NASA's CHAPEA Mission 2: Simulating Life on Mars

A crew of four volunteers has begun NASA's second 378-day simulated Mars mission inside the CHAPEA (Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog) habitat, located at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. The mission commenced on October 19, 2025, and will run until October 31, 2026.

The crew members, Ross Elder, Ellen Ellis, Matthew Montgomery, and James Spicer, will engage in activities that mimic the challenges of a real Mars mission. They will conduct simulated "Marswalks" outside the habitat while wearing spacesuits, navigating a red sand environment designed to replicate Martian conditions.

**The mission aims to gather critical data on crew health and performance, which will inform future mission planning and habitat designs for actual Mars exploration.** According to Sara Whiting, project scientist for NASA's Human Research Program, insights gained from CHAPEA will help mitigate health risks associated with long-duration spaceflight.

**The crew will face various stressors, including limited resources, isolation, and communication delays, to better understand how to manage these conditions during real missions.** Grace Douglas, CHAPEA principal investigator, emphasized that the data collected will be vital for developing protocols that ensure the safety and effectiveness of astronauts on Mars.

**This mission follows the first CHAPEA mission, which concluded in July 2024, and continues NASA's commitment to preparing for human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit.** The findings from this ongoing research will be instrumental in shaping future crewed missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.