NASA has selected a new team of four research volunteers to participate in a simulated mission to Mars within the Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) facility at Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Erin Anderson, Sergii Iakymov, Brandon Kent, and Sarah Elizabeth McCandless will begin their simulated trek to Mars on Friday, August 9th. The volunteer crew members will spend 45 days inside the 650-square-foot habitat, emerging on Monday, September 23rd after a simulated "return" to Earth. Jason Staggs and Anderson Wilder will serve as alternate crew members.
These HERA missions provide valuable scientific insights into the effects of isolation, confinement, and the unique demands of working and living in remote conditions, mimicking the potential experiences of astronauts on deep space missions. The facility, located alongside the Crew Health and Performance Analog (CHAPEA), supports frequent, shorter-duration simulations. This current crew marks the third group of volunteers to participate in a simulated Mars mission in HERA this year, with four total analog missions planned for the series.
During their summer simulation, the crew will engage in a variety of science and operational tasks, including:
Hydroponic Gardening: Harvesting plants from a hydroponic garden.
Shrimp Farming: Growing shrimp.
CubeSat Deployment: Simulating data gathering through the deployment of a small CubeSat satellite.
Virtual Reality Exploration: "Walking" on the surface of Mars using virtual reality goggles.
Drone Operations: Flying simulated drones on the simulated Mars surface.
To enhance realism, the team will also face increasingly longer communication delays with Mission Control throughout their mission, culminating in five-minute lags as they "approach" Mars. This mirrors the real-world communications delays of up to 20 minutes that astronauts would experience while traveling to Mars.
NASA's Human Research Program will conduct 18 human health experiments during each of the 2024 HERA missions. These studies collectively investigate the potential impact of a Mars-like journey on crew members' mental and physical health. The research will also enable scientists to test procedures and equipment designed to ensure the safety and well-being of astronauts during future deep space missions.
Meet the Crew:
Erin Anderson: A structural engineer at NASA's Langley Research Center, Anderson specializes in composite structures used in air and space travel. She holds a bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Illinois and a master's in Aeronautical Engineering from Purdue University.
Sergii Iakymov: An aerospace engineer with over 15 years of experience in various fields, including research and design, Iakymov is currently the Director of the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees in Aviation and Cosmonautics from Kyiv Polytechnic Institute in Ukraine.
Brandon Kent: A medical director in the pharmaceutical industry, Kent focuses on developing new cancer therapies. He holds bachelor's degrees in Biochemistry and Biology from North Carolina State University and a doctorate in Biomedicine from Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
Sarah Elizabeth McCandless: A navigation engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, McCandless is responsible for tracking and predicting the trajectories of spacecraft, including the Mars Perseverance rover. She holds a bachelor's in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Kansas and a master's in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.
Alternate Crew Members:
Jason Staggs: A cybersecurity researcher and adjunct professor of computer science, Staggs has experience as an analog astronaut and has participated in scientific expeditions in Antarctica.
Anderson Wilder: A graduate student in psychology at the Florida Institute of Technology, Wilder researches team resilience and human-machine interactions. He has also worked at the Mars Desert Research Station.
Through these simulated missions, NASA continues to advance its understanding of human adaptation and performance in extreme environments, paving the way for future human exploration of the solar system.