Illinois doctor selected by NASA for Mars mission simulation
Illinois doctor selected by NASA for Mars mission simulation
After an entire year in NASA's Mars simulation, an Illinois doctor is back on "earth." Springfield emergency room physician Nathan Jones saw a social media ad last year. NASA was looking for scientists to participate in their Houston-based mission.
CHICAGO - An Illinois doctor has re-emerged after spending a year inside a Mars simulation. He was among four U.S. researchers picked by NASA for the mission.
In this week's Good News Guarantee, he explains how likely a trip to Mars will be for you and me.
Dr. Nathan Jones is back to his day job as a Springfield emergency room physician after spending a year inside a Mars-simulated habitat in Houston.
"The thing I was most pleasantly surprised about was just how well the crew got along. We just did so much better than anyone could have imagined," said Jones.
During the mission, the crew communicated with their loved ones over video and email, facing a simulated 20-minute delay.
"The biggest challenge would be the isolation. Being so far away from home, Earth, everything that you knew before that point," Jones said.
Besides hugs and kisses in person, what Jones really wanted was a hamburger.
"That's actually kind of strange that I wanted one so bad because we actually had them on the mission but they weren't quite the same, you know it's space food," he said.
NASA will host two more simulated missions before a planned manned mission in the 2030s.