A NASA crew living on a fake Mars has released a “tragic” update midway through their year-long expedition.
Two men and two women living together in a mind-boggling simulation lose vital equipment.
Dr. Nathan Jones, the crew’s medical officer, said they had “accidentally killed” one of the crew’s robots.
He described the incident as a “traumatic death.”
Science officer Anca Serariu joked that it would take Operation Phoenix to retrieve the rover from the ashes, but flight engineer Ross Brockwell assured Jones that it could be repaired.
“There’s a lot of duct tape,” Brockwell said.
This conversation took place during a recorded update from NASA’s Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog Study (CHAPEA).
Jones, Serariu, Brockwell, and Commander Kelly Haston volunteered to live in a 3D-printed Martian habitat for a year as a rehearsal for life on Mars.
This 1,700 square foot home is based at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
Outside the habitat, called Mars Dune Alpha, is a dome-shaped facility designed to resemble the surface of Mars, with its red soil and rocky landscape.
The quartet recently passed the halfway point of their 378-day quarantine period, which began on June 25, 2023.
They are the first of at least three groups to participate in a Mars-like isolation study for human research.
NASA has made special efforts to make life on a fake Mars as realistic as possible.
This includes limiting the crew to email to communicate with friends and family to simulate the communication delays that would occur if astronauts communicated with Earth from space.
Updates from the crew are also recorded as audio files, recreating the unique communication constraints.
The crew also experienced a variety of mission activities, including exploring Mars, maintaining habitat, growing crops, exercising, and operating robots.
Part of the research involved intentionally placing crew members under stressful conditions, such as limiting food resources and having them work through equipment failure.
With this in mind, it’s unclear whether Jones destroyed the rover or whether NASA intended for it to be destroyed as part of an experiment.
Crew members also wear spacesuits when leaving their quarters.
Many of the Mars Walks incorporate virtual reality headsets, and outdoor treadmills allow you to walk farther and farther than the area can accommodate the activity.
Sometimes they collect rocks, and sometimes they search for potential construction sites.
It is possible to explore remote areas by operating a helicopter-like drone or robot from inside the habitat.
Crew members are also given the luxury of “windows” that allow the scenery to change over time.
But it’s actually a TV monitor with a video feed showing the Martian sunrise, the sun overhead, the shadows of habitats falling to the ground, and eventually the stars at night.
During breaks, the crew plays 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-sized ukulele.
Crew members have also set up book clubs to read and discuss the books they carry, as well as watch movies and TV shows from a limited database.
When it came to holiday celebrations, the crew drank hot chocolate on birthdays and made and decorated sponge cakes.
Ms Haston, an ultrarunner, said in a recent update from crews that some of the crop would be ready for harvest around the new year.