On December 30, 2023, NASA released an update about a crew of four volunteers who have been simulating life on Mars for six months. The crew entered the 3D-printed Mars Dune Alpha habitat at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas on June 25, 2023. Their mission is to live and work as if they were on the Red Planet

The crew members are: 

• Kelly Haston: Research scientist studying human disease 
• Ross Brockwell: Structural engineer 
• Nathan Jones: Emergency medicine physician 
• Alyssa Shannon: Advanced practice nurse 

The crew members live rent-free in the 1,700-square-foot habitat, which has reddish-brown walls. They also earn $10 per hour for up to 16 hours per day, for a total of a little more than $60,000 for the year. 

The crew members maintain a strict exercise regimen, take simulated space walks, and try to grow crops.

NASA’s Mars simulation is located in a large hangar at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The 3D-printed habitat, called Mars Dune Alpha, is designed to simulate a realistic Mars habitat for long-duration space missions

The Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) is a series of three missions, each lasting 378 days. The missions are designed to test the psychological and social challenges that would face early visitors to Mars

Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) is a series of analog missions that will simulate year-long stays on the surface of Mars

June 2023, NASA selected four volunteers to participate in a yearlong Mars simulation at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. The crew members are: 

• Kelly Haston: A research scientist with experience in stem cell-based projects 
• Ross Brockwell: A structural engineer and public works administrator 
• Nathan Jones: An emergency medicine physician 
• Anca Selariu: A U.S. Navy microbiologist 

The crew will live in a 1,700 square foot habitat called Mars Dune Alpha. They will spend a year living and working as if they were on the Red Planet. During the simulation, officials will introduce challenges, such as communication delays, simulated spacewalks, and equipment failures

Nathan Jones participates in a simulated “Marswalk” inside the 1,200 square foot sandbox, which is connected to the habitat through an airlock. CHAPEA crew members Ross Brockwell and Anca Selariu complete geology work using the glovebox inside the habitat

On June 25, 2023, four volunteers entered the 3D-printed Mars Dune Alpha habitat at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The habitat is part of NASA’s Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) program

The 1,700-square-foot structure is designed to simulate a realistic Mars habitat for long-duration space missions. The crew will spend 378 days inside the habitat, pretending to live on Mars. They will perform simulated spacewalks, robotic operations, crop growing, habitat maintenance, personal hygiene, and exercise

The habitat includes four private quarters, a shared bathroom, workstations, a medical station, and a lounge area. The lounge area has board games and consoles. 

The CHAPEA program will study how the crew’s performance and health change based on realistic Mars restrictions and lifestyle

Mars Dune Alpha is a 3D-printed mock-Martian base that simulates a realistic Mars habitat for long-duration space missions. The habitat is designed to approximate the living conditions that the first Mars explorers might face

The habitat’s name comes from the dunes on Mars. As wind blows sand, the grains slide, hop, and bounce across the surface. If sand grains are plentiful, they begin to collect in small mounds and drifts, creating dunes

ICON is a 3D printing construction company that partnered with NASA to complete the construction of Mars Dune Alpha in November 2022. The habitat was designed by BIG and uses ICON’s next-generation Vulcan robotic printing system to fabricate the structure from Lavacrete

The habitat is intended to prepare humans to live on another planet. It’s inspired by the movie The Martian and is designed to simulate a realistic Mars habitat for long-duration space missions

ICON is a construction technology company that developed the Vulcan 3D printer, which was used to create the Mars Dune Alpha habitat. The Vulcan printer produces layers of cement to simulate the surface of Mars

ICON also develops other advanced construction technologies, including software and building materials

3D printing could be used on Mars to: 

• Build structures 3D printing could allow humans to build structures on Mars without transporting large amounts of building materials from Earth. Instead, materials on Mars like Martian soil, rock, and ice could be used to produce concrete on-site. 
• Make parts Martian soil could be used to 3D print parts on the Red Planet. For example, a small amount of simulated crushed Martian rock mixed with a titanium alloy could be used to make a stronger, high-performance material. This material could be used to make tools or rocket parts. 
• Make spare parts 3D printing could allow humans to be independent of Earth by growing their own surface infrastructure and creating their own spare parts as needed.

AI and 3D printing can be used to construct potential homes on other planets in the following ways: 

• AI SpaceFactory Uses AI and 3D printing to robotically build structures and infrastructure using materials from the Martian or Lunar surface. 
• Delft University of Technology Uses robots to excavate subterranean living spaces on Mars, and then uses 3D printing to solidify the walls with Martian materials. 
• NASA Uses 3D printing to create large-scale structures using in-situ resources, such as regolith. This reduces the need to transport materials from Earth and allows for sustainable habitat development. 
• ICON Has developed a 3D printer called Vulcan that can print a 2,000 square foot house in 24 hours using locally sourced materials. ICON has partnered with NASA to explore the use of Vulcan for building structures on Mars. 

3D printing can also be used to: 

• Reduce mission costs: 3D printed building components can take on any shape, which can reduce mission costs for extraterrestrial habitats. 
• Build rocket engines: 3D printing can offer decisive advantages when building rocket engines. 
• Reimagine part functionality: 3D printing can allow for the integration of integral cooling channels into a combustion chamber, or the consolidation of multiple parts into a single all-in-one design.

3D printing can help with space exploration in a few ways: 

• Reduce costs: 3D printing can reduce the cost and time of transporting materials from Earth. 
• Make parts: 3D printing can be used to create rocket engines and other parts. 
• Make satellites: 3D printing can be used to create lighter, more complex parts for satellites. 
• Make rockets: 3D printing can be used to create lighter rockets that can launch more than 20,000 kg into low Earth orbit. 
• Make spare parts: 3D printing can be used to create spare parts for space exploration. 
• Make infrastructure: 3D printing can be used to create landing pads, roads, and other infrastructure for expanding human habitation beyond Earth.

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