A NASA crew living on a fake Mars have given a “tragic” update halfway through their one year expedition.
The two men and two women living together in the mind-bending simulation have lost a crucial piece of equipment.
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Dr. Nathan Jones, the medical officer for the crew, said he “accidentally murdered” one of their robots.
He described the incident as a “traumatic death”.
Anca Selariu, the science officer, joked they would need Operation Phoenix to bring their rover back from the ashes, although flight engineer Ross Brockwell assured Jones they’d be able to fix it.
“We’ve got plenty of duct tape,” Brockwell said.
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The conversation came amid a recorded update from NASA’s Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog study, or CHAPEA.
Jones, Selariu, Brockwell and Commander Kelly Haston have volunteered to live in a 3D-printed Mars habitat for a year as a dress rehearsal for life on the Red Planet.
The 1,700 square-foot home is based at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
Outside the habitat, dubbed Mars Dune Alpha, is a domed facility designed to look like the surface of Mars, replete with red dirt and craggy vistas.
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The quartet have recently passed the halfway mark of their 378-day isolation, which began on June 25, 2023.
They’re the first of at least three groups that will participate in Mars-like isolation studies for human research.
NASA have made extra effort to make life in the fake Mars as realistic as possible.
That includes limiting crew to communicating with friends and family be email to simulate the communication delay that astronauts would have with Earth from space.
Updates from the crew are also recorded as audio files to replicate the unique communication constraints.
The crew have also experienced different mission activities, such as exploring Mars, maintaining the habitat, growing crops, exercising, and operating robots.
Part of the study also involves intentionally putting the crew under stressful conditions, like limiting their food resources and having them work through equipment failures.
With this in mind, it’s unclear as to whether Jones broke the rover or NASA intended for it to break as part of the experiment.
The crew also get to wear space suits when stepping outside their quarters.
Many of their Marswalks incorporate virtual reality headsets, while a treadmill outside allows them to walk longer and farther than the area can afford for their activities.
Sometimes they’re sampling rocks, while other times they’re looking for potential construction sites.
From inside the habitat, they can operate a helicopter-like drone and robot to explore remote areas.
The crew are also afforded the luxury of a “window”, where the view changes with the time of day.
However, it’s actually a TV monitor with a video feed, although it does reveal a Martian sunrise, the sun overhead, the shadow of the habitat cast onto the ground, and eventually, stars at night.
When they have down time, the crew play board games, Texas Hold’em, and a PS4 video game system brought into the habitat.
Jones also brought a Fender guitar, while Haston has a travel-size ukulele.
The crew have even started a book club for reading and discussing books they’ve toted with them, while they have also enjoyed watching movies and TV shows from a limited database.
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When it comes to celebrating holidays, the crew have drunk hot chocolate and made and decorated sponge cakes for birthdays.
In a recent update from the crew, Haston, who is an ultra runner, said that some of their crops should be ready to harvest around the new year.
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