Six volunteers
locked themselves away in a network of metal tubes for the next 105 days on Tuesday
in an experiment to study the human stresses of a manned mission to Mars.
Four
Russians and two Europeans — a mix of cosmonauts, doctors, an engineer and an airline
pilot — shut the metal hatch behind them, sealing themselves inside a habitat
at Russia's Institute for Biomedical Problems (IBMP) in Moscow.
The
three-month endurance test is a trial run for a planned 520-day mock
Mars mission by the European and Russian space agencies later this year to
study the effects of prolonged isolation on the human body and mind.
"A crew
traveling to Mars will face major challenges, not least, how to cope with being
confined to a small space and seeing the same faces for one and a half years," said
Martin Zell, head of the European Space Agency's (ESA) space station
utilization department. "It is of paramount importance to understand the psychological
and physiological effects of long-duration confinement, to be able to prepare
the crews in the best way possible and to learn about important aspects of the
vehicle design."
German
mechanical engineer Oliver Knickel and French pilot Cyrille Fournier represent Europe
inside the mock Mars habitat. Cosmonauts Oleg Artemyez, Sergei Ryazansky, sports
physiologist Alexei Shpakov and medical doctor Alexei Baranov, meanwhile, round
out the crew's Russian contingent. The six men are the prime crew for the
Mars500 project, the joint European-Russian effort by ESA, the IBMP with
funding from Russia's Federal Space Agency.
"Mars500 is
the proof that we are preparing for the future," said Simonetta di Pippo, ESA's
director of human spaceflight. "[It] is an important part of this global endeavor
as it provides us with the knowledge of how to keep a small crew
psychologically and physiologically healthy, and ultimately, to succeed in the
big challenge to
bring humankind to Mars and safely back to Earth."
During the
next 105 days, the six-man Mars500 crew is expected to simulate every aspect of
a Martian expedition, including a long cruise to the red planet. After a mock
orbital phase, the team would then simulate a landing
on the Martian surface and an excursion before another long cruise period
back to Earth.
Their
habitat, which never leaves its Moscow facility, is a series of connected, but compact,
metal tanks outfitted with supplies and equipment to last the full 105-day
duration. It includes a Mars descent capsule, kitchen, medical area, research
area and a crew compartment.
Altogether,
the mock Mars ship contains about 2,152 square-feet (200 square-meters) of
space. The Mars500 crew will have voice communications with a simulated Mission
Control, as well as with their family and friends. But a 20-minute time lag
will be built into the discussions to replicate the one-way transmission delay
that would be experienced in a real Martian expedition.
A
series of simulated emergencies are planned, and real-life emergencies would first
fall to the crew to solve, ESA officials said.
"They will
have to cope with simulated emergencies; they may even have real emergencies or
illnesses," ESA officials said in a statement.
advertisement
