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Would you survive 378 days of team bonding? Nasa takes the test
Lengthy simulation of life on Mars illuminates the universal features of work, including petty irritations with colleagues.
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Chapea crew members (from left) Kelly Haston, Nathan Jones, Anca Selariu and Ross Brockwell on July 6, after their simulated Mars mission at Nasa’s Johnson Space Centre in Houston.
PHOTO: NASA
Emma Jacobs
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Could you spend 378 days and nights in a darkened space, illuminated only by strip lighting and a window looking out on a fake planet, with just three colleagues for company? A week? OK, a night?
The four members of Nasa’s first Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (Chapea) mission lasted the full stretch, finally reappearing on July 6. They had spent more than a year in a Houston hangar, simulating a mission to Mars. The crew’s primary focus was not how to maintain equipment and physical health but how to live with their co-workers, isolated from family and friends.
