Mars Dune Alpha: Nasa reveals Mars-simulation habitat [space news]

http://www.nasa.gov/chapea

This summer, four volunteers will move into a 3D-printed habitat called Mars Dune Alpha, which will simulate a realistic Mars habitat to support long-duration, exploration-class space missions. Here, the volunteers will live around the clock for one year, conducting agricultural, geological, and even medical experiments to help NASA determine the viability of long-term life on Mars. Although the habitat is here on Earth, experiment participants will not be able to contact their friends or family during the test.

On April 11, NASA demonstrated a 518-square-meter living space created using the ICON 3D printer. To print the walls of the building was used lavacrete material – it is a particularly strong concrete mixture specially designed for 3D-technology. The builders assure that this material will allow the houses to withstand strong earthquakes and extreme weather conditions. Inside the Mars Dune Alpha habitat are four private rooms, a fully equipped bathroom, several workstations, a medical station, a common living room and a small vertical farm. This farm is supposed to be where experiment participants will grow tomatoes and lettuce, and the living room will serve as a place to relax, and cook.

A 365 m2 Martian “sandbox” is also built outside the living quarters, with a couple of treadmills and lots of red sand. In simulated spacesuits, participants will connect the treadmills with virtual reality kits to simulate what they call “walking on Mars.” During each walk on Mars, they will explore artificial rocks, assess potential locations for new bases, and conduct other reconnaissance work. Participants in the experiment will also have to collect geological samples from this “sandbox” in order to perform a comprehensive analysis inside the base.

Such an experiment is NASA’s preparation for long manned missions to Mars, in which astronauts will spend long periods of time together in a confined space. In the simulated Martian environment, even communication with the outside world will only be possible with a 22-minute delay, as it would be on the Red Planet.

This is not the first experiment to isolate people for long periods of time in order to simulate a Martian mission. In 2011, the Mars-500 experiment was completed, during which 6 participants of the project were in isolation for 520 days, in conditions close to a Martian flight.

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