NASA volunteers launch next Mars simulation mission

NASA selected a new team of four research volunteers to participate in a simulated mission to Mars inside HERA (Human Exploration Research Analog) at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Erin Anderson, Sergii Iakymov, Brandon Kent and Sarah Elizabeth McCandless will begin their simulated journey to Mars on Friday, August 9. The volunteer crew members will stay inside the 650 square meter habitat for 45 days, exiting on Monday, September. 23 after a simulated “return” to Earth. Jason Staggs and Anderson Wilder will serve as alternate crew members.

HERA missions provide scientific insights into how humans respond to the type of isolation, confinement, work and life demands and remote conditions that astronauts may experience during deep space missions.

The facility supports more frequent and shorter duration simulations in the same building as CHAPEA (Crew Health and Performance Analog). This crew is the third group of volunteers to take part in a simulated Mars mission on HERA this year. The most recent crew completed its HERA mission on June 24. In total, there will be four analog missions in this series.

During this summer’s simulation, participants will perform a mix of scientific and operational tasks, including harvesting plants from a hydroponic garden, raising shrimp, deploying a small cube-shaped satellite (CubeSat) to simulate harvesting virtual data for analysis, “walking” on the surface of Mars using virtual reality glasses and flying simulated drones on the simulated surface of Mars. Team members will also encounter increasingly long communication delays with Mission Control throughout their mission, culminating in five minute delays as they “close” to Mars. Astronauts traveling to Mars can experience communication delays of up to 20 minutes.

NASA’s Human Research Program will conduct 18 human health experiments during each of the HERA 2024 missions. Together, the studies explore how a similar journey to Mars might affect the mental and physical health of crew members. The work will also allow scientists to test several procedures and equipment designed to keep astronauts safe and healthy on deep space missions.

Primary crew

Erin Anderson

Erin Anderson is a structural engineer at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia. Her work focuses on the fabrication and construction of composite structures – using materials designed to optimize strength, stiffness and density – that fly in air and space.

Anderson earned a bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2013. After graduation, she worked as a structural engineer for Boeing on NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) in Huntsville, Alabama. She moved to New Orleans to support the assembly of the SLS first core stage at NASA’s Michoud Assembly facility. Anderson received a master’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, in 2020. She began her current job in 2021, continuing her research on carbon fiber composites.

In her spare time, Anderson enjoys playing rugby, doting on her dog, Sesame, and learning how to ride at the local beaches.

Sergiy Iakymov

Sergii Iakymov is an aerospace engineer with more than 15 years of experience in research and design, manufacturing, quality control and project management. Iakymov currently serves as director of the Mars Desert Research Station, a private research facility based in Utah that serves as an operational and geological analog of Mars.

Iakymov received a bachelor’s degree in Aviation and Cosmonautics and a master’s degree in Aircraft Control Systems from Kyiv Polytechnic Institute in Ukraine. His graduate research focused on the propulsion of satellites equipped with space flywheels and magnetic coils.

Iakymov was born in Germany, raised in Ukraine and currently splits his time between southern Utah and Chino Hills, California. His hobbies include traveling, running, hiking, scuba diving, photography and reading.

Brandon Kent

Brandon Kent is a medical director in the pharmaceutical industry, supporting ongoing global efforts to develop new therapies for cancer types.

Kent received a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and Biology from North Carolina State University in Raleigh. He earned his PhD in Biomedicine from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, where his work focused primarily on how genetic factors regulate early embryonic development and cancer development.

After graduate school, Kent moved into scientific and medical communications consulting in oncology, focusing primarily on clinical trial data discovery, scientific exchange, and medical education initiatives.

Kent and his wife have two daughters. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his daughters, flying private jets, hiking, staying fit, and reading. He lives in Kinnelon, New Jersey.

Sarah Elizabeth McCandless

Sarah Elizabeth McCandless is a navigation engineer for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. McCandless’ work includes tracking the location and predicting the future trajectory of spacecraft, including the Mars Perseverance rover, Artemis I, Psyche and Europa Clipper.

McCandless received a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Kansas in Lawrence, and a master’s in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, focusing on orbital mechanics.

McCandless is originally from Fairway, Kansas and remains an avid fan of her alma mater and hometown sports teams. She is active in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) outreach and education and enjoys camping, running, traveling with friends and family, and piloting Cessna 172s. She lives in Pasadena, California.

Alternate crew

Jason Staggs

Jason Staggs is a cybersecurity researcher and assistant professor of computer science at the University of Tulsa. His research focuses on systems security engineering, infrastructure protection and resilient autonomous systems. Staggs is an editor for the International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection and the Critical Infrastructure Protection book series.

Staggs supported scientific research expeditions with the National Science Foundation at McMurdo Station in Antarctica. He also previously served as a space engineer and medical officer while working as an analog astronaut on the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) atop the Mauna Loa volcano.

Staggs received his bachelor’s degree in Information Assurance and Forensics from Oklahoma State University and his master’s degree and doctorate in Computer Science from the University of Tulsa. During his postdoctoral studies at the Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, he investigated the vulnerabilities of electric vehicle charging stations.

In his free time, Staggs enjoys hiking, building radio systems, communicating with radio operators in remote locations, and volunteering as a solar system ambassador for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory—sharing his passion for astronomy , oceanography and space exploration with his community.

Anderson Wilder

Anderson Wilder is a graduate student at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne working on his PhD in psychology. His research focuses on team resilience and human-machine interactions. Wilder also works in the neuroscience lab on campus, investigating how spaceflight contributes to neurobehavioral changes in astronauts.

Wilder previously served as an executive officer and engineer for an analog mission at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah. There, he conducted studies related to crew social dynamics, plant growth, and geology.

Wilder received bachelor’s degrees in Linguistics and Psychology from Ohio State University in Columbus. He also received a master’s degree in Space Studies from the International Space University in Strasbourg, France, and is completing a second master’s degree in Experimental Cognitive Psychology from Cleveland State University in Ohio.

Outside of school, Wilder works as a parabolic flight instructor, teaching people how to experience reduced gravity environments. He also enjoys chess, reading, video games, skydiving and scuba diving. On a recent dive, he explored a submerged section of the Great Wall of China.

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NASA’s Human Research Program

NASA’s Human Research Program (HRP) pursues the best methods and technologies to support safe and productive space travel. Through science conducted in laboratories, ground-based analogs, and the International Space Station, HRP examines how spaceflight affects human bodies and behavior. Such research drives HRP’s quest to innovate ways to keep astronauts healthy and mission-ready as space travel expands to the Moon, Mars and beyond.