What if students did not have to wait until they became scientists, engineers, or astronauts to find out what working on Mars might actually feel like?

This month on Inside the Habitat, we travel to eastern Slovakia to explore Cosmic Region / Kozmický región, the country’s first dedicated analog habitat for simulated missions to the Moon and Mars.

Located at the Rožňava Observatory, COSMIC REGION officially opened in 2025. Its two connected geodesic domes contain science and living spaces, an airlock, limited hygiene facilities, environmental monitoring, and everything crews need to begin experiencing some of the operational constraints of living away from Earth.

But what makes COSMIC REGION especially interesting is its emphasis on education.

Its first full independent mission, MarsonautiSK, put four student analog astronauts inside the habitat for seven days while another student team operated Mission Control. They conducted research, worked through communication delays, performed simulated EVAs, managed limited resources, and dealt with unexpected mission challenges.

Our guide is Dr. Michaela Musilová, a Slovak astrobiologist, explorer, educator, and one of the most experienced analog mission commanders in the world.

Michaela previously served as Director of HI-SEAS in Hawaiʻi, has organized more than 40 simulated lunar and Martian missions, and has personally commanded nearly 40 analog missions across a wide range of extreme environments.

We talk about how COSMIC REGION was built, what Michaela brought home from decades of analog experience, the lessons learned from its first mission, the importance of designing simulations around actual human beings, and why giving students meaningful roles now could help build the space workforce of the future.

Because sometimes the first step toward Mars is not launching a rocket.

It is giving someone the chance to believe they belong there.

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• Inside HI-SEAS with Dr. Kim Binsted: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/inside-hi-seas-with-dr-kim-binsted/id1777937758?i=1000770728211
• Michaela's website: https://www.michaelamusilova.com/
• Cosmic Region: https://www.gos.sk/kozmicky-region-cosmic-region

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A huge thank you to Michaela for taking the time to join me today and for sharing her extraordinary journey, her perspective, and all the work she’s doing to help make space exploration feel accessible to the next generation. If you’d like to follow along with what she’s doing, you can find her on Instagram at @astro_michaela and, most importantly, support the incredible work she continues to do.

And of course, thank you to Nick Thorburn for the stellar theme music, Ceci Giglio for the incredible graphics, Jero Squartini for the amazing animations, to RDan, Leila, Inka, and Carl for admining the Facebook group, and to my family for supporting this project!