National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has announced a search for volunteers to participate in the first ground program, which will simulate several stages of a mission on the Moon or Mars. Volunteers will find themselves in isolation and confined space for a year, simulating interplanetary flight, operations on the surface of a celestial object, and spacewalks.
The project will use elements of two astronaut training plans, as well as space and equipment available at the Lyndon Johnson Space Center in Texas, the agency noted.
First, volunteers will find themselves in a simulated spaceship sent into deep space from Earth. The complex is equipped with a workspace, living room, sleeping quarters and a hygiene module. The second object will simulate the presence of astronauts on the Moon or Mars, and this stage of the study will allow us to study their behavior in conditions of limited resources and mission requirements.
“In it [объекте] there will be cabins for the crew, a common work space, a recreation room, a crop growing area, a medical office, a food preparation area, an airlock, two bathrooms and a “sandbox” to simulate walking on the surface of the planet,” NASA says.
Research participants are also planned to be sent on the rover to “explore” spaces outside their base. The transport has two seats for the driver, two bunks, a toilet and a small airlock compartment for soil samples, the department added.
“Volunteers will help NASA evaluate and test equipment, technologies, protocols, requirements and other systems designed to maintain crew health and performance during long-duration missions into deep space – all without leaving Earth,” the US space agency emphasized.
An application for participation in the program can be submitted on a special NASA page. Volunteers must be a U.S. citizen or have a green card, be no taller than 74 inches (185 cm), and no younger than 30 or older than 55, although exceptions are permitted. Volunteers must speak good English and have a bachelor's degree in engineering, biology, physics or mathematics, or equivalent military experience. Candidates should not have dietary restrictions, sleepwalking (somnambulism) or other sleep problems.
Those who apply will undergo a selection process, a NASA medical examination, and those who get into the program will receive a monetary reward based on its results. However, there are restrictions for space agency employees and those who work with them. The mission for volunteers starts no earlier than August 2027. It will last 14 months, of which 2 are allocated for preparation and 12 for work in isolation.
The test, in part, is being conducted in preparation for the next stages of the Artemis mission, which aims to return humans to the Moon for the first time since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, and then establish a permanent lunar base in preparation for missions to Mars. RTVI previously spoke about the first details of the upcoming stage of Artemis-3 (Artemis III).
