulation — Engadget

In Houston, United States, NASA’s second team of volunteers is leaving a ground-based Mars habitat simulator after 378 days of the Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) mission. The agency will livestream the event on YouTube and its social media channels; the start is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

A year in a Mars simulator

The CHAPEA Mission 2 crew included Ross Elder, Matthew Montgomery, Ellen Ellis, and James Spicer. They entered the complex on October 19, 2025, and spent more than a year living in a 1,700-square-foot 3D-printed facility at NASA Johnson in Houston.

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The participants carried out simulated Mars mission operations on Earth: they conducted mock spacewalks, maintained the habitat module, and grew plants. They also passed through an airlock to leave the complex. As Engadget reports, the volunteers faced isolation, communication delays, and limited resources—conditions that future participants in flights to Mars and the Moon may encounter.

The next analog mission

NASA began seeking volunteers for CHAPEA missions in 2023, and the first crew entered the simulator in June of that year. The agency is already accepting applications for the Moon and Mars Exploration Analog program, which will combine elements of CHAPEA with other NASA simulation programs. It is scheduled to begin no earlier than August 2027. NASA says data from such missions will help optimize the design of food systems for future lunar missions and prepare for long-term stays in space.