HAPPENING NOW
February-March 2025
SAM CO2 Fingerprint Studies
Each of the SAM team members will spend 58 hours sealed inside of SAM, Mode 0 (unpressurized, sealed) in order to determine the amount of carbon dioxide generated by each individual given a nearly identical diet and exercise and sleep schedule. This data will be used to establish a first-order baseline for future human-in-the-loop studies.
COMING SOON
March-August 2025
SAM Food Cultivar Studies
The SAM team will host a series of controlled environment (greenhouse), hydroponics studies in the Test Module, employing Mode 0 (unpressurized, sealed) operation in order to determine the amount of carbon dioxide sequestered and oxygen generated by each food cultivar given similar CO2, light, nutrient, and temperature levels. This data will be used to establish a baseline for future bioregenerative studies.More information coming soon …
October 2025
Analog Astronaut Community World’s Biggest Analog
More information coming soon …
January-May 2026
SAM Food Cultivar Studies
A continuation of the food cultivar studies, as noted above (March-August 2025).
COMPLETED MISSIONS 2023-2025
February 9-18, 2025
APUS Analog Research Group (AARG)
AARG will perform a 10-day mission mid February 2025 at SAM, with two crews of four each sealed inside of the SAM pressurized facility for five days, lead by Luis Gonzalez and Laura Reiske respectively. The mission will feature a mid-mission crew shift-change from the SAM pressure vessel to the SAM Operations Center, and visa versa. This will be made possible using the SAM airlock. Both crews will perform a wide variety of research projects including algae studies, EVA research, communications, crew nutrition, microbial spread, and water electrolysis. The mission will be facilitated by an on-site Mission Support team, the first to work from the SAM Operations Center and Mission Control.
September 2024
Arizona State University
Amy Sawyer, MSc student and Dr. Changbin Chan
Funded by Bayer, Dr. Chan and Amy brought four varieties of tomatoes to SAM for a one-month controlled environment program and study. The water, electrical conductivity, nutrient, and pH levels were daily maintained by the SAM team (Luna Powell, Matthias Beach, Linda Leigh, Sean Gellenbeck) with Amy on-site twice each week. The goal was to bring the plants from transplant seedlings to flower and pollen collection. The project was a success. Amy is now analyzing the pollen samples with intent to understand the differences in self-pollination across the varieties.
March 10-15, 2024
Imagination 1
Lead by Christopher Cokinos, this was the first all-artist lunar surface analog mission at SAM. It was supported by and composed of faculty, staff, and students from the University of Arizona. The goals were to:
1. Conduct a world-class week-long lunar-surface analog mission featuring a crew of multi-disciplinary professional artists of diverse artistic and cultural backgrounds.
2. Demonstrate the value of the arts in not only inspiring people to embrace just and sustainable space exploration but to show its foundational importance as a source of compassion and accuracy in relation to the places where we hope to live ethically.
3. Share this work (prose, photography, poetry, music, dance, fashion, textiles and more) during and after the mission as widely as possible in order to catalyze similar fu- ture such missions globally; to engage the wider public; and to leverage this work in or- der to demonstrate the need for professional astronauts to have exposure to and felicity in one or more art forms so that they can communicate beyond abstraction and cliché the wonder, challenge, problems and possibilities of human space flight.
May 9-15, 2023
Inclusion II
The INCLUSION missions were among the first terrestrial analog space missions specifically focused on accessibility and adaptability. The goals of the missions—inclusion, accessibility, scientific research, and promotion of diversity in STEM/Spaceflight—were met.Lead by Bindhu Oommen, this crew included a blind crew member that captured the sounds of SAM and wrote a Python program for reading GoDirect sensors in SAM via Bluetooth; a 19-year old Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering college student who assembled and used SAM’s first 3D printer to print beautiful chess pieces, a 3D map of SAM, a 3D graph, a scalpel, a prototype carabiner, and small astronaut; a freelance journalist and an editor with significant knowledge about plants who created a variety of delicious vegetarian meals from dehydrated foods, hydroponic lettuce, and mushroom mycelia provided by SAM using kitchen appliances only and no oils; and a general surgeon and researcher whose involvement with SAM as a volunteer during the latter part of the construction phase leading up to the first missions provided a distinct advantage to the crew and mission while gaining valuable experience as a crew member and Commander to better understand SAM for the enhancement of training of future crews.
Scientific research conducted during the 5-day mission provided valuable information about SAM’s lung descent rate, leak rate, and CO2 levels in Mode 3 (pressurized, sealed) operation. Extra-vehicular activities provided crew members insight into the challenges of walking and using fine motor skills in pressurized spacesuits.
April 26 – May 2, 2023
Inclusion I
The INCLUSION missions were among the first terrestrial analog space missions specifically focused on accessibility and adaptability. The goals of the missions—inclusion, accessibility, scientific research, and promotion of diversity in STEM/Spaceflight—were met.Lead by Cassandra Klos, this crew included a blind crew member that worked to increase the accessibility of SAM to other visually impaired individuals, including ensuring safety features were more accessible for future blind participants and worked to measure properties of filtered water using GoDirect sensors in SAM via Bluetooth; an Aerospace Engineer specializing in Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) who worked to measure and map the airflow in SAM; a physician who worked on stress mitigation research using both meditation and who created meals from the dehydrated foods and hydroponic lettuce and basil provided by SAM using kitchen appliances only and no oils; and a professional photographer who was mission Commander, as this was her 4th mission, ensuring that engagement with mission control was optimized and documenting the day-to-day life in SAM with her photography.
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