Overview
- The four volunteers — commander Ross Elder, medical officer Ellen Ellis, science officer Matthew Montgomery and flight engineer James Spicer — left the 1,700‑square‑foot 3D‑printed habitat on Oct. 31 after completing a 378‑day CHAPEA isolation at Johnson Space Center.
- During the year inside the habitat the crew lived with limited resources, grew crops, performed simulated extravehicular activities and followed heavy workloads designed to test human performance and operations for long missions.
- NASA imposed delayed communications that mimicked Mars‑Earth signal lag and at one point simulated a two‑week blackout so the crew had to make autonomous decisions without immediate ground support.
- The crew will undergo two weeks of medical evaluations and debriefs to collect behavioral, physiological and operational data that researchers will analyze to recommend countermeasures and procedures.
- NASA says it will transition CHAPEA into a broader Moon and Mars Exploration Analog and could begin a year‑long MMEA simulation as soon as August 2027 to directly support Artemis and lunar‑base planning.