NASA crew looks back on life in yearlong Mars simulation: Goal is to reach planet by the 'end of next decade'

NASA officials are revealing what life was like spending a year inside a Mars simulation and say the United States might reach the red planet by the "end of next decade." 

Commander Kelly Haston, Flight Engineer Ross Brockwell, Medical Officer Dr. Nathan Jones and Science Officer Anca Selariu lived in a 1,700-square-foot Martian habitat for 378 days to study and plan for future missions. 

"It was really just a great opportunity to get to work with all the NASA personnel and the experts there," Jones told Fox News Digital. "The day-to-day was pretty similar to what you would expect for an actual Mars mission or maybe even a lunar mission. Essentially, we would get up in the morning, do a quick breakfast and sort of a team tag-up, followed by just mission realistic activities." 

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The crew practiced walking the surface of Mars in what they called the "sandbox." 

"You kind of feel like you're walking outside onto the surface of Mars," he explained. "Then, on top of that, we also had virtual reality spacewalks where it felt like you were really walking out on the surface of Mars for extended periods of time." 

The crew experimented with growing different crops such as tomatoes and lettuce in an AeroGarden, using hydroponics. 

"I think we learned a lot about how a food system would work and how an exercise program might function, how the habitat design — as it was in this iteration — would live, ways crews could get along and be effective and also have a good time while they were in a situation like that," Brockwell reflected. "So I think we learned a lot."

The crew was able to have contact with the outside, but it was on a time delay to simulate how communication would be on Mars.  

"You experience, like, 20 minutes for the signal to get there, and then whenever you want to send something back to me, it takes 20 minutes for it to come back to me, and that doesn't include the time for you to record it and the bandwidth," Jones explained. 

The medical officer told Fox News Digital that the simulation allowed the crew to research what medical technology would be the most useful in a mission to Mars and how the crew would respond, taking into account the communication delays in relaying the information back to officials on Earth. 

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"If you were on a real mission to Mars, you would take surgical supplies and stuff like that," Jones told Fox News Digital. "Well, in a simulation, it's probably not worth the risk to the crew members to have an ER doctor doing surgery. You would have taken them out and had them appropriately cared for, but on a real mission to Mars, it might be me communicating with an actual surgeon that was more specialized in something and actually doing the procedure." 

Jones said the biggest hurdle in a Mars mission is the time it takes to get there. Since it takes nine months for a one-way trip, the crew must have proper supplies and be able to withstand a long period of isolation from their loved ones.  

"If we can shorten that trip just a little bit, it would be super helpful, not just because of getting the crews there, but because of getting the supplies that would be needed as well," he said. 

Though teammates were away from their families, they did not miss an opportunity to celebrate the holidays together by creating homemade Christmas ornaments, making birthday cakes and using LED lights to decorate their habitat. 

"That was a lot of fun," Brockwell recalled. "There were a few ways we tried to kind of stay connected to Earth — just celebrating birthdays and holidays along the way was one way to do that. So, it meant a lot to us." 

Brockwell and Jones both expressed happiness for the opportunity to learn about Mars in the simulation. 

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"It was pretty amazing," Brockwell said. "I think it was about as realistic as one could hope for, being earthbound, but it was very interesting and exciting, from beginning to end. It was great." 

"Support for this kind of exploration and for the space program is so important for the United States of America and for the world," Brockwell said. "I think sometimes people wonder with all that we have going on in the world, if this is a good use of time and resources, and I think it is. I mean, we learn so much from it, from a practical standpoint, but also just from a standpoint of what's possible. It's really inspirational. I think these kinds of goals help to inspire and unify humanity. So, I hope there is widespread understanding and enthusiasm for that."