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- NASA is recruiting four people. live in a simulation of the Mars habitat in Houston for 378 days.
- NASA is looking for crew members who best mimic sending real astronauts to Mars.
NASA is hiring four people to Spend 378 days living inside a simulated habitat on Mars. In Houston.
The experiment is called the Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA).
We spoke to one of CHAPEA’s leaders, Suzanne Bell, to find out how difficult it would be to be selected.
POT is looking for people who are “as astronaut-like as possible,” said Bell, who also directs NASA’s Behavioral Health and Performance Laboratory.
See if you have what it takes.
NASA’s Mars simulation needs applicants with military or STEM education
The point of CHAPEA is that Help NASA study some of the biggest challenges astronauts would face on a mission to Mars: long-term isolation and confinementas well as a delay in communications with Earth of up to 22 minutes in each direction.
In almost every sense, a cohort of astronauts from mars They will be alone. That’s what CHAPEA is trying to replicate.
At the most basic level, to qualify for the program, you must be a healthy U.S. citizen or permanent resident, between the ages of 30 and 55, and fluent in English.
You also need relevant education and experience, like an astronaut.
NASA wants candidates with a master’s degree degree in a STEM field from an accredited institution, plus two years of experience working in STEM or at least 1,000 hours of piloting aircraft.
However, two other types of experience could be considered:
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A medical degree, completing a trial pilot program, or two years of work toward a doctorate in STEM.
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Complete military officer training or a bachelor’s degree in STEM, plus four years of professional experience working in STEM.
The CHAPEA crew must accept strict limitations.
In the Mars simulation, for 378 days, you cannot go for a walk outside. You can’t call your mom. You can’t order a pizza. You can’t even ask NASA to pick up your favorite snack at the supermarket.
“The point is, you’re going to be in a very small space for a very long time,” Bell said. “This comes with limitations.”
You’ll also have to tolerate and work well with your three teammates, like any professional astronaut. NASA doesn’t want explosive arguments over who does the dishes.
“We wouldn’t want to pick someone who had trouble getting along with someone in isolation and confinement, because that doesn’t give us very good data,” Bell said.
So there is limited contact with the outside world. It’s not just that Mars astronaut simulators can’t spend all day surfing the web. There is also a delay in communication between them and everyone else on Earth.
Because of the distance, sometimes the quickest a Mars astronaut could get a response from NASA mission control (or a family member or friend) is 44 minutes: 22 minutes to send the message to Earth and another 22 minutes to receive the response..
The same will apply to CHAPEA participants.
NASA application process will evaluate 4 ‘expeditionary skills’
It’s not just experience and stress tolerance that makes a Mars astronaut. NASA will also look for something less tangible, well, four-something.
NASA wants CHAPEA participants to demonstrate what it calls “expeditionary skills”:
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Self-care and team carewhich involves monitoring yourself and your teammates for signs of physical and mental fatigue, and knowing when and how to intervene.
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Cultural competenceas astronauts have to work closely together and the stakes are high, not to mention representing the US in international collaborations.
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Leadership and monitoringand know when (and how) to lead and when to follow
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Teamwork and communication. – obviously
“Expeditionary skills are really an important complement to the technical expertise that we seek and train in our astronaut populations,” Bell said.
In the CHAPEA application process, NASA evaluates those core traits. Bell, however, did not say how.
“I’m not going to reveal many of our methods, because we are aware that people might want to present themselves in a certain way,” he said.
CHAPEA’s work also has health requirements
CHAPEA teams must also be healthy and have limited medical needs, due to isolation and resource limitations. There are no doctors on Mars.
These are the health requirements:
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Non smoker
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No allergies or food avoidances.
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No gastrointestinal disorders
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Some medications are disqualifying, such as blood thinners, daily allergy medications, antidepressants, anxiety medications, sleeping pills, or daily insulin.
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Proof of complete vaccination against COVID-19
Applicants must also pass a criminal background check, psychiatric examination, and medical evaluation. During the year-long CHAPEA experiment, they must exercise regularly according to NASA’s schedule.
Apply for CHAPEA Paid Gig Online
If you think you have what it takes, you can apply for CHAPEA online before April 2.
The job is worthwhile, but Bell and a NASA spokesperson declined to share details about the compensation, saying it will be presented to candidates later in the application process.
Ultimately, salary should not be your motive, Bell said, since it involves participation in a scientific research experiment.
“It could be a personal self-challenge: Can I even do this? Or could I be an astronaut? Or could I go to Mars one day? But there’s also the greater good of being able to contribute meaningfully to science, and the science that is really going to pave the way for amazing things in the future,” Bell said.