Space is a vast and largely undiscovered cosmic terrain filled with thousands of planets, comets and perhaps extraterrestrial lifeforms. Each year, NASA conducts hundreds of missions to increase human understanding of life above ground.
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For those interested in exploring the cosmos and experiencing life outside of Earth's orbit, NASA is offering an opportunity to spend a year on Mars. Or, at the very least, experience an intense simulation that closely resembles a trip to the "Red Planet."
NASA is actively recruiting volunteers for its Moon and Mars Exploration Analog (MMEA), a yearlong simulation program that is designed to replicate traveling and living on the Moon and Mars.
"For one year, research volunteers will live and work in isolation and confinement while simulating interplanetary transit and planetary surface operations, including simulated spacewalks," NASA said in a statement.
"This mission is the first in a ground-based environment that will simulate multiple parts of a Moon or Mars mission, combining elements of NASA's HERA (Human Exploration Research Analog) and the CHAPEA (Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog) missions into a single, integrated campaign."
For a calendar year, NASA said that volunteers would be "operating in a confined, isolated environment that mirrors deep?'space travel."
The 12-month program begins no earlier than August 2027 and will be based at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Texans interested in participating in the year-long simulation wouldn't have to travel far. The simulation program will be held at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
NASA Collecting Data to Assist With Future Mars Exploration
The median surface temperature on Mars is -85°F (-65°C). Because the atmosphere is so thin, heat from the Sun easily escapes Mars. Temperatures on the Red Planet range from the 70s°F (20s°C) to -225°F (-153°C).
Despite the freezing temperatures being virtually unsuitable for human life, NASA remains interested in human exploration of the Red Planet.
The space agency stated that its MMEA program will "provide valuable data for NASA's Human Research Program, which innovates ways to keep astronauts healthy and mission-ready."
The results also could inform plans for a sustained lunar presence through the agency's Moon Base and future Artemis missions.
One does not have to be a trained astronaut to volunteer. However, a lengthy list of requirements for program participants is found here.
