A "house equipped" to simulate life on Mars for a year

 The US space agency “NASA” unveiled, on Tuesday, a house that appears at first glance ordinary, but in reality it will host, starting next June, 4 people who will quarantine themselves in it for more than a year to simulate life on Mars.

The house, called "Mars without Alpha," was built at the NASA Research Center in Houston, Texas. The stay of the four people in this house is intended to prepare for a future trip to the Red Planet.

By measuring their performance and cognitive abilities, the agency will get a clearer picture of the "resources" that should be available to participants in the ambitious Mars mission, said Grace Douglas, the Chapaia program manager overseeing this experiment.

She explained that defining the requirements is critical because there are "limited to the weight of what can be sent on these missions". The 160 sqm home includes four bedrooms, an exercise room, a vertical vegetable farm, an operating room, a relaxation area and work points.

A covered passage leads to a section where the Martian environment has been recreated. On its red sand floor there is a weather station, a brick making machine, a small greenhouse, and a treadmill. 

Susan Bell, responsible for the agency's "Behavioral Health and Performance Laboratory" program, said that this device allows participants to make an effort similar to what physical activity requires on Mars, in terms of movement, collection of samples and information, as well as construction.

The agency did not announce the names of the volunteers who will participate in the test, but it is known that they will not be astronauts, and they will face constant pressure in terms of rationing water use, for example, or equipment failure.

The house is also distinguished by the fact that it was built using 3D printing technology, which is “one of the technologies that NASA is considering adopting to build housing on the surface of other planets or the moon,” according to Grace Douglas.

The US Space Agency is preparing to send a mission to Mars on a mission that will last for several years, but it will not happen soon, but rather "at the end of the thirties of the current century," according to NASA President Bill Nelson.