Four volunteers who spent more than a year on a pretend trip to Mars are back on Earth, or at least back outside. The crew of NASA’s second Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog, or CHAPEA, mission emerged Saturday after 378 days in isolation at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Reuters and NPR reported.
The crew was commander Ross Elder, medical officer Ellen Ellis, science officer Matthew Montgomery and flight engineer James Spicer. They entered the habitat on Oct. 19, 2025.
Life in a 1,700-square-foot Mars
The habitat is a 1,700-square-foot 3D-printed structure inside a hangar at Johnson Space Center, roughly the size of a three-bedroom house, NPR reported. The crew grew crops, went on simulated spacewalks and studied geology without leaving.
NASA built in the realities of distance. Messages between the crew and mission control were delayed by up to 44 minutes, as they would be between Earth and Mars, and the crew went through a two-week communications blackout like the one that would happen if the sun were between the two planets, according to NPR.
“One of the important things is a sensory deprivation experience, never seeing anyone else besides those other three crew members you’re with,” Suzanne Bell, one of the investigators overseeing CHAPEA, told NPR. “In their white space and downtime, we actually saw them do creative things like form a band.”
What the crew said
“For Mars, the risks are great,” Elder said after emerging, according to Reuters. “But through seeking understanding, strong vision and leadership, creativity, fortitude, hard work and incredible foundation, the goal of putting humans on Mars is not only achievable, but rather inevitable.”
Johnson Space Center director Vanessa Wyche greeted the crew and pointed to the communication lag. “These delays require patience, careful planning and greater independence, qualities that will be essential for future astronauts traveling millions of miles from home,” she said.
What comes next
The crew will spend two weeks in post-mission evaluations and debriefs with NASA scientists. NASA has said it wants to learn what it takes for astronauts to stay healthy, productive and connected on long missions beyond Earth, Reuters reported.
This was the second CHAPEA mission. A first four-person crew spent 378 days in the same habitat across 2023 and 2024. NASA is adjusting the next CHAPEA missions to focus on both Mars and the moon as it plans a lunar base, NPR reported. The agency has said it hopes to send humans to Mars as soon as the 2030s.