‘Mars astronauts’ selected for NASA simulated mission

Eric Henrikson
·2 min read

HOUSTON, TX (KXAN) — Four volunteers will soon get a trip to “Mars.” NASA announced on Monday, April 15 that they had selected the next crew for their simulated Mars mission at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The four crew members will be confined to a small chamber designed to simulate life on the red planet for future astronauts for 45 days.

The four volunteers, Jason Lee, Stephanie Navarro, Shareef Al Romaithi, and Piyumi Wijesekara, will board NASA’s Human Exploration Research Analog, aka HERA, on May 10. They will then live and work like astronauts will typically do until June 24.

According to NASA, the mission will help the agency understand “how crew members adapt to isolation, confinement, and remote conditions” ahead of future missions to the red planet. Besides scientific experiments and basic tasks, the crew will also simulate a walk on the planet’s surface.

According to the space agency, HERA is 640-square-foot habitat. It has two floors and a loft.

HERA helps NASA study how people living in isolation adapt to their new environment. (Credit: BILL STAFFORD AND ROBERT MARKOWITZ)
HERA helps NASA study how people living in isolation adapt to their new environment. (Credit: BILL STAFFORD AND ROBERT MARKOWITZ)

This will be the second crew aboard HERA. The last crew wrapped their mission on March 18. Two more missions are scheduled for later this year. Jose Baca and Brandon Kent will serve as alternate crew members for the upcoming mission.

Crew members go to “space”

Crew member Shareef Al Romaithi will be the first from the United Arab Emirates. His participation is part of a new partnership between NASA and the UAE’s Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre.

NASA has selected four new crew members to partake in a simulated mission to Mars inside the agency’s Human Exploration Research Analog. From left are Jason Lee, Stephanie Navarro, Shareef Al Romaithi, and Piyumi Wijesekara. (Credit: C7M2 Crew)
NASA has selected four new crew members to partake in a simulated mission to Mars inside the agency’s Human Exploration Research Analog. From left are Jason Lee, Stephanie Navarro, Shareef Al Romaithi, and Piyumi Wijesekara. (Credit: C7M2 Crew)

Other crew members include Jason Lee, a professor at the University of Connecticut, Stephanie Navarro, a space operations officers with the U.S. Air Force Reserve, and Piyumi Wijesekara, a researcher at the Radiation Biophysics Laboratory at NASA Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley.

Eighteen health studies will be conducted as part of this mission. The studies will focus on physiological, behavioral, and psychological responses caused by the environment. Researchers hope that data collected will help better prepare us for upcoming trips to Mars and survival in deep space travel.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.