WATCH: NASA Locks Volunteers into Simulated ‘Mars’ for 378 Days

Four people were locked inside a Mars simulation on Sunday at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and will remain there for over a year.

The volunteers will face realistic challenges while being monitored by NASA as they prepare for future real-life missions to the planet, the New York Post reported Tuesday.

NASA locks 4 volunteers into 3D-printed virtual ‘Mars’ for over a year https://t.co/GFz8i2GdcZ pic.twitter.com/RRf1DebCWa

— New York Post (@nypost) June 27, 2023

In a social media post, the space center said the crew would be supporting its human health and performance research:

🔴LIVE NOW: Four volunteer crew members are about to enter into our Mars simulated habitat for 378 days to support human health and performance research. https://t.co/nal4iDJ8VL pic.twitter.com/4ozA1uO79v

— NASA's Johnson Space Center (@NASA_Johnson) June 25, 2023

The team members are identified as research scientist Kelly Haston, structural engineer Ross Brockwell, emergency medicine physician Nathan Jones, and U.S. Navy microbiologist Anca Selariu.

The knowledge gleaned during the study will help NASA be able to send people to Mars and also bring them back to Earth safely, according to the NASA mission’s principal investigator, Grace Douglas.

The 3D-printed facility is 1,700 square feet and has been named the Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA), the Post article noted.

Video footage shows the facility that features small bedrooms, a living space, an area to grow food, and a place for medical treatment, KHOU reported in April.

One area inside the structure is known as the “sand box” which mimics Mars’ surface with sand that was dyed red covering the floor:

“Psychological and physiological impacts are among the things that will be studied before data then helps design future Mars missions,” KHOU noted.

A video clip posted Sunday shows the crew waving to onlookers as they enter the facility:

CHAPEA's 4 person crew just entered their home for the next year. They're simulating a Mars mission to help assess health and performance in relation to Mars resource limitations in isolation and confinement. The door is officially closed and the mission has begun. Go Crew 1! pic.twitter.com/KKWKQ1opwg

— NASA's Johnson Space Center (@NASA_Johnson) June 25, 2023

The team will be tasked with collecting geological samples, exercising, and practicing personal hygiene and health care. However, NASA also said they will have minimal contact with their loved ones during the mission.

To gain the full effect of what life on Mars would be like, the team will face challenges such as limits on resources, some time in isolation, and equipment failure.

“The only limitation the habitat can not simulate is Mars’ gravity, which is about 38% of Earth’s surface gravity,” the Post article noted.

“This will be simulated by virtual reality from within the facility so researchers at NASA can study the crew participating in spacewalks, repairs to the habitat, and removing dust from their space suits and solar panels,” the outlet continued.

No one among the crew is a trained astronaut, but Haston said they all have a deep passion for space exploration and science and have worked tirelessly to prepare for the mission.

Founder and Editor of CollectSPACE Robert Pearlman told NewsNation on Monday it was the first time NASA is doing such a project for so long, adding the team members were offered compensation but the amount was not disclosed.