Laura Marie is one of six research volunteers preparing to spend 378 days inside Nasa’s Mars Dune Alpha in Houston
It sounds like the premise of a new reality show: take four strangers, isolate them in a 3D-printed Martian habitat for more than a year, and watch them tackle equipment failures, communication delays and attempts to grow vegetables. In fact, it is a scientific simulation – and for the first time a British pilot is among those training for the mission.
Laura Marie, who was born in the UK and is now a pilot for a regional airline in the US, beat about 8,000 applicants to become one of six research volunteers who are preparing to spend 378 days inside the 158-sq-metre (1,700 sq ft) Mars Dune Alpha habitat at Nasa’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
“It’s such a huge opportunity,” Marie told the Guardian. “And then to come this far and be in the final crew selection and heading down to training very, very soon is extremely exciting.”
While the four “primary” crew members – Ross Elder, Ellen Ellis, Matthew Montgomery and James Spicer – are expecting to enter the simulation on 19 October, Marie – who has a BA in philosophy and an MSc in aeronautics – is one of two “alternate” participants, ready to step in should any of the others drop out.
