NASA selects crew for year-long Mars simulation mission.

Four volunteers have entered a simulated Mars habitat in Houston, Texas, where they will remain for 378 days while facing a range of challenges designed to anticipate a real-life human mission to the red planet. The participants were selected from a pool of applicants to be part of NASA's Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog, or CHAPEA, in its first yearlong mission. The crew will carry out an array of "mission activities," including simulated spacewalks, robotic operations, growing of crops, habitat maintenance, personal hygiene and exercise, while facing a series of obstacles that likely mirror those of a true Mars mission.