ESApod

Preparing for Mars500 - a simulated mission to Mars


Mars500
 
Mars500
 
 
2 October 2007
 
Within the Institute of Biomedical Problems, part of the Russian Academy of Sciences, engineers and scientists are completing the construction of a mock-up spaceship which will simulate a voyage to Mars.
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The project, called Mars500, due to start in 2008 will recreate all the phases of a mission to Mars. Six volunteers will remain confined in six modules of a mock-up ground-based spaceship: living quarters with individual cabins, an exercise room and storage area for food and supplies, a bio-medical and laboratory area and one recreating the Martian surface. The simulation will also focus on psychological aspects of such a long-duration confinement.

In some respects, the Mars500 concept has many of the ingredients of a reality TV show, with cameras filming the interaction between people in all kinds of situations. But the comparison stops there. This is a serious scientific experiment, and the only way to prepare a really long-duration mission.

The European Space Agency, as a 'strategic partner', is involved at all levels of this international project. Since June this year it has started selecting 12 volunteers, two of them will be part of the six-strong crew. ESA is also choosing the experiments to be carried out during their 500-day confinement.
  
 
 •  Human Spaceflight and Exploration (http://www.esa.int/esaHS/index.html)
 •  Esperia Mission (http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Esperia/index.html)

Related ESApod

 •  The Esperia Mission – October 2007 (http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMQSJVH48F_index_0.html)
 •  Paolo Nespoli: Getting ready for the ISS (http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/ESApod/SEMHDA13J6F_0.html)
 •  ISS update October 2007 (http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMBXE2PL7F_iss_0.html)
 •  iTunesPodcast (http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=117835479 &s=143441)
 •  Yahoo! Podcasts (http://podcasts.yahoo.com/series?s=4bd3e42bd1a996c47ff89731a8832060)
 •  RSS Podcast ESApod (http://feeds.feedburner.com/ESApod)
 •  Learnoutloud (http://www.learnoutloud.com/Podcast-Directory/Science/Astronomy/ESA-Podcast/16859)
 •  Podcastnet (http://www.podcast.net/show/45773)
 •  Podnova Podcast (http://www.podnova.com/index_podnova_station.srf?url=http://esamultimedia.esa.int/multimedia/esc/esapod.xml)
 •  ESApod (http://odeo.com/channel/105568/view)

Required software

 •   Windows Media Player (http://www.microsoft.com)
 •   QuickTime (http://www.apple.com)