For anyone already jaded by the news and joking about a trip to outer space to avoid it all, Nasa may have just got you covered.
The space agency is looking for four volunteers to live there for a year Mars – or at least a 3D printed replica of the red planet. Isolation is pretty much guaranteed.
The enterprise, at its Johnson Space Center in Houston, is part of Nasa’s Chapea (crew health and performance exploration analog) program, which is designed to help develop and evaluate the systems that will be used by the first generation of astronauts to visit Mars, on missions ambitiously planned for the 2030s.
The agency says the volunteers will live in a habitat of 1,700 sq. m. Mars Dune Alphawhich will simulate the challenges of a Mars mission, “including resource constraints, equipment failures, communication delays and other environmental stressors”.
The crew will undertake simulated spacewalks, robotic operations, habitat maintenance, exercise and crop growth in the computer-generated reconstruction of the Martian surface.
Those selected will be compensated for their time, although Nasa is not saying how much. Focused on ensuring the right mix of candidates, mission managers insist that anyone applying must have a university degree in engineering, mathematics or biological, physical or computer science, and subsequent experience in those fields, or 1,000 hours as a pilot.
They must also be healthy, non-smoking US citizens or permanent residents aged 30 to 55.
“Applicants must have a strong desire for unique, rewarding adventures and interest in contributing to NASA’s work to prepare for the first human journey to Mars,” the agency said. Applications close on April 2.
After training, the crew will become the second to live in the habitat from early next year. The four members of the Chapea 1 mission who is currently resident, is scheduled to depart in August after a 378-day expedition that began last summer.
