[url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10197470.stm]Source[/url]
[release][IMG]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/47961000/jpg/_47961798_47961793.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Would you volunteer to be locked away for 18 months in a sealed container with no windows and have only e-mail contact with the outside world?[/B]
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.
"That means everything will be onboard at the start. There will be no re-load, re-supply whatsoever. It will be like a real mission."
The "spaceship" is based at Moscow's Institute of Biomedical Problems and comprises a series of interconnected steel canisters. The total interior volume is about 550 cubic metres.
Four of the tubes provide the living and working environment on the "journey" to and from Mars. Their interior has been decorated with wood panelling to give the cylinders a more homely feel.
A fifth module is a mock-up of the Red Planet itself, an enclosed room with a floor covered in rocks and sand.
[quote][B]THE LAYOUT OF THE MARS500 'SPACESHIP'[/B]
[IMG]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/47969000/gif/_47969012_mars500_466x298.gif[/IMG]
[I]MEDICAL MODULE: The 12m-long cylinder acts as the laboratory. Should a crewmember become ill, he can be isolated and treated here
HABITABLE MODULE: The main living quarters. The 20m-long module has beds, a galley, a social area. It also acts as the main control room
LANDING MODULE: This will only be used during the 30-day landing operation. There is room only for the three crewmembers who will visit the 'surface'
STORAGE MODULE: The 24m-long module is divided into four compartments, to store food and other supplies, to house a greenhouse, a gym a refrigeration unit
SURFACE MODULE: To walk across the soil and rocks of Mars, crewmembers must put on Orlan spacesuits and pass through an airlock[/I][/quote]
About half-way through the mission, three of the crew will have to "land" on this "surface" and walk about on it while dressed in heavy space suits.
The "cosmonauts" will be commanded by 38-year-old marine engineer and astronaut trainer Alexey Sitev, who has only recently been married.
His compatriots - Sukhrob Kamolov (32) and Alexander Smoleevskiy (33) - have medical backgrounds. The two Europeans in the group - Diego Urbina (27) and Romain Charles (31) - are engineers by training.
The Chinese citizen, Yue Wang, the youngest member of the crew at 26, has a "day job" training Chinese astronauts.
Colombian-Italian Diego Urbina said his motivation came from his desire to work in space research.
"I'm also very interested in being a part of the story of getting humans to Mars," he told BBC News. "When the very first human steps on Mars, I will be able to say, 'yeah, I helped do that'. That will make me feel very proud."
Scientific investigations during the experiment will assess the effect that isolation has on various psychological and physiological aspects such as stress, hormone levels, sleep quality, mood and the benefits of dietary supplements.
Dr Berna van Baars, from the Free University Medical Center, Amsterdam, Holland, is a principal investigator on Mars500.
"We expect Mars500 to have Earth applications, in understanding group dynamics connected to isolation and loneliness, for example," she said.
"I hope it will also help us understand better some groups, such as those elderly people who are isolated in their homes. It should tell us about coping behaviours."
The spaceship itself will come under scrutiny, also, as the crew monitor their surroundings to see which types of bacteria take hold and thrive in the enclosed space.
All of the results of these investigations will have to be emailed to "mission control" as the organisers of the project intend to introduce a 20-minute, one-way time-delay in communications to mirror the real lag in sending messages over the vast distance between Mars and Earth.
"Everything will be done in a telemedicine environment, where the crew has to do the analysis and we receive the data by telemetry," said Dr Zell, who heads up Europe's space station utilisation programme.
This 520-day mock mission with its 30 days of "surface operations" is the final phase of the three-part Mars500 project.
There have already been two smaller studies, one lasting 14 days and another taking 105 days to complete.
Space agencies describe Mars as the "ultimate destination" for human explorers. However, they do not possess the technology to complete such an endeavour and are unlikely have it for many years yet.[/release]
Pretty cool, but it's a sausage fest... those 5 guys will eat eachother in no less than 6 months :v:
I'm claustrophobic.
Takes real balls to do that.
[QUOTE=starpluck;22328918]I'm claustrophobic.[/QUOTE]
EXACTLY! Imagine knowing that you'll be inside some goddamn can, on MARS, trapped with 4 other guys... you'd lose your sanity in a few hours! :ohdear:
I admire those men
I'd love to join :D
Hell yes, we're finally [highlight]PREPARING FOR[/highlight] going to Mars!
The bald one in the middle will eat the other five.
[QUOTE=Pretiacruento;22328938]EXACTLY! Imagine knowing that you'll be inside some goddamn can, on MARS, trapped with 4 other guys... you'd lose your sanity in a few hours! :ohdear:
I admire those men[/QUOTE]
Thinking about that scares the shit out of me.
[QUOTE=starpluck;22328961]Thinking about that scares the shit out of me.[/QUOTE]
I'm not claustrophobic, but look at that pic where the guy is inside that metal pipe... :wtc:!
One of the guys just got married too?
Marriage won't last :colbert:
Actually seems like fun, if they brought 18 months of alcohol and/or marijuana along with them. Gotta do something to pass up the time.
If it were one guy and 5 girls the guy would be :q:
[QUOTE=The mouse;22329323]If it were one guy and 5 girls the guy would be :q:[/QUOTE]
And even that would get boring after 18 months
plus they could all be fat or something :saddowns:
Give me video games and I would do it.
I wonder if their will be a webcam in there, that would be kick ass.
One of the eariler experiments
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YP-E3AvKeQ[/media]
[QUOTE=BANNED USER;22329357]Give me video games and I would do it.[/QUOTE]
Yeah but you can't play multiplayer... the news article said [B]20 MINUTES OF LAG![/B] :wtc:
God. I'd go freaking insane in there if I had to do it.
Good luck to them, I guess.
What if the complex holding the experiment caught on fire? It would be like,
"GET THE FUCK OUT"
"WE CAN'T! WE MUST EXPERIMENT!!!"
:science:
BTW,
You could play internet checkers with 20 minutes of lag!
[QUOTE=Pretiacruento;22330550]Yeah but you can't play multiplayer... the news article said [B]20 MINUTES OF LAG![/B] :wtc:[/QUOTE]
It's all about anticipation.
Do they get porn in there?
" three Russians, two Europeans and a Chinese man "
Sounds like a sitcom.
They are given Open TTD and Civilization 4 to play for the next 18months. Next to only 3GB of Porn.
Are they paid?
What's that movie called, Bio something i want to see it but i forgot the name, it involves 2 dudes or something that go in one of those tings and are stuck with the volunteers
[QUOTE=Richard Simmons;22331483]They are given Open TTD and Civilization 4 to play for the next 18months. Next to only 3GB of Porn.[/QUOTE]
I wouldn't mind that.
[QUOTE=starpluck;22328918]I'm claustrophobic.[/QUOTE]
Me too, I wouldn't last 2 minutes in there. Props to these brave men.
I envy them.
:patriot:
I would probably go insane, I could not live like that for so long, with so little people and no one with a vagina.
I just hope this doesn't end up like bio-dome.
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