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Tuesday, October 20, 2026

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NASA · Tuesday, October 20, 2026

Four volunteers hit a full year inside NASA's pretend Mars

The File desk · Oct. 20, 2026, 6:44 a.m. ET

Confirmed1 primary sources

Status

Confirmed from NASA's Monday release, re-opened for this edition. The crew is still inside. Exit is scheduled for Oct. 31.
  • Confirmed
    CHAPEA Mission 2's four crew members entered the habitat on Oct. 19, 2025, and have now been inside for a year.
  • Confirmed
    NASA says they will exit on Saturday, Oct. 31, after a 378-day mission.
Four people have spent a year sealed inside a 3D-printed habitat at Johnson Space Center in Houston, living as if they were on Mars. They are NASA's CHAPEA Mission 2 crew. They are scheduled to come out on Saturday, Oct. 31.1
The crew is Ross Elder, mission commander; Ellen Ellis, medical officer; Matthew Montgomery, science officer; and James Spicer, flight engineer. They entered on Oct. 19, 2025. The habitat is 1,700 square feet. Grace Douglas, the principal investigator, said, “We are extremely proud of the crew for their commitment and achievements over the last year on such a fast-paced, highly demanding mission.”1
Families reached them only by email, with a delay like the one a Mars crew would live with. NASA studies delays lasting up to 45 minutes each way.
Why it matters (Estimate). A real Mars trip would mean a year or more of isolation, tight quarters, rationed food, and slow messages home. NASA is collecting that experience on the ground in Houston before it asks a crew to do it in space. The four people in the habitat are the data.1
The exit NASA named is Saturday, Oct. 31, after a 378-day mission. They are still inside.
How we know

Notes

  1. 1.NASA, “NASA's Simulated Mars Crew Marks One Year Inside Habitat,” Oct. 19, 2026, re-opened for this edition. https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/nasas-simulated-mars-crew-marks-one-year-inside-habitat/ Crew: “Ross Elder, mission commander; Ellen Ellis, medical officer; Matthew Montgomery, science officer; and James Spicer, flight engineer.” Entered Oct. 19, 2025. “The crew will exit their habitat on Saturday, Oct. 31, to conclude their mission.” A 378-day mission. “1,700 square foot 3D-printed” habitat at Johnson Space Center. Families “via email over the course of their mission with a Mars-like communication delay.” NASA studies delays “lasting up to 45 minutes each way.” Grace Douglas: “We are extremely proud of the crew for their commitment and achievements over the last year on such a fast-paced, highly demanding mission.” The page time recorded by the science desk is 2:01 p.m. ET. No picture is used. A NASA photo exists on the page and is left off so the front page keeps a single image.

What is still unknown or disputed

  • NASA hasn't posted medical results from the year.
  • The exit on Oct. 31 is the plan in the release. It hasn't happened.

Primary sources

Every claim in this story is drawn from the documents below. If a fetch failed, that is recorded on the card.

  1. Source 1

    NASA's simulated Mars crew marks one year inside habitat

    NASA · October 19, 2026

    The crew will exit their habitat on Saturday, Oct. 31, to conclude their mission.

    https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/nasas-simulated-mars-crew-marks-one-year-inside-habitat/

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