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• If you've missed the window to be an astronaut, maybe you can qualify to pretend to be one for a year.
NASA is accepting applications for four people who will live inside Mars Dune Alpha, a simulated Martian habitat at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, the Associated Press reported.
The 1,700-square-foot structure will have no windows and will be created by a 3-D printer. These paid volunteers will be challenged with spacewalks, equipment failures, limited communication with "home" and restricted food and resources.
"We want to understand how humans perform" in the habitats, said lead scientist Grace Douglas.
Requirements are strict, but former Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield recommends the gig: "Just think how much you're going to be able to catch up on Netflix." [Associated Press, 8/6/2021]