Former NASA CHAPEA Mission Member promoted to Lieutenant Commander

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON – (Sept. 13, 2024) – Lt. Anca Selariu, a microbiologist assigned to Naval Medical Research Unit (NAMRU) San Antonio, was promoted to the rank of lieutenant commander during a promotion ceremony held at the Battlefield Health and Trauma Research Institute.

Selariu, a Medical Service Corps officer who has been in America’s Navy for five years, recently served as the science officer on a 4-person team that took part in the NASA Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog’s (CHAPEA) first mission from June 25, 2023, to July 6, 2024.

The CHAPEA missions, simulated expeditions to the surface of Mars, aim to collect critical data which will inform future human expeditions to space.

The oath of office was administered by NAMRU San Antonio Executive Officer Cmdr. Nicholas Hamlin. NAMRU San Antonio is one of the leading research and development laboratories for the U.S. Navy under the Department of Defense (DoD) and is one of eight subordinate research commands in the global network of laboratories operating under the Naval Medical Research Command in Silver Spring, Md.

Its mission is to conduct gap driven combat casualty care, craniofacial, and directed energy research to improve survival, operational readiness, and safety of DoD personnel engaged in routine and expeditionary operations.