Four volunteers in NASA’s second Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog mission are scheduled to leave their habitat on October 31 after 378 days of isolation. NASA’s October 27 announcement sets out the completion event for the ground-based Mars simulation at Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Ross Elder, Ellen Ellis, James Spicer, and Matthew Montgomery entered the habitat on October 19, 2025. Their living and working environment is a 3D-printed facility measuring 1,700 square feet.
The crew has performed simulated spacewalks, habitat maintenance, exercise, and plant-growing activities. Communication delays, limited resources, and isolation introduce operating conditions relevant to extended missions beyond Earth.
NASA intends to use the health and performance data to improve food systems, crew-time allocation, communications planning, and medical and behavioral support. These applications connect the simulated activities to specific operational decisions for future missions.
NASA plans to broadcast the crew’s departure beginning at 3 p.m. Eastern time on October 31. The announcement confirms the planned end of the simulation; scientific findings from the completed mission have not yet been presented in that release.
