NASA said four volunteers who spent more than a year in a simulated Mars mission will leave their habitat on Saturday, Oct. 31, after 378 days of isolation at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston¹.

The agency said health and performance data from the Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog, or CHAPEA, can help it develop methods to counter human spaceflight risks for future Artemis and Moon Base missions¹.

Live coverage of the volunteers’ departure is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. EDT and will stream on NASA Johnson’s YouTube and social accounts, NASA said¹. Johnson Center Director Vanessa Wyche and NASA astronaut Jack Hathaway will speak, as will crew members Ross Elder, Ellen Ellis, James Spicer and Matthew Montgomery¹.

Media are invited to watch the CHAPEA Mission 2 ceremony live at Johnson on a screen outside the hangar that holds the facility, after which a subject-matter expert will take questions in person, NASA said¹. The agency said media will be able to record the crew exiting the building for the first time in more than a year¹.

U.S. media seeking to attend in person, or media seeking to speak virtually with the crew in the days after the mission ends, must contact the NASA Johnson newsroom by 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30, at [email protected], the advisory said¹.

CHAPEA Mission 2 began on Oct. 19, 2025, NASA said¹. Four crew members have lived and worked inside a 3D-printed, 1,700-square-foot facility, simulating Mars operations, spacewalks, exercise, habitat maintenance and plant growth while facing communication delays, resource limits and isolation¹.

NASA said the data can help prepare lunar missions by informing food-system design, crew-time use, Deep Space Network bandwidth and other aspects of living in deep space, and can help flight doctors and psychologists strengthen medical care and behavioral support¹.

Sources

1. NASANASA Invites Media to Crew Completion of Yearlong Mars Simulation3:27 PM

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