‘Martian’ Returns From Life On The Red Planet

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Coloradan Simulates Mars
Andrzej Stewart at his job at Lockheed Martin in Littleton, Colo., before he joined the Mars simulation project.

Last August, Andrzej Stewart wasn't sure if he had what it takes to be a member of one of the first NASA crews to travel to Mars. Now, he's confident he could do it.

A year ago, Andrzej Stewart packed up, left his home in Colorado and spent the year with five other crew members in a solar-powered dome on the Big Island of Hawaii. The trip was part of a NASA-funded experiment to simulate what life would be like on Mars. Of course, there aren't any imminent plans for a NASA trip to Mars, but NASA has said it hopes to have humans there by the 2030's.

We spoke with Stewart last August shortly after he left his job in Space Systems at Lockheed Martin's Littleton campus to go to Hawaii, and we spoke to him again during the mission. Now that he's returned, we asked him back to our studios to talk about his year away. He spoke with Colorado Matters host Ryan Warner.