The US space agency NASA is looking for four motivated applicants for a one-year simulation of life on the red planet.
Starting in spring 2025, four volunteers are to spend twelve months in "Mars Dune Alpha" in Houston, Texas, a simulation site measuring around 160 square metres and modelled on an imagined Mars research station, NASA announced on Friday.
The research station is a modular 3D printed construction at Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The program will simulate the challenges of a mission on Mars, including resource limitations, equipment failures, communication delays, and other environmental stressors. Crew tasks are to include simulated spacewalks, robotic operations, habitat maintenance, exercise, and crop growth.
This is already the second such simulation, which is part of NASA's "CHAPEA" (Crew Health And Performance Exploration Analog) programme, which aims to prepare for missions to Mars.
Applications are open until April 2. According to NASA. Applicants must have a degree in natural sciences, be between 30 and 55 years old, "healthy, motivated," non-smokers and have US citizenship or permanent residency. They also have to be proficient in English. The assignment will be compensated.