Nasa: The space agency are looking for volunteers to pretend they are on Mars

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, NASA will choose four people to spend a whole year pretending they are living on Mars

NASA are on the hunt to find four people who think they can live on Mars!

But not on the real red planet - they want people who can pretend they are living on Mars for a whole year, as part of an experiment for the real deal.

The experiment is one of three, and the first one will begin in autumn 2022, and is called Mars Dune Alpha.

Paid volunteers will have to eat, sleep, and work as if they really are on Mars so that NASA can know what to expect when they send their own astronauts up there .

"We want to understand how humans perform in them" said lead scientist Grace Douglas. "We are looking at Mars realistic situations".

Video caption, Watch: Dr Michaela Musilova has tried living in a Martian environment

How does the experiment work?

NASA are looking for volunteers who will spend a full year away from their usual life.

Created by a 3D-printer, a 1,700 square-foot Martian world is being built to make the volunteers feel like they really are on Mars.

The fake Mars is based inside a building at Johnson Space Centre, Houston, Texas, and will have no windows, so the successful volunteers will be cut off from outside world as much as possible.

Paid volunteers will have to do jobs that will show NASA what it is like for astronauts to work in those conditions.

These will include taking 'space walks', easting on ready-to-eat space food and having limited contact with friends and family 'on earth'.

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Volunteers will have to take 'space-walks' as part of the experiment and eat space food - yum!

Who can volunteer?

Unfortunately for you guys, only adult Americans can apply to take part.

NASA are looking for Americans aged between 30-55, are in good health and don't suffer from motion sickness.

They also must have education in science, engineering, or maths at a very high level, or have pilot experience.

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield believes that NASA are looking for people who are close to being astronauts.

Chris compared the NASA's experiment to the Russian Mars 500 experiment, where they didn't see the results they wanted because the volunteers were too similar to everyday people.