CHAPEA Mission 2 crew exit scheduled at NASA Johnson

The crew exit for CHAPEA Mission 2 is scheduled at the CHAPEA facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA will provide live coverage of the departure.

A crew exit is scheduled for CHAPEA Mission 2. Mission milestones are listed as 2025-10-19 and 2026-10-31, and the mission duration is 378 days.

The crew members are Ross Elder, Ellen Ellis, James Spicer and Matthew Montgomery.

The Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog facility is a 3D-printed habitat of 1,700 square feet at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The crew is simulating Mars operations, conducting simulated spacewalks, exercising, maintaining the habitat and growing plants. The conditions include communication delays, limited resources and isolation.

For readers tracking the lunar industry, the mission matters because the analog supports Artemis missions, Moon Base missions and NASA lunar mission preparation. It also examines food-system design, crew time efficiency, use of NASA's Deep Space Network bandwidth, and medical and behavioral support for spaceflight.

NASA will provide live coverage of the departure, with a listed time of 15:00 EDT. NASA Johnson's YouTube and social channels will carry the stream.

Vanessa Wyche, Johnson Center Director, and NASA astronaut Jack Hathaway will provide remarks. Media can watch the ceremony live at NASA Johnson, view it on a screen outside the hangar that houses the CHAPEA facility, and record the crew's exit. A subject-matter expert will be available in person.