From tester to subject – Air Force Test Pilot School instructor commands Mars mission for NASA

  • Published
  • By Chase Kohler
  • 412th Test Wing
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  

The relationship between the Air Force Test Pilot School and the nation’s space program has intersected since the school’s formal creation in 1944. Numerous astronauts, researchers and other pioneers in the space domain have called the school home over the last 80 years, a tradition that continues today with the appointment of Maj. Ross Elder as the commander of a NASA Mars mission.


Maj. Ross Elder is the commander of a NASA Mars mission.

Elder heads an all-volunteer team as part of the next phase of CHAPEA – the Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog mission – which aims to capture data for human exploration of planet Mars and beyond. The activity sees all four crew members live for more than a year in the Mars Dune Alpha habitat at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

For Elder, the chance to move human exploration into the unknown is simply another step in an established career of high-performance research. The Williamstown, West Virginia native found his fascination with the sky turn into reality first with a degree in astronomical engineering from the Air Force Academy, swiftly taking to the skies as an Air Force pilot, then later completing a master of science degree in mechanical engineering. Upon acceptance at the TPS, Elder learned the skills necessary to become a test leader, flying nearly 20 unique aircraft types before graduating as part of class 20-B.


Maj. Ross Elder, currently the commander of a NASA Mars mission, was once the director of operations for the F-35 Integrated Test Force and a seasoned instructor at the Air Force Test Pilot School, both located at Edwards Air Force Base. 

His flight test career spanned coast-to-coast across North America, testing combat aircraft such as the F-15EX Eagle II and F-35 Lightning II while experimenting with early autonomy on the XQ-58 Valkyrie. After transitioning to director of operations for the F-35 Integrated Test Force at Edwards, Elder found himself back in the halls of the TPS as a seasoned instructor, gaining currency on the A-29 Super Tucano before receiving the call from NASA.


When Maj. Ross Elder, currently the commander of a NASA Mars mission, relocated to Johnson Space Center and entered the famous Mars habitat for the first time, he thought "Entering that habitat for the first time was surreal when you realize this space is your future home.”

Within weeks, he found himself relocated to Johnson Space Center and entering the famous Mars habitat. “To switch roles after testing for so long and becoming the subject being observed is a cool, but new, feeling. Entering that habitat for the first time was surreal when you realize this space is your future home,” Elder said.

As a test leader, he is no stranger to fast and furious commitment, with the CHAPEA mission requiring a stacked daily schedule to prepare the crew for entry Oct. 19. During his training, Elder has found many parallels between living in a simulated Mars environment and being a test pilot.

“In the test community we strive to be comfortable in uncomfortable situations, and this next assignment is no different. My primary concern is going to be ensuring our extremely talented crew members have everything they need to be successful in this journey,” Elder said. “When you are testing a new aircraft or machine in the air, you plan to execute plans for when things go wrong and what type of communication is needed for the test team in the control room. All of that is remarkably similar with CHAPEA.”

However, he said the communication gap will force both himself as a leader and his crew to think far differently by using the limited resources at their disposal without human intervention. With Mars’ location averaging 140 million miles away from Earth, a simple communication exchange is anticipated to take 45 minutes to achieve, time rarely afforded during an emergency.

While aeronautical and space domains remain divergent in technological application, the fundamentals of testing these domains equally find a single line of cohesion. “Aerospace as a whole is only going to continue to converge into a single multi-domain process,” Elder said. “Regardless of Air Force, Space Force, or another branch, the process of identifying and working through constraints across the sky, the atmosphere or deep space requires the same foundation of understanding how to manage risk effectively and gather good data. At day’s end, its that foundation taught at institutions like the Air Force Test Pilot School that will ultimately propel humans onto Mars and beyond – faster.”

The school has increasingly invested in space-based curriculum at Edwards, including launching the formal Space Test Course and establishing a first-of-its-kind satellite operations center. These investments will continue to prepare both students and instructors to take on the toughest challenges in aerospace.

“I am absolutely humbled to be selected for this mission. There will never be a single giant leap to Mars, but it’s a combination of everything that happens from the Edwards lakebed to the atmosphere above that will ultimately position humans as an interplanetary species,” said Elder, who is the first TPS instructor selected to lead a NASA mission.

Not alone in moving into space exploration, Elder joins fellow TPS graduates Maj. Adam Fuhrmann and Maj. Cameron Jones who were also selected as astronauts for future NASA space missions in September.