SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — When Dr. Nathan Jones spent eight hours filling out an online application for a NASA Mars mission, he never thought he would be selected. 

The Emergency Medicine Physician at Springfield Memorial Hospital was so sure he wouldn't make it through the screening process that he didn't even tell his wife he had applied until two weeks later. 

"There was a website that said, 'Do you want to go to Mars?' and, you know, I followed that link and it seemed like an interesting idea," said Dr. Jones. "And the kid in me was like, 'absolutely right,' and so it had a link to the NASA website, which had an application." 

After a rigorous application and interview process, Dr. Jones was one of four people selected for the Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) Mission 1. The crew will spend 378 days in simulated Mars habitat in Texas. While the group will not actually be in space, current technology will closely mirror the conditions of Mars. 

"The habitat itself is 1700 square feet and there's an airlock system that we'd have to go to and put on a spacesuit, and we can actually egress from it," said Dr. Jones. "There's about 1200 square foot area that we call a sandbox, and we'll be able to complete some of the missions using that and in addition, we'll have virtual reality goggles inside these spacesuits." 

CHAPEA is an isolation mission, which means the crew will study the impacts of a year of isolation from others. Dr. Jones and the team will also study food systems and fitness for future missions to Mars or the moon. 

While Dr. Jones says the idea of leaving his friends and family for a year is difficult, he looks forward to the impact his work will have in the community. He said people going on NASA missions is not common in the Midwest. 

"When I get done with a mission I'd like to go and talk to students and encourage them into the STEM fields and getting involved," said Dr. Jones. "This dream of going to space is becoming more accessible than ever. In the past, there's been a very small astronaut program as it becomes more publicly accessible, I think it's more realizable to people. "

Dr. Jones says the technology he and his team will be using will likely be used in future NASA missions. 

Dr. Jones will be the medical officer on the crew. In addition to working at Springfield Memorial Hospital, he is also an associate professor of emergency medicine at the SIU School of Medicine. He got his Bachelor of Science from U of I and his Doctorate from SIU. 

For more information on the CHAPEA mission, click here. 

Copyright 2023. WAND TV. All rights reserved.