But the group hopes that its work will be helpful for any real missions to the red planet, and can be found actively documenting daily life on Twitter.

Ms. Heinicke shared more about her life on “Mars”:

What about this experience has surprised you?

The first thing to surprise me was how spacious the habitat appears on the inside. It has a bit more than 1,000 square feet distributed over two floors, which is pretty small for six people.

Now, being a bit further into the mission, I am mostly surprised as to how much being confined affects me. I expected to miss the feeling of the sun on my skin and the wind, but the lack of those turned out to be not the most difficult part about being inside. It is the not being able to walk in a straight line for more than 10 seconds.

What sorts of foods do you eat on “Mars”?