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NASA's Human Exploration Research Analog facility, aliases HERA, is simply a residence astatine nan agency’s Johnson Space Center successful Houston designed to simulate nan acquisition of a parented ngo to Mars. The unit for this year's 2nd of 4 HERA missions was chosen Monday. File Photo courtesy of NASA
April 15 (UPI) -- NASA connected Monday revealed its adjacent four-person unit to participate successful a simulated ngo to Mars performed wrong a residence astatine nan agency's Johnson Space Center successful Houston.
Jason Lee, Stephanie Navarro, Shareef Al Romaithi and Piyumi Wijesekara will comprise nan 2nd of 4 groups of volunteers to participate successful simulated, 45-day journeys to Mars this twelvemonth astatine nan Human Exploration Research Analog facility, NASA announced.
The first group completed its HERA ngo connected March 18, while 2 different missions will travel this year. The last HERA unit of 2024 is scheduled to wrap up their enactment connected Dec. 20.
The 2nd unit will statesman their ngo connected May 10 and exit nan installation connected June 24. In between, they will unrecorded and activity for illustration astronauts connected a heavy abstraction mission, carrying retired technological investigation and operational tasks while connected nan faux "Red Planet."
One item of their enactment will beryllium a "walk" connected nan Mars aboveground utilizing virtual reality. To make nan acquisition much realistic, nan unit besides will beryllium subjected to progressively lengthy connection delays pinch ngo power arsenic they simulate walking farther from Earth and person to Mars.
Lee is an subordinate professor-in-residence astatine nan University of Connecticut's School of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Manufacturing Engineering, school thermal fluids, manufacturing, and sports engineering courses.
Navarro is simply a abstraction operations serviceman successful nan U.S. Air Force Reserve pinch much than a decade of anterior enlisted work successful nan Air National Guard, including a deployment successful support of Operation Freedom Sentinel to thief supply unafraid connection capabilities successful nan Middle East.
Al Romaithi is simply a United Arab Emirates nationalist and a commercialized aviator pinch much than 16 years of acquisition commanding Boeing 777 and 787 craft arsenic a captain. He is participating successful nan ngo done a business betwixt NASA and nan UAE's Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre.
Wijesekara, meanwhile, is simply a postdoctoral investigation intelligence successful nan Radiation Biophysics Laboratory astatine NASA Ames Research Center successful California, researching nan effects of spaceflight stressors, including ionizing radiation and lunar particulate connected nan quality respiratory system.
HERA is simply a unsocial 650-square-foot residence divided among 2 floors and a loft, designed to service arsenic an analog for isolation, confinement and distant conditions successful exploration scenarios.
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover, utilizing its Mastcam-Z camera system, captured this position of nan Martian sunset connected November 9, 2021, nan 257th Martian day, aliases sol, of nan mission. Martian sunsets typically guidelines retired for their unique bluish colour arsenic good particulate successful nan ambiance permits bluish ray to penetrate nan ambiance much efficiently than colors pinch longer wavelengths. But this sunset looks different: Less particulate successful nan ambiance resulted successful a much muted colour than average. The colour has been calibrated and white-balanced to region camera artifacts. Photo courtesy of NASA | License Photo
