They were Martians for a year.

Kelly Haston shakes hands with a NASA staff member. She is one of the crew members who finished the first pretend Mars mission in early July. (NASA via AP)
Kjell Lindgren works for NASA. He speaks in front of the Mars crew. The crew members behind him are Kelly Haston, Ross Brockwell, Nathan Jones, and Anca Selariu. (NASA via AP)
Kelly Haston speaks after being on a pretend Mars mission. It was hard for crew members to be away from friends and family for a year! (NASA via AP)
Anca Selariu speaks about the Mars mission. People ask her, “Why go to Mars?” She says, “Because it’s possible. Because space can unite and bring out the best in us.” (NASA via AP)
Mars is dusty and has craters. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell University/Arizona State University)

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Do you pretend to go to space? NASA asked 4 people to pretend they were on Mars. They stayed in a 3-D printed place for a year.

NASA hopes to send people to real Mars soon.

Pray people will have wisdom as they make plans to travel to other planets.

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Four volunteers for NASA lived in a pretend Mars station for a year in Houston, Texas. They left the fake red planet in early July. The station has bedrooms, a gym, and a work area near a robot station. A sandy spot is like Mars’ surface. The crew members grew vegetables like greens and tomatoes. They used a treadmill to pretend they walked to gather samples. Could they go without much water? Could they handle equipment failures? They had to pass many tests.

“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial.” (James 1:12)

For more about Mars, see Life on Mars by Jon Agee in our Recommended Reading.