Podcasts · NASA's Curious Universe

Encore: A Year In Mars Dune Alpha

20 Oct 2026 · 27 min · S14 E1

To prepare for the day when humans travel to Mars, NASA is conducting a one-year experiment in a Mars simulation environment. So what’s it like to spend a year in CHAPEA, the Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog? Travel through the airlock with voice recordings made by the four-person crew, including what it feels like—and smells like—inside their realistic 3D printed habitat and how virtual reality gives them the sensation of walking on the Red Planet.

This episode was originally published in 2023. For more information about CHAPEA, visit nasa.gov/chapea.

Links in the notes 1

• https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/chapea/

The episode on the publisher’s site ↗ (opens in a new tab)