Ask Anca Selariu what it was like to live on Mars for a year, and she answers without hesitation: “absolutely exhilarating.”
The US Navy microbiologist is one of four NASA crew members who returned to Earth earlier this month after becoming the first humans to reside on the Red Planet, or at least the closest thing the US space agency currently has to one.
Selariu and his fellow explorers, all volunteers, spent 378 days isolated from the rest of humanity, locked in Mars Dune Alpha, a 1,700-square-foot 3D-printed habitat at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. It was built to replicate the living conditions and challenges astronauts will face when they arrive on Mars, which is scheduled to launch in the late 2030s.
For Selariu, who already had what she calls a keen interest in Mars and space exploration, being selected as a science officer for such a groundbreaking and potentially consequential mission was worth all the sacrifices, from missed vacations with friends and family to simply being able to walk outside for a breath of fresh air.
“Humans will go to Mars at some point in the future, and just being able to participate in any way to make that happen, hopefully in our lifetime, is incomparable,” she said.
“I’m really impressed by everything I’ve seen, by all the efforts I’ve seen to make this dream a reality for all humans. And yes, I will celebrate the first step on Mars, knowing that I contributed to it. It was an incredible honor and absolutely exhilarating.”
Parts of the mission known as Chapea 1 (analogous to the exploration of crew health and performance) could have been filmed for The Martian, the 2015 sci-fi blockbuster that chronicled Matt Damon’s desperate fight for survival as an astronaut stranded on Mars after a catastrophic windstorm.
Like Damon’s character, stranded 140 million miles from home, Chapea’s crew had no resupply flights to rely on and had to grow crops, including tomatoes and lettuce, to supplement a year’s worth of pre-packaged freeze-dried meals.
“For me personally, it was such a joy to see and touch a living, green being, because it’s something you miss the most when you’re away from Earth,” Selariu said, explaining how, in the isolation of deep space, even something as rudimentary as a lettuce leaf can provoke powerful feelings ranging from homesickness to existential self-questioning.
“My connection to the Earth and the deep sense of being a true Earthling, a living entity of planet Earth, you really feel it very deeply in your core and you really understand what that means and how incredibly important that connection is,” she said.
Additionally, mission managers regularly tested crew reactions to simulated emergencies and stressors, including intense workloads, equipment failures and resource limitations.
The interplanetary lab rats, Selariu said, succeeded brilliantly.
“The study incorporates all sorts of data from a behavioral and team dynamics perspective, and the question wasn’t necessarily whether a human can handle the isolation and confinement that you’ll find on Mars, but rather, ‘How are we going to adapt?'” she said.
“We were an incredibly functional and tight-knit team, and we spent many precious moments together. Of course, sometimes you realize you’re not surrounded by your friends and family, but you feel the support of everyone on the ground.”
Candidates for the first of three planned Chapea missions (the second will begin next spring) were required to have advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering or mathematics, and undergo training similar to that of a NASA astronaut ready to fly if selected.
Selariu, born in Romania and a member of the U.S. Navy’s Medical Research Unit, brought expertise in vaccines, gene therapy and infectious diseases, skills that will be essential to maintaining the health of astronauts during a journey of at least seven to nine months from medical facilities on Earth.
She said one of the most challenging aspects of the mission was communicating with ground control, as every incoming or outgoing message was delayed by 22 minutes to replicate its journey through space.
“Having to have a 45-minute conversation back and forth means you really have to anticipate and frame the communication clearly and thoroughly,” she said. “That’s actually very difficult to internalize.”
NASA built Mars Dune Alpha to be as realistic as possible as a potential future base for astronauts. It features a greenhouse, medical area, exercise equipment and a living room, as well as a small private bedroom for each volunteer, two bathrooms and a small “outdoor” enclosure with red sand underfoot for simulated walks on Mars.
Much of the habitat’s colors are also red, to replicate how Martian soil will be used in 3D printing substantial sections of the base on-site, as opposed to the near-impossible challenge and prohibitive cost of shipping heavy construction components from Earth.
Even the crew’s downtime, which Selariu said included “a lot of downloaded TV and reading,” and in her own case, working on her drawing skills — “I can’t claim to have succeeded,” she said — was closely monitored by officials keen to assess the mental and behavioral health of humans engaged in long-duration spaceflight.
“The Chapea missions are essential to developing the knowledge and tools humans need to one day live and work on the Red Planet,” said Bill Nelson, NASA administrator and former space shuttle astronaut, as the Chapea 1 crew emerged on July 6.
Selariu said she readjusted to real life “pretty easily” over the next two weeks, but would be ready to go back inside in a heartbeat.
“I am grateful to have had the opportunity to be part of this human hope to reach Mars, and I want to encourage the next crew and I am very happy that you can continue this wonderful work,” she said.