PREPARING FOR LIVING ON MARS
From June 2023 to June 2024, a unique experiment took place in the city of Houston, Texas. The experiment was carried out by NASA, the American organization responsible for research and exploration in space. NASA has already successfully sent people to walk on the moon, and to spend many months on the International Space Station. In about ten years, it plans to send astronauts to live on the planet Mars. The experiment in Texas was an important part of the preparation for that project.(lines 1–5)
The experiment was set up inside a large warehouse. The floor of the warehouse had been covered with red sand and large red rocks so that it resembled the surface of Mars. In the middle of this "desert" stood Mars Dune Alpha – a small building with four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, a kitchen, a laboratory, and a gym. The building had the same design as the homes NASA plans to build on Mars. Moreover, the sand and stone used to build it were similar to those found on Mars. "It's important to learn how to build homes with such materials," says engineer Matt Rodway. "That's because construction materials are too heavy to take from Earth to Mars, and NASA will need to use the materials that already exist there."(lines 6–13)
Four specially trained volunteers stayed in Mars Dune Alpha for the whole year. During that time, they experienced the kind of life that astronauts would have on Mars. For example, they had a very strict daily schedule, with most of the day devoted to working in the laboratory, and specific times set for eating, exercising, and sleeping. Occasionally, they were allowed to walk around the "desert." However, they could do so only after putting on special spacesuits, identical to the ones that astronauts living on Mars will wear outside their homes. Moreover, messages to and from the NASA control room took 20 minutes to arrive – the time it would take for them to travel between Mars and Earth.(lines 14–21)
To make the experience even more authentic, NASA sometimes surprised the team with emergency situations. For example, an important piece of equipment suddenly stopped working and the team had to find a way to repair it quickly. Psychologists, who were constantly monitoring the team for signs of stress, checked how well its members coped with such situations. "This kind of data is very valuable, and will also be collected in similar experiments in the next few years," says psychologist Emma Ford. "It will greatly help prepare astronauts for the real thing."(lines 22–27)