What is NASA's CHAPEA Project?

Table of Contents☰

About NASA’s CHAPEA Project:

Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) is a series of analog missions conducted by NASA that will simulate year-long stays on the surface of Mars.
It aims to assess and collect data regarding NASA’s food system and physical and behavioral health patterns in humans, which will help during future space missions.
Each mission will consist of four crew members living in Mars Dune Alpha, an isolated 1,700-square-foot habitat.
- Mars Dune Alpha is a 3D-printed structure located at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
- It simulates a realistic Mars habitat to support long-duration, exploration-class space missions.
- Mars Dune Alpha features include:
  - Four private crew quarters
  - Dedicated workstations
  - Dedicated medical station
  - Common lounge areas
  - Galley and food-growing stations
The analog mission will be as Mars-realistic as feasible, which may include environmental stressors such as resource limitations, isolation, equipment failure, and significant workloads.
During the mission, the crew will conduct simulated spacewalks and provide data on a variety of factors, which may include physical and behavioral health and performance.
After the successful completion of this mission recently, two more are scheduled for 2025 and 2026.

Q1: What is Mars?

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, and the seventh largest. It is a dusty, cold, desert world with a very thin atmosphere. This dynamic planet has seasons, polar ice caps, extinct volcanoes, canyons and weather. Mars is one of the easiest planets to spot in the night sky – it looks like a bright red point of light. Mars is one of the most explored bodies in our solar system, and it’s the only planet where we’ve sent rovers to explore the alien landscape.

Source: Wonderful to say hello’: Nasa crew emerge after year-long mars simulation