NASA is looking for people to test out its Mars simulator for a year

Ayana Archie

February 20, 2024 / 9:16 pm

caption: In this April 30, 2021, file image taken by the Mars Perseverance rover and made available by NASA, the Mars Ingenuity helicopter, right, flies over the surface of the planet.

NASA is looking for four people to join its yearlong mission in a Mars simulator, as the agency continues research for human exploration of the planet.

The agency is already halfway through the first of three of its planned CHAPEA, or Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog, missions. As the agency continues to collect data from it, applications are live for its next four-person cohort to live and work from a 3D-printed, 1,700-square-foot facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Starting in spring 2025, participants will undergo some of the trials and tribulations of life on the Red Planet, "including resource limitations, equipment failures, communication delays, and other environmental stressors," NASA said.

Crew members will additionally have to do spacewalks, operate robots, exercise, grow crops and maintain the facility, known as the Mars Dune Alpha.

Details about pay will be discussed during the screening process, NASA said.

To qualify, applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents, be between 30 and 55 years old, nonsmokers and speak English proficiently. Additionally, the agency is primarily looking for those with experience in science, technology, engineering or mathematics, known as STEM.

You can have at least four years of professional STEM experience, but must also either have a bachelor's degree in STEM or have completed military officer training. If you have a master's degree in STEM, you must have at least two years of professional STEM experience or at least 1,000 pilot hours. You may also be considered if you've gotten through two years of a STEM doctoral program.

Applicants who have a medical degree or have done a test pilot program also have a chance.