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Its critics have suggested it amounts to little more than sitting inside a giant tin can in a Moscow hangar with no sun, no fresh water, no alcohol and (one assumes) no sex for 520 interminable days.
But as the six fearless volunteers this afternoon sealed themselves inside a simulated mission to Mars, grinning and waving goodbye to their families before "blast-off", scientists insisted they were embarking on an unprecedented experiment that was no laughing matter.
The crewmen – three are Russian, one French, one Chinese and one a Colombian-born Italian – won't emerge from their isolation until November 2011.
Their goal is to recreate a return journey to the red planet, spanning a year and a half, complete with simulated emergency situations and realistic psychological pressures.
The astronauts would be free to leave the experiment at any point, Fuglesang said, adding that he was confident none of them would.
Mars 500 is designed to recreate as closely as possible the conditions of a spacecraft hurtling through the solar system. A return flight to Mars – 34 million miles from Earth – would take between 18 months and three years.
The six crew will spend 250 days performing flight tasks and experiments along the way – with half of them spending 30 days "on the planet" and the others remaining "in orbit". Getting home will take a further 240 days.
The 550 sq metre complex that will be their home includes four windowless modules for sleeping, working, storage and for medical and psychological experiments. Each man has a tiny 6 sq metre room. TV is banned but the crew can send emails and communicate with "ground control" via an authentically Martian time delay of 20 minutes. They can also take books, DVDs and video games.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/jun/03/mock-mission-mars-moscow-hangar
But as the six fearless volunteers this afternoon sealed themselves inside a simulated mission to Mars, grinning and waving goodbye to their families before "blast-off", scientists insisted they were embarking on an unprecedented experiment that was no laughing matter.
The crewmen – three are Russian, one French, one Chinese and one a Colombian-born Italian – won't emerge from their isolation until November 2011.
Their goal is to recreate a return journey to the red planet, spanning a year and a half, complete with simulated emergency situations and realistic psychological pressures.
The astronauts would be free to leave the experiment at any point, Fuglesang said, adding that he was confident none of them would.
Mars 500 is designed to recreate as closely as possible the conditions of a spacecraft hurtling through the solar system. A return flight to Mars – 34 million miles from Earth – would take between 18 months and three years.
The six crew will spend 250 days performing flight tasks and experiments along the way – with half of them spending 30 days "on the planet" and the others remaining "in orbit". Getting home will take a further 240 days.
The 550 sq metre complex that will be their home includes four windowless modules for sleeping, working, storage and for medical and psychological experiments. Each man has a tiny 6 sq metre room. TV is banned but the crew can send emails and communicate with "ground control" via an authentically Martian time delay of 20 minutes. They can also take books, DVDs and video games.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/jun/03/mock-mission-mars-moscow-hangar
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CalPal
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Well, I guess we have to start somewhere...
- 1 year ago
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CalPal
