Scientists re-emerge after year on simulated Mars mission
- Isolated in a Nasa habitat in Texas, the team has been growing food and doing ‘Marswalks’ to learn what it takes to live on the red planet
The Nasa astronaut knocks loudly three times on a what appears to be a nondescript door, and calls cheerfully: “You ready to come out?”
The reply is inaudible, but beneath his mask he appears to be grinning as he yanks the door open – and four scientists who have spent a year away from all other human contact, simulating a mission to Mars, spill out to cheers and applause.
Anca Selariu, Ross Brockwell, Nathan Jones and team leader Kelly Haston have spent the past 378 days sealed inside the “Martian” habitat in Houston, Texas, part of Nasa’s research into what it will take to put humans on the red planet.
They have been growing vegetables, conducting “Marswalks”, and operating under what Nasa terms “additional stressors” – such as communication delays with “Earth”, including their families; isolation and confinement.
It is the kind of experience that would make anyone who lived through pandemic lockdowns shudder – but all four were beaming as they re-emerged on Saturday, their hair slightly more unruly and their emotion apparent.
“Hello. It’s actually so wonderful just to be able to say hello to you,” Haston, a biologist, said with a laugh.
