Last week NASA announced it is searching for individuals to participate in ongoing Crew Health and Performance Analog (CHAPEA) experiments that are part of the plan to establish human presence on Mars. This phase of experiments includes a year-long stay in a Mars simulator where participants will experience a realistic Martian existence including “resource limitations, equipment failures, communication delays, and other environmental stressors.”
We don’t know for sure what the experience will be like but we can share some recent images of Mars that will give you a taste of what you might see during your stay on the simulated planet.
HiRISE Catches an avalanche on Mars
The High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (Hi-RISE) camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this avalanche plunging down a 1,640-foot-tall (500-meter-tall) cliff on May 29, 2019. The image also reveals layers at Mars’ north pole during spring. As temperatures increase and vaporize ice, the destabilized ice blocks break loose and kick up dust. (NASA/date created: 2020-08-12)
A Greenwich Observatory on Mars
The crater in the center of this HiRISE image defines where zero longitude is on Mars, like the Greenwich Observatory does for the Earth. Originally, the larger crater that this crater sits within, called Airy Crater, defined zero longitude for the Red Planet. But as higher resolution images became available, a smaller feature was needed. This crater, called Airy-0 (zero), was selected because it would require no adjustment of existing maps. (NASA/date created: 2022-01-21)
Jezero Crater as seen by ESA’s Mars Express orbiter
This image shows the remains of an ancient delta in Mars’ Jezero Crater, which NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover will explore for signs of fossilized microbial life. The image was taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera aboard the ESA (European Space Agency) Mars Express orbiter. The European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, operates the ESA mission. The High Resolution Stereo Camera was developed by a group with leadership at the Freie Universitat Berlin. (NASA/date created: 2020-09-21)
Perseverance is roving on Mars
This image was taken during the first drive of NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars on March 4, 2021. Perseverance landed on Feb. 18, 2021, and the team has been spending the weeks since landing checking out the rover to prepare for surface operations. This image was taken by the rover’s Navigation Cameras. (NASA/date created: 2021-03-05)
Mars mound from Ingenuity Helicopter’s perspective
This image of an area the Mars Perseverance rover team calls “Faillefeu” was captured by NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter during its 13th flight at Mars on Sept. 4, 2021. At the time the image was taken, Ingenuity was at an altitude of 26 feet (8 meters). Images of the geologic feature were taken at the request of the Mars Perseverance rover science team, which was considering visiting the geologic feature during the first science campaign. (NASA/date created: 2021-09-17)
Whirling dust devil
A Martian dust devil was captured winding its way along the Amazonis Planitia region of Northern Mars. (NASA/date created: 2012-04-04)
A mysterious fractured depression on Mars
These depressions, found near the northern edge of the ancient highlands, have fractures that indicate collapse toward their centers. This pattern can be found on glaciers that sit atop volcanoes after a small eruption has melted some of the ice. (NASA/date created: 2022-01-21)
Icy, patterned ground on Mars
Icy, patterned ground on Mars. (NASA/date created: 2008-05-26)
Terra Sirenum
Gullies in Sirenum Terra, Mars (NASA/date created: 2006-10-16)
Mawrth Vallis
Diversity in Mawrth Region, Mars (NASA/date created: 2006-10-16)
Christine Frapech
is TPM's designer and event planner based in New York.
