Volunteers selected for Mars survival simulation

The mission, which will begin on Nov. 1, will involve the crew performing various tasks such as raising shrimp, growing crops, and using virtual reality to explore Mars.

CryptoFortress

Oct 22, 2024 - 13:11

Volunteers selected for Mars survival simulation

HOUSTON, Texas (KXAN) -- Four new volunteers will soon embark on a 45-day simulation of life on Mars. NASA announced the latest crew of the Human Exploration Research Analog, or HERA, project on Friday, Oct. 18.

This May 22, 2021 photo made available by NASA shows the surface of Mars from a height of 33 feet (10 meters), captured by the Ingenuity Mars helicopter during its sixth flight. (NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP)

Obaid Alsuwaidi, Kristen Magas, Tiffany Snyder, and Anderson Wilder will join the HERA mission on Friday, Nov. 1. The 650-square-foot habitat is designed to simulate living on another planet, like Mars.

According to NASA, HERA is used by scientists to study how humans adapt to being confined and alone on another world. The research will be used by NASA to design future trips into deep space.

While aboard HERA, the four volunteers will perform various tasks. These tasks include things like raising shrimp, growing crops and using virtual reality to explore Mars. Eighteen health studies will be conducted on the volunteers as part of NASA's human research program.

NASA has selected four new crew members to participate in the final simulated mission to Mars in 2024 inside the agency’s Human Exploration Research Analog. From left are Kristen Magas, Anderson Wilder, Obaid Alsuwaidi, and Tiffany Snyder. Credit: C7M4 Crew

Meet the crew of HERA

Obaid Alsuwaidi is from the United Arab Emirates. There, he serves as a captain engineer for the Ministry of Defense.

Kristen Magas is a teacher at Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical School in Franklin, Massachusetts. She was a finalist for the Massachusetts State Teacher of the Year for 2025.

Tiffany Snyder works for NASA in the Cybersecurity Mission Integration Office. She first joined NASA in 2018.

Anderson Wilder is a grad student at the Florida Institute of Technology. He currently studies how spaceflight contributes to neurobehavioral changes in astronauts.

An alternate crew of Jordan Hundley and Robert Wilson is available if any volunteer drops out.

What is the deal with HERA?

The HERA project is designed to test how people survive in an isolated environment. The 650-square foot, two story habitat is designed to match what an actual habitat would be like when deployed on an actual planet.

HERA helps NASA study how people living in isolation adapt to their new environment. (Credit: BILL STAFFORD AND ROBERT MARKOWITZ)

HERA is part of the Human Research Program. The HRP is focused on getting humans into deep space and keeping them healthy.

HRP is broken down into a few elements, according to NASA. These include exploring medical abilities in space, testing how humans perform in space, exploring the impacts of spaceflight on the human body, counteracting space radiation and developing ways to test these things out on Earth or aboard the International Space Station.