NASA Mars simulation crew exits habitat after 378 days

As of 6:40 a.m. ET, Monday, Nov. 2, 2026

Four volunteers who spent 378 days living inside a simulated Mars habitat at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston stepped outside on Saturday, ending the agency's second yearlong Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog, or CHAPEA, mission.

The crew — mission commander Ross Elder, medical officer Ellen Ellis, science officer Matthew Montgomery and flight engineer James Spicer — entered the 1,700-square-foot, 3D-printed habitat on Oct. 19, 2025, according to NASA.

"It's been a hell of a year — analog astronauts living in captivity of our own free will," Ellis said in remarks at Johnson Space Center after emerging with her crewmates, Reuters reported.

"For Mars, the risks are great," Elder said, according to Reuters. "But through seeking understanding, strong vision and leadership, creativity, fortitude, hard work and incredible foundation, the goal of putting humans on Mars is not only achievable, but rather inevitable."

A year of Mars-style isolation

Inside the habitat, the crew grew crops, managed limited resources, carried out habitat maintenance and conducted suited simulated spacewalks on a mock Martian surface, NASA said. They worked under Mars-like communication delays and spoke with their families only by email, according to the agency.

Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche greeted the crew as they exited. "These delays require patience, careful planning and greater independence — qualities that will be essential for future astronauts traveling millions of miles from home," Wyche said, according to Reuters.

What NASA wants from the data

The crew now begins two weeks of post-mission evaluations and debriefs with NASA scientists, the agency said. NASA said the health and performance data can help it develop ways to counter human spaceflight risks for future Artemis and Moon Base missions, and longer missions to Mars.

Data could show how limited food and exercise systems affect a crew's ability to meet mission goals, including spacewalks on Mars, and could help NASA build decision-support systems for crews facing communication delays of up to 45 minutes each way, NASA said.

"We are extremely proud of the crew for their commitment and achievements over the last year on such a fast-paced, highly demanding mission," Grace Douglas, CHAPEA's principal investigator, said in an Oct. 19 NASA release marking the mission's one-year point.

It was NASA's second CHAPEA mission. A first four-person crew spent 378 days in the habitat across 2023 and 2024, Reuters reported. NASA has ambitions for a human mission to Mars as early as the 2030s, with plans before that to return astronauts to the moon for the first time since 1972, according to Reuters.