CHAPEA Crew Begins Stay Inside NASA’s Mars Habitat for Second Mission

Second CHAPEA Crew Begins Extended Mars Habitat Mission at NASA Johnson

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Nov 26, 2025 NASA's second CHAPEA (Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog) mission is underway with four volunteers - Ross Elder, Ellen Ellis, Matthew Montgomery, and James Spicer - beginning a 378-day simulated Mars stay inside a 1,700-square-foot 3D-printed habitat at Johnson Space Center in Houston. The mission started October 19, 2025, and will conclude on October 31, 2026. The crew will re

CHAPEA Crew Begins Stay Inside NASA’s Mars Habitat for Second Mission

CHAPEA mission 2 crew members (from left) Ross Elder, Ellen Ellis, Matthew Montgomery, and James Spicer pose in front of the door to the simulated Martian landscape for their first photo inside the CHAPEA habitat after their mission began in October 2025. Credits: NASA/CHAPEA Crew A crew of four research volunteers stepped inside NASA’s CHAPEA (Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog) habitat on Oct. 19, marking the start of the agency’s …