NASA to begin simulated trip to Mars moon 'Phobos' from Oct 1; volunteers announced

NASA is not holding back in its preparations to he for Mars as agency, on September 29, announced anor Mars-oriented simulated programme. agency also revealed names of four volunteers who will bring this project to life that is meant to last for a total of 45 days. NASA said that data from this mission will d to information required for future endeavours to Moon under Artemis mission and long-duration Mars missions.

A simulated journey to Mars moons

As per revelations me by NASA, project will be executed inside ground-based habitat at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston starting October 1. Named Human Exploration Research Analog, or HERA, habitat has been designed to stimulate deep space environments such as isolation, confinement, and remote conditions in exploration scenarios.

agency revealed that volunteers have signed up for a simulated deep-space journey that will eventually end on Phobos, a moon of Mars. It furr stated that crew members, who are scheduled to stay inside HERA till November 15, will experience space-like conditions like communication delays that will amplify as crew starts getting closer to Phobos. Amid se conditions, members will be faced with challenges like gaining autonomy during mission and practising communication with least impact on mission operations. 

Meanwhile, se are volunteers NASA has selected for simulated trip to Phobos.

Lauren Cornell

Dr. Lauren Cornell is a research scientist who is currently serving U.S. Air Force, in San Antonio, Texas, in research, development, and evaluation of innovative technologies. Besides, she is a gruate of Texas A&M University and holds a bachelor's and master’s degree in Genetics and Biomedical Engineering respectively. She also has a Ph.D. in translational science and is co-founder of Novolium, a company focussed on improving women’s health care.

Monique Garcia

Monique Garcia is a contributing factor in U.S Space Force where she assists with developing task automation systems on satellites. Apart from this, she is also contributing to development of NASA’s Deep Space Network telescope at MITRE Corporation where she is designated as human factors engineer and systems ministrator. Interestingly, along with se credentials including 12 years of military service with Air National Guard, Garcia is also a certified personal trainer with specialisations in health and performance-based cognitive and behavioural techniques.

Christopher Roberts

This Texas-based project engineer is responsible for end-to-end integration and on-orbit operations of hardware of International Space Station and spacecraft visiting it. A Physics gruate from St. John’s University in New York City and a master’s degree in engineering physics, Roberts has won accoles like NASA’s Spaceflight Awareness Award 2021 for his dedication and flight safety during missions. 

Melyne Willis

Hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, Willis is a microbial ecologist who has extensive field experience owing to her multiple expeditions to Arctic and Antarctic. As per NASA, Willis is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Ecology and Environmental Science at Montana State University, which focusses on polar ecology.

Image: Twitter/@WomenNASA