Four NASA Crew Members Leave a Simulated Mars Habitat After More Than a Year
NASA said four crew members left its simulated Mars habitat on Oct. 31, 2026, after more than a year inside. By the agency's account, it was the first time in that span that the four had been outside.
NASA says the mission, called the Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog and shortened to CHAPEA, was run to help it learn how crews adapt to long stays away from Earth. The agency also says what it draws from this crew will help it design its future Moon base and plan for missions on Mars.
The crew members were Matthew Montgomery, James Spicer, Ross Elder and Ellen Ellis. NASA says they spent more than a year testing systems, maintaining crops, managing limited resources and the delays built into their communications, and conducting simulated spacewalks.
NASA published the crew's exit as a photo caption on Nov. 2, 2026. The caption records the date the mission ended and the work the crew did, and gives no data or results from the year inside. The photograph is credited to NASA's James Blair.
