Four person crew to simulate year

Nasa has announced the four participants of a year-long simulation of a Mars mission that will take place inside an enclosed habitat in Texas.

Three men and one woman will enter the1,700-square-foot (158m²) capsule at the US space agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on 19 October, hoping to provide foundational data for human habitation of the Red Planet.

Ross Elder, Ellen Ellis, Matthew Montgomery, and James Spicer will live and work like astronauts for 378 days before leaving the Mars Dune Alpha habitat on 31 October 2026.

The endeavour forms part of a series of Earth-based missions designed to replicate the same isolation, resource limitations, equipment failures and communication delays that astronauts will experience during future Mars missions.

The Crew Health and Perform