Astronomers and other specialists have been working for the past few decades to explore exciting space discoveries. One of the four volunteers who will spend a year on Mars is Canadian researcher Kelly Haston. The 52-year-old told the AFP news agency that they will initially receive training in a Martian habitat in Houston, Texas, before being flown to the planet's surface.
In Houston, Texas, towards the end of June, Haston and three other volunteers will enter a Martian habitat. NASA, the US space agency, will assess the crew's behaviour in a constrained and isolated setting throughout their training time. Equipment breakdowns and water restrictions will be experienced by participants in Houston.
Additionally, due to the communication interruptions between Earth and Mars, which can range from 40 minutes in both directions to up to 20 minutes in each direction, their interactions with the outside world would be restricted. The Mars Dune Alpha habitat in Houston is a 1,700 square foot (160 square metre) facility that was 3D printed. It has beds, a gym, social areas and vertical farm to grow food.
When you enter, it really feels huge, according to Haston, who went there before her joining was officially announced. Additionally, according to Haston, there is an outdoor place where they will recreate mission walks or journeys on Mars. It will be necessary for the crew to put on their suits for "spacewalks," which Haston said is "likely one of the activities that I'm looking eagerly to doing most."
READ | Supernova! Rare cosmic event of star exploding and disappearing recorded: Know what is it, how it happens?
Haston said that she is concerned about how she would manage to be apart from her family and shared her anxiety. She will only be able to communicate frequently via email, infrequently via videos, and never in person. She intends to use her prior experiences, such as a study trip to Africa where she examined the genetic traits of frogs near Lake Victoria, to deal with it.
Without dependable mobile phone reception, she spent many months sleeping in vehicles and tents with four other individuals. NASA has three missions in the works, collectively known as CHAPEA (Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analogue), the first of which is this one.
In Hawaii, a habitat was used for a year-long project replicating life on Mars in 2015–2016, however, NASA was not in charge of it. Around the end of the 2030s, as part of the Artemis project, America intends to send people back to the Moon to discover how to survive there permanently in order to assist prepare for a voyage to Mars.
