Romanian volunteer completes one year in NASA capsule simulating Mars conditions

Romanian Anca Șelariu and three other American volunteers lived for a year in a capsule simulating conditions on Mars, helping NASA understand what is needed for an expedition to the planet.

Șelariu was part of the CHAPEA (Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog) simulated mission.

“Kelly Haston, commander, Ross Brockwell, flight engineer, Nathan Jones, medical officer; and Anca Selariu, science officer, lived and worked in an isolated 1,700-square-foot, 3D-printed habitat to support human health and performance research to prepare for future missions to Mars,” NASA said in a press release.

For 378 days, the four NASA volunteers lived in a space of nearly 160 square meters, where conditions on the planet Mars were simulated. During this period, they conducted various experiments, including spacewalks and growing vegetables in Martian conditions.

The crew also faced intentional environmental stressors in their habitat, such as resource limitations, isolation, and confinement. Plus, participants were required to limit contact with their relatives as much as possible.

Anca Șelariu is a microbiologist with the United States Navy. She was born in Brașov and graduated from the Faculty of Philology at Transilvania University before leaving the country.

After completing her mission, she declared that she was grateful for the chance to contribute to a project that now seems hard to imagine.

"I am amazed that I got to live in 'Mars Dune Alpha' and contribute to the one thing I hold dearest, bringing life to Mars. I have no words to express how grateful I am to everyone who contributed to making it possible for me to be here,” she said, cited by Euronews Romania.

For the next two weeks, the volunteers will complete post-mission data collection activities before returning home.

So far, NASA has only sent probes to Mars.

(Photo source: NASA.gov)