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An international team of researchers will commence a virtual trip to Mars on Thursday by sealing themselves up in a windowless capsule at the Moscow Institute of Biomedical Problems (IBMP) for 520 days – the time required for a round trip visit to the red planet.
The six-member, all-male crew will consist of three Russians, a Frenchman, an Italian-Colombian and one Chinese.
Although they won't experience weightlessness, they will live for nearly a year and a half in conditions that mimic an isolated spaceship environment, and will follow a rigorous regimen of experiments and exercise during that time.
The primary purpose of the Mars500 experiment is to study the effects of long-term isolation on humans in order to help future space crews manage the stress and fatigue associated with a real-life mission to Mars.
"When everybody interacts with the same people in the same space, habits and behavior become apparent very quickly. These habits may irritate and cause indignation — and even fits of aggression," said Mikhail Baryshev, a psychotherapist associated with the program, in an interview with the Associated Press (AP).
The experiment, conducted by the IBMP in cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA) and Chinese space authorities, will simulate a virtual outbound leg of 250 days, followed by a 30-day 'stay' on Mars and a 240-day return journey to Earth.
The IBMP institute in western Moscow is Russia’s premier space medicine center, having served the Soviet and then Russian space programs since the beginning of space exploration.
A special-purpose test facility at the IMBP was constructed for the experiment. The facility consists of several interconnected modules with a total volume of roughly 20,000 cubic feet, and incorporates a separate imitator of the red planet’s surface for the mock landing.
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