Testing a space suit in the simulator of the Martian surface. Photographs: IBMP/Oleg Voloshin
“Wanted: volunteers willing to simulate Mars mission by making epic journey to nowhere.”
That announcement might sound like a strange reality TV series, but it’s exactly what six “astronauts” have been doing since lunchtime today.
For the next 520 days – the time it would take a real mission to Mars – the crew of six will be isolated in a dummy spaceship, inside a large warehouse near the centre of Moscow.
The international study is called “Mars500″. It aims to get experimental data about the state of health and working capacity of the all-male crew, and find out what it’s really like when you spend a long time in isolation – with limited space, resources and communication with “Earth”.
As the flight progresses, their distance from their home planet will increase – so the in-built communication delays will get longer too, eventually reaching 20 minutes.
The applicants
Thousands of would-be astronauts from around the world applied to Russia’s space agency to spend from now until the end of 2011 in the isolation unit. They all had to be professionally qualifed scientists or engineers. The final crew of six come from Russia, China, Itay/Colombia and France.
The French participant, Romain Charles (31), applied to the European Space Agency, co-organiser of the experiment, but failed the first round. He persisted, though, and won the final place on the long “journey” to the red planet.
He told reporters shortly before “lift-off” today that the big things he will miss will be his family, girlfriend and friends.
“And then there is no sun or fresh air – there is no window in the module.”
Engineering degree
The six-man crew (French engineer Romain Charles is in the top right)
Romain has a master’s degree in engineering, and graduated in 2004. He has worked as a quality engineer with McLaren, Aston Martin and Tesla Motors.
Over the 520 days he and his colleagues will be constantly monitored by scientists while they work five days a week, do experiments, exercise, relax and – in Romain’s case – learn Russian.
“While human space exploration is growing, we need to know more about the psychological aspects of a very long stay in a very limited space and with fewer people,” says Patrick Sundblad, Head of the Department of Life Science at the European Space Agency.
After 250 days the crew will be divided up: three will move to a Martian surface simulator and three will remain in the “spacecraft”.
If one of the volunteers decides to quit, the simulation will still continue – on the assumption that a crew member has “died”.
Learn more
Visit the Mars500 website and read the European Space Agency’s news about the mission
