The objective of the CHAPEA mission is to investigate what life would be like on Mars.

The mission stands out for its isolation from the outside, maintenance work and food cultivation.

This was the first of three similar missions

We want to take humans to Mars. Not only that. We want to colonize that planet, establish ourselves there, and it is not going to be easy. There are many challenges ahead of us and to see how things go, on June 25 four NASA volunteers entered a 3D printed habitat to isolate themselves, live and work for more than a year. Since that moment 378 days have passed and now, after a year practically disconnected from the outside, they have just left.

No one enters or leaves here. Known as Mars Dune Alpha, this 157-square-meter bunker located in Houston, Texas, was intended to simulate life on the Red Planet. The habitat was 3D printed using “lavacrete,” an inexpensive semi-liquid concrete compound.

Go for 3D. And why opt for 3D printing? In NASA's words, "Future space exploration settlements can be 3D printed with additive construction technology to eliminate the cost-prohibitive need to launch large quantities of construction materials over multiple flights." ".