CHAPEA 2 crew marks one year in simulated Mars habitat
The four-member crew of NASA's second CHAPEA mission has completed 365 days in a 3D-printed habitat in Houston, with exit scheduled for Saturday, October 31.
Four crew members of the second CHAPEA (Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog) mission completed a full 365 days inside a simulated Mars habitat at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on October 19, 2026. Exit is scheduled for Saturday, October 31, when the mission, planned at 378 days, will end. The U.S. space agency announced the milestone in a statement that also carried comments from program leaders.
Who is in the habitat and what do they do?
The crew entered the habitat on October 19, 2025. They are Ross Elder, mission commander, Ellen Ellis, medical officer, Matthew Montgomery, science officer, and James Spicer, flight engineer. The habitat is called Mars Dune Alpha. It was 3D-printed by the company ICON and covers about 1,700 square feet (roughly 158 square meters).
According to NASA, the crew has worked as if on the Red Planet: growing plants, managing limited supplies and heading out in spacesuits onto a simulated Martian surface. They have also had to cope with communication delays. NASA’s statement cites up to 45 minutes each way, while its 2025 announcement of the mission mentioned a 22-minute delay; the statements do not explain the difference. The crew has been in contact with their families by email only.
Grace Douglas, the program’s principal investigator, said in the NASA statement:
We are extremely proud of the crew for their commitment and achievements over the last year
She added that “The entire CHAPEA team is excited to congratulate the crew in person.”
What does NASA expect from the data?
Science teams are preparing to analyze data on the crew’s health and performance. After exit, two weeks of check-ups and debriefings with NASA scientists will follow. The agency says the data could show how limited food supplies and exercise systems affect task performance, including walks on the Martian surface, and how to build systems that help a crew make decisions when answers from Earth arrive late.
Michael Stenger, chief scientist of NASA’s human spaceflight research program, said in the statement:
This mission has been incredibly valuable in starting to teach us how to understand requirements for year-long missions, including medical and psychological care, via communication delays
Stenger added that, through a range of physiological, psychological and performance measurements in a tightly controlled environment, the knowledge gained can be carried over to “Moon Base and beyond.”
The first mission and what comes next
The first CHAPEA mission took place in the same habitat and ended on July 6, 2024, also after 378 days. Its crew was Kelly Haston, Ross Brockwell, Nathan Jones and Anca Selariu. The program was announced in 2021 and calls for three one-year missions in total. It is not known when the third will begin.
What this simulation does not show
The statement contains no results, because data analysis is only beginning. The crew stayed inside the Johnson Space Center building the entire time, including during simulated walks on the red sand. Conclusions about what twelve months would look like on a real journey can therefore come only after NASA publishes its analysis of the crew’s health and performance.
