Matthias Beach | USA

Mars is going to need scientists, doctors, engineers and astronauts.

It is also going to need people who know how to fix things.

This week on Aspiring Martians, I’m joined by Matthias Beach, a U.S. Air Force Space Command veteran, builder, researcher and analog astronaut whose work sits firmly on the hands-on side of human space exploration.

Matthias became the Master Builder for the Space Analog for the Moon and Mars, or SAM, at Biosphere 2 in Arizona, where he helped transform aging infrastructure into a high-fidelity research environment for future Moon and Mars missions. His work has included electrical systems, habitat construction, hydroponics, reduced-gravity equipment and SAM’s indoor Mars Yard.

Then he went from building the habitat to living inside it.

In October 2025, Matthias spent two weeks alone inside SAM as part of a bioregenerative life-support experiment. For the first week, his only roommates were 144 dwarf pea plants, which researchers were studying to better understand how plants might help regulate carbon dioxide and oxygen inside future off-world habitats.

We talk about his unconventional path back into the space world, rebuilding his life, preparing the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station, pressure suits, reduced gravity, habitat failures, isolation, improvised problem solving, and why Matthias believes analog missions should be realistic enough that something occasionally goes wrong.

Because on Mars, eventually something will.

And somebody is going to have to fix it.

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