Houston, we have a podcast. Welcome to the official podcast of the NASA Johnson Space Center

episode 342, Mars Audio Log Number 11. I'm Gary Jordan and I'll be your host today.

On this podcast we bring in the experts, scientists, engineers,

and astronauts all to let you know what's going on

in the world of human spaceflight and more.

We're back with another log from the Chappia crew.

Chappia or crew health and performance exploration analog

is a year-long analog mission in a habitat right here on Earth that's

simulating very closely what it would be like to live on Mars. We're lucky enough to have monthly

check-ins with the crew, Commander Kelly Haston, Flight Engineer Ross Brockwell,

Medical Officer Nathan Jones, and Science Officer Anka Salaru.

To meet the needs of fitting in with this analog and simulating significant communication

delays between Earth and Mars that prohibit us from having a live conversation, the crew's recording an audio log, based off of the questions

that we draft for them.

On this episode, we'll play the recording of their 11th month in the Habitat, which is here

at the NASA Johnson Space Center and was recorded in May of 2024.

We'll also be bringing in a special guest to learn even more about Chappia.

This month is on another angle of scientific research, the protections for the subjects.

Of course it should be no surprise that NASA takes locking a crew in a habitat very seriously.

It is of course needed for good and thorough research, but certain protections are in place to make sure that the research with the Chippia crew is ultimately done ethically and safely.

This is a practice that's consistent with all research at NASA, but at least not on this podcast have we had a dedicated conversation with someone on how this all works.

At least not until this episode, where we're lucky enough to bring in Marissa Covington,

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