BBC Focus Magazine

[M Paul Lloyd]

Volunteers to begin Mars500 isolation (Big Brother in space)

Six men - three Russians, two Europeans and a Chinese man - have agreed to do just that in a project that will try to simulate a mission to the Red Planet.
The Mars500 study begins on Thursday at a medical institute in Moscow.
Scientists say the experiment will help them understand how humans would cope on a long journey to another world.
The project has been designed to be as realistic as possible even though some elements - such as the weightless conditions of spaceflight - cannot be recreated here on Earth.
"They will have to cope with limited consumables, for example," said Dr Martin Zell from the European Space Agency, a key partner in the project.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/science_and_ ... 197470.stm

[Shadowwolf]

I'm sure they will learn some useful things but I cannot help but think that the real thing will throw up a good many unexpected things that a surface test will miss.

I also heard that NASA is teaming up with ESA on Mars exploration.

[Stigslippers]

3 russians 2 europeans and a chinse man walk into a bar....... is this mars experiment some kind of joke

[M Paul Lloyd]

Welcome aboard Stigslippers, it certainly has all the required elements.

My concern is that the interior is furnished like some long narrow garden shed, all pine board and really basic office furniture.
I'm sure they could have run to the expense of some white plastic coated kitchen type fittings with snazzy handles and some decent seats. If only to help create the right atmosphere.

[Shadowwolf]

I'd imagine that it would have to be roughly akin to what would be on an actual ship. Kitting it out with kitchen and office supplies is perhaps to great a reminder of Terra and being absolutely no where.

[M Paul Lloyd]

But pine cladding in space? Surely not?

[Shadowwolf]

If it does not have gun metal sheet decking with a waist deep murky water course running below then it could hardly be taken as a serious space going ship

[M Paul Lloyd]

Exactly.

[nemisis39]

3 russians 2 europeans and a chinse man walk into a bar.......

You would think one of them would have seen it

ill get me coat ..............

[M Paul Lloyd]

I know Nemesis but I'm still working on the punch line.

[worldmaker]

If it does not have gun metal sheet decking with a waist deep murky water course running below then it could hardly be taken as a serious space going ship

And I bet they forgot the ducts - there are always ducts, really big ducts.

[Shadowwolf]

Undoubtedly

[M Paul Lloyd]

Mars500 crew 'arrives at Red Planet' on simulated mission

That was quick!? Must have been using the new fangled 'hyper-drive' ??

The crew of the Mars500 simulated mission to the Red Planet have reached a key milestone.
The six men, sealed since June inside steel containers representing a spacecraft, have "gone into orbit" at their destination.
Three of the group will now "descend" to the planet, don real spacesuits and walk on the "surface" of Mars.
In reality, this surface will just be the sandy floor of another module at the Moscow-based experiment.
The Mars500 project is run by Russia's Institute of Biomedical Problems with the participation of the European Space Agency (Esa).
It aims to investigate some of the psychological and physiological effects that humans might encounter on a long-duration spaceflight.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12337108

[Shadowwolf]

Well it has been about eight months and I'm fairly sure that's the rough transit time assuming both Mars and Terra are in the right spots.

[M Paul Lloyd]

Good point Mr.S it just seems like only yesterday that they locked themselves in that seriously strange pine clad environment.

[M Paul Lloyd]

Coming Home
Simulated Mars mission 'lands' back on Earth
By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News

Six men locked away in steel tubes for a year-and-a-half to simulate a mission to Mars have emerged from isolation.

The Mars500 project, undertaken at a Moscow institute, was intended to find out how the human mind and body would cope on a long-duration spaceflight.

It is a venture that has fascinated all who have followed it around the globe.

The study even saw three of the men carry out a pretend landing on Mars, donning real spacesuits and walking across an enclosed sandy yard.

More here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15574646

[The Beige Avenger]

quite surprising that this isn't being made into a reality show...

[M Paul Lloyd]

Big Brother beat them to it if you ask me.

[Shadowwolf]

Well they could edit recorded footage and release that if the participants agreed. Could never have been done during the exercise as it would have resulted in people playing for the camera thus ruining any value the experiment had.