Four volunteers have finished a 378-day test mission at the Johnson Space Center. This centre is in Houston, Texas, and is run by the United States space agency NASA. The volunteers lived inside a special 3D-printed building that was made to feel like being on Mars, from October 2025 to October 2026.

NASA created this experiment to practise living on Mars and to study how people feel and work in a small and closed space for a long time. The volunteers could not go outside. They grew plants, fixed equipment, and practised activities like walking on Mars. They also had very little contact with the outside world, just like astronauts would if they really were on Mars.

After leaving the habitat, NASA started checking the volunteers’ health and feelings. The main result is that NASA will now use what they learned to make future Mars missions or Moon missions safer and better for astronauts. The experiment helps NASA understand what people need to stay healthy in space for a long time.