Nasa invites applications to live on Mars-like habitat for a year

Want to take part in research for the first human Mars mission? US space agency Nasa has invited applications for four people to live in a simulated Martian exploration habitat in order to prepare them for the real-life challenges of future missions to the red planet. Nasa started taking applications for participants to live for a year in Mars Dune Alpha, a 1,700-square-foot Martian habitat created by a 3D-printer that is inside a building at Johnson Space Center in Houston."In preparation for the real-life challenges of future missions to Mars, Nasa will study how highly motivated individuals respond under the rigor of a long-duration, ground-based simulation," Nasa said in a statement. 

Calling all Martians! @NASA is recruiting four crew members for a year-long mission that will simulate life on a distant world, living in “Mars Dune Alpha,” a 3D-printed habitat. Want to take part in research for the first human Mars mission?

Learn more! https://t.co/v3dL7qzRk9 pic.twitter.com/k5sviRXvtV

— NASA Mars (@NASAMars) August 6, 2021

The habitat will simulate the challenges of a mission on Mars, including resource limitations, equipment failure, communication delays, and other environmental stressors. Crew tasks may include simulated spacewalks, scientific research, use of virtual reality and robotic controls, and exchanging communications. The results will provide important scientific data to validate systems and develop solutions, the Nasa statement read.