NASA seeks a candidate for a mission.

NASA is seeking volunteers for a new one-year mission at a simulated lunar or Martian base. The mission is scheduled to begin no earlier than August 2027 at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. They are looking for four volunteers to live and work for approximately 12 months across two simulated, confined habitats: one designed to mimic a spacecraft for the interplanetary journey, and the other to replicate a base on the lunar or Martian surface.

In fact, the mission will utilize a habitat similar to the one used in a previous simulation known as CHAPEA (an acronym). The goal is to study crew health, performance, and adaptation under conditions of isolation. Participants will face limited resources and the demands of actual missions to the Moon or Mars—including sample analysis, various tasks, and presumably greenhouse operations—covering all the survival, maintenance, exploration, and research activities required at a lunar or Martian base. Some requirements involve physical exertion and complex tasks; there will also be stressful moments, as emergency situations will be simulated—without warning, of course—requiring the crew to work together to resolve the crisis and survive.

Don't worry, they won't actually kill you; it is a simulation. However, if such an event were to occur at a real base on the Moon or Mars, the outcome could be catastrophic. That is the purpose of these exercises: to ensure that when a real base is established on the Moon or Mars, the crew knows how to handle emergency situations that have already been practiced during these simulations.

As for the requirements—bearing in mind we are talking about NASA here—candidates must speak English, be U.S. citizens or hold a green card, and be between 30 and 35 years old (though the age range might be slightly flexible). They must be no taller than 188 cm and hold a STEM degree (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, etc.) or possess equivalent experience. Military experience is also highly valued; the discipline and mental order characteristic of military personnel—especially regarding work in confined, restricted environments with a specific schedule—are considered major assets, given that living on a base on Mars or the Moon means inhabiting a very limited space and adhering to a precise, strict task list.

You also cannot have any dietary restrictions or allergies—if you were actually on Mars, you’d have to eat whatever everyone else eats. Nor can you have any mental health disorders; as you might imagine, I found one specific detail interesting: you cannot be a sleepwalker. It’s curious, but logical. Imagine waking up sleepwalking at the Martian base—in your dream, you might want to step out into the garden or take the dog for a walk; well, that would cause a massive problem. You also have to pass physical and psychological evaluations, as well as a multi-day selection process.

The commitment is for 14 months, and the pay is $60,000—which strikes me as low, to be honest. Food, board, and clothing are all covered, but you are confined there 24 hours a day. For Europeans, the European Space Agency runs similar simulations that pay more—around €18,000 (roughly $19,500) for just two months. That’s €18,000 or $19,500 in two months, though I should mention that the perspective is different and the experience is much tougher. There is one particular experiment—which would be terrible for me personally because I have back problems, even though it sounds comfortable—that involves spending weeks in bed with your head tilted back, eating and taking care of bodily functions in that same position.

It sounds like lying in bed—it might seem comfortable, but it isn't; plus, it’s incredibly boring. You can barely do anything, and you have to stay tilted—not just lounging on a sofa, but held in a specific, inclined position. Other tests involve lying in a bathtub to simulate weightlessness—extreme isolation trials. This stems from the fact that there are two different perspectives: NASA owns spacecraft and leads the international Artemis project, whereas ESA doesn't have its own spacecraft yet—fair enough—but both agencies are developing distinct technologies and approaches. The European Space Agency seems to be stepping up its game to achieve autonomy and independence from the United States in the space race, so the situation could change in the coming years.

The key point is that ESA is working on how to conduct missions to Mars—or beyond—lasting months or years, during which astronauts would enter a state of hibernation, synthetic torpor, or suspended animation. In fact, they are the furthest along in this area; it is believed that before the middle of this century, we could see the development of suspended animation methods similar to those in movies like *Interstellar* or *The Martian*, where astronauts could halt or drastically slow their metabolism for years. That’s why these tests are so grueling—and why the pay is higher—though I still think the compensation is low. I’d be curious to hear what you all think.

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