Mission to Mars lifts off, sort of
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Six astronauts are today facing the daunting task of a 520-day mission to Mars, where they will be locked in close quarters with only each other for company. The necessity of the arduous journey can be called into question however, when you realise they are not actually leaving Earth.
The participants - three Russians, two Europeans and one Chinese man - are taking part in the Mars-500 experiment at Moscow's Institute of Biomedical Problems (IMBP). They will be stuck in the simulator on Earth for a year and a half as they pretend to navigate their way to the red planet.
The experiment will give scientists a better idea of how a small crew handles the pressure of isolation and boredom, as well as the physical demands of a long space voyage.
The structure they are staying in contains a Martian surface simulator where three of the crewmembers will perform “surface operations” for 30 days upon landing on “Mars.”
"I think the most difficult thing will be to be separated from the people that I am used to, and leaving behind some of the habits – all our activity will be directed towards a certain goal. I won't see sunsets, sunrises, won't feel rain for 18 months. That will be hard," said crew commander Aleksey Sytev.
The six astronauts will receive the equivalent of $100,000 for their work, but they aren’t only in it for the money. “When the very first human steps on Mars, I will be able to say, 'yeah, I helped do that’,” crewmember Diego Urbina told the BBC.
