NASA Seeks Volunteers for Yearlong Simulated Moon and Mars Mission in New MMEA Program
Featured image: [A research volunteer wearing augmented reality goggles for simulated astronaut tasks inside an analog habitat; credit: NASA]
NASA is recruiting volunteers for its newly launched Moon and Mars Exploration Analog (MMEA), a yearlong simulation designed to test how crews will handle the isolation, confinement and operational challenges of living on the lunar surface or Mars. The mission will begin no earlier than August 2027 at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The MMEA program merges elements of two existing NASA analog programs, HERA (Human Exploration Research Analog), which studies the effects of isolation during spaceflight, and CHAPEA (Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog), which simulates life on the Martian surface, into a single, integrated mission.
“Getting humans to Mars is not just about building a big enough rocket,” NASA said in its announcement. “It is about making sure every aspect of life so far away from Earth is optimized for success.”
What Volunteers Will Do
Selected crew members will live and work inside specially designed habitats that simulate traveling to and living on the Moon and Mars. Their duties will include scheduled maintenance tasks, scientific experiments, simulated emergencies, robotic operations and virtual reality spacewalk simulations.
Participants will face a mandatory social media detox, enforced isolation from digital life, and will operate under the communication delays expected during deep space missions, where signals can take up to 22 minutes to reach Earth from Mars.
NASA researchers will study crew dynamics, mental health, habitat operations and mission procedures throughout the yearlong confinement, gathering data to inform plans for a sustained lunar presence through the agency’s Moon Base initiative and future Artemis missions.
Application Requirements
NASA is looking for U.S. citizens or permanent residents with a strong desire for unique, rewarding experiences and an interest in contributing to the first human journey to Mars. Candidates must be willing to participate in a multi-day selection process and pass NASA’s physical and psychological assessments.
The program builds on lessons learned from previous analog missions. The first CHAPEA mission ended in July 2024 after 378 days, with four volunteers emerging from a 3D-printed habitat at Johnson Space Center. A second CHAPEA crew entered a Mars Dune Alpha habitat in October 2025. The new MMEA program streamlines these separate efforts into a single research framework.
“Insights from this new, yearlong experience can be used to help keep astronauts safe and mission-ready during future planetary surface operations,” NASA said. The results are also expected to inform the agency’s planning for the first crewed Mars mission, which NASA has targeted for the 2030s.