Who is Kelly Haston, the biologist who will simulate a year on Mars – 05/28/2023 – Science

Living on Mars isn’t exactly what Kelly Haston dreamed of as a child, but now she’s preparing to dedicate an entire year of her life to the red planet.

“Let’s just pretend we’re there,” sums up the 52-year-old Canadian.

Haston is part of a group of four volunteers who will have a Martian habitat as their home for 12 months, starting in July, although the location will be Houston, Texas.

“To be honest, it still seems a little unrealistic to me,” admits the biologist with a smile.

For NASA, which carefully selected the candidates, the long experiences allow to evaluate the behavior of a crew in an isolated environment before a real mission.

The US space agency has warned participants that they will be exposed to equipment failures, water restrictions and other “surprises”. Communication with the outside world will have the delay that exists between Earth and Mars, that is, up to twenty minutes (40 minutes round trip).

“I’m very excited, but I’m also realistic,” Haston told AFP. “It’s a big challenge.”

The habitat, called Mars Dune Alpha, is a 160-square-metre 3D-printed facility featuring bedrooms, a gym and a vertical farm to grow vegetables.

“Surprisingly, you get the feeling that it’s spacious once you’re inside,” says Haston, who visited the space more than a year ago, before his participation was confirmed in the summer of 2022.

“There’s even an outer space” that simulates the Martian environment, with red sand and no open air to maintain the illusion. The crew will actually be able to simulate spacewalks, “possibly what I most want to do”, admits the scientist.

united group

When Kelly Haston heard that NASA was looking for volunteers, she didn’t hesitate: “I immediately filled out the application form,” she says. “This is in line with many of my goals in life to explore different avenues of research and science.”

In addition, she enjoys being part of the guinea pigs for an “experiment that could advance space exploration”.

Haston met the other mission members — an engineer, an emergency physician and a nurse — during the selection process.

“We really understand each other very well,” says this woman who was named “commander.”

Seeing how “we will become a united and successful group is one of the most exciting parts of the mission”, says the ‘commander’.

Reaching agreements will be necessary for this particular coexistence, which includes days of cleaning and organizing food preparation.

Before entering the habitat, a month of training is planned in Houston.

Haston explains that in case of a medical emergency, a mission member can leave to be treated. But for situations that the crew can resolve, there are defined procedures.

The way of communicating a family situation was also prearranged.

Isolation

What worries this Canadian woman the most is the lack of a partner and family. She will not be able to communicate, except by email or video, but never live.

Going out and visiting the mountains or the sea will be things that she will also miss, she admits.

For the rest, he hopes to take advantage of what he did with his previous experiences, such as a scientific mission to Africa, where he studied the genetic characteristics of frogs for several months — sleeping in a car or in a tent, with four people and without a cell phone.

This specialist in the field of stem cell treatments for certain diseases recently worked for a startup in California, where she also did her research.

This will be the first of three Chapea (Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog) missions that will simulate year-long stays on the surface of Mars.

Previously, a similar experience took place between 2015 and 2016 in Hawaii. NASA participated in, but was not directly responsible for, the mission called HI-SEAS.

With its Artemis program, NASA proposes the return of humans to the Moon and intends to prepare a trip to Mars, possibly in the late 2030s.