NASA volunteers complete year-long mission in 3D-printed Mars bunker in Texas | US News

NASA volunteers who spent more than a year in a simulated bunker on Mars completed their mission.

After 378 days in a 3D-printed imitation Mars bunker in Texas, Kelly Haston, Anca Selariu, Ross Brockwell and Nathan Jones were released on Saturday around 10pm UK time.

At a news conference after they were allowed to return to the world, Selariu said bringing life to Mars was “dearest to my heart.”

He said his “dear friends and family have always been there when I needed them” and that “I will always have them in my heart and memory wherever I go.”

The volunteers were part from NASA Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) mission, which began on June 25 last year.

During that time, they simulated Mars mission operations, including “Marswalks,” grew and ate their own vegetables, including tomatoes, peppers and leafy greens, maintained their equipment and lived in realistic Mars circumstances, NASA said.

This included a delay in communication with Earth, limited resources, and isolation.

The crew is the first of three to undertake such missions at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

The 3D-printed structure, known as Mars Dune Alpha, has been described as “a 1,700-square-foot isolated habitat.”

This marks the end of the first planned program, which is intended to help prepare the US space agency for reality.

NASA is still planning a return to the Moon, which they hope will serve as a springboard for Mars exploration.

What you may have missed:

While they had delayed communication with NASA, those involved in the mission may not have been kept up to date with what has been happening around the world.

Here are some of the events you may have missed since being locked down:

• Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages, Israel said. Israeli forces responded invading Gaza, and so far more than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry has said.
• While climate change will be nothing new to the imitation inhabitants of Mars, Global temperature records were broken quite emphatically. as they completed their mission.
• Donald Trump became the first former president of the United States criminally convicted after a New York jury found him guilty of falsifying business records to commit election fraud.
• When the volunteers entered the program, South Koreans were one or two years older than now. after the country abandoned its traditional age counting system to align with the rest of the world.
• While they missed a lot of music, movies, and popular culture, the biggest moment they missed might have been the premiere of Barbie and Oppenheimer In theaters.
• He Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapsed after a tanker truck crashed into it.
• They spent more time in lockdown than Lord David Cameron in his role as Foreign Secretary after his surprising return to UK politics.
• Founder of Wikileaks Julian Assange reached a plea deal with the United States be found guilty of a federal charge in exchange for his release back to Australia. He was released the next day.