Springfield doctor completes year-long NASA mission

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — Dr. Nathan Jones usually works in the Emergency Department at Memorial Hospital in Springfield. But for the last year, he was the crew medical officer for NASA's CHAPEA (Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog) Mission 1.

For 378 days, Dr. Nathan Jones lived in a 3-D printed habitat at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The habitat is similar to what could be used in future missions to Mars.

"The purposal was to integrate so many of the previous studies that had been done for future missions to the moon and to Mars," said Dr. Jones. "We were looking at the food programs and exercise programs, as well as the science for geology and the sort of things undertaken in future missions."

CHAPEA 1 was the first of three missions planned in the Mars Dune Alpha habitat. The other missions will be completed in 2025 and 2026.

The habitat is 1,700 square feet and houses four crew members at once. The crew completed experiments regarding isolation and food rations. NASA says the CHAPEA missions are important because, "the results of CHAPEA and the knowledge gained from the analog missions will allow NASA to characterize the risk of the planned exploration food system design in relation to crew health and performance and inform NASA standards, associated vehicle mass and volume requirements, and resource-risk trades for long-duration exploration missions."

Dr. Jones has three sons and is married, which made leaving home difficult. But the opportunity to help further the future of space exploration and represent central Illinois made the sacrifice worth it.

"One of the best things about participating in the mission was just feeling like I was taking the entire community of central Illinois with me and coming back and just seeing how excited everyone is for the work that we did," said Jones. "When I got out and finally got to embrace my kids again, that was probably one of the greatest feelings ever."

While the crew grew some produce, their diet consisted of premade NASA meals. Dr. Jones said he craved hamburgers and chips during the mission.

For more information on the CHAPEA mission, read the NASA website here.

To watch WAND's interview with Dr. Jones before his mission, click here.