Total isolation for Mars500
The Mars500 crew will soon mark a full year in isolation, but they have never been so cut off during their mission as they were for a week in April: they were living and working under a total communications blackout.
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16 JAN. 2013
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When humans eventually travel to the Red Planet, the voyage will be long and difficult. The simulated Mars500 mission showed that every detail must be planned, including diet and sleep. The findings will also benefit those of us who stay behind.
Mars500 locked six ‘marsonauts’ in a simulated spaceship near Moscow, Russia for 520 days, the time it would take to fly to Mars and back plus 30 days spent exploring its surface.
During their simulated mission, the crew lived in isolation without fresh food, sunlight or fresh air.
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Mars500 ‘spaceship’
The international participants had no external cues such as the Sun going down at night to remind them when to sleep. Instead, they relied on artificial cues to regulate their sleep patterns such as checking their watches or being woken by other crewmembers.
ESA marsonaut Diego Urbina recalls: “Although there was an issue with sleeping patterns getting out of phase, it is amazing that the human body can adapt to a total lack of Sun.”
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Sleep study
ESA scientists are looking into the problem of getting a good night’s sleep in many areas. ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano will measure hormones linked with sleep during his six-month stay on the International Space Station this year.
Nearer to home but equally isolated, research on the Concordia Antarctic base is monitoring the sleep patterns of crewmembers living for four months without sunlight during the polar winter.
For mission directors it is important to work out how astronauts rest so they can be ready for action at key moments. Astronauts need to be alert and performing at their best for landing on Mars. At what time of day should mission-critical moments be planned?
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Mars500 menu
Other surprising findings from the mock Mars mission show that our bodies do not absorb and process salt constantly. As the marsonauts’ diet could be strictly controlled, researchers could monitor the amount of salt eaten and excreted each day.
It seems that our kidneys process salt in a weekly cycle, working harder to remove salt on some days than others. Why our bodies work this way is not known but finding out could help us to tailor diets to higher precision.
“These results are showing why we participated in the Mars500 study.” says Jennifer Ngo-Anh, ESA’s study manager.
“We expect even more interesting results now that researchers have had a year to analyse data from this unique long study.”
These findings will not only benefit astronauts in space but also everyone on Earth who works irregular hours, has problems sleeping or suffers salt-related high blood pressure.
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Lessons from Mars 500
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Life after Mars
Seventeen months of isolation on a simulated trip to Mars came to an end five months ago. Their mission was over and they breathed fresh air again. What have ESA ‘marsonauts’ Diego Urbina and Romain Charles been doing since they left their ‘spacecraft’?
Welcome back and thank you, Mars500
The record-breaking simulated mission to Mars has ended with smiling faces after 17 months. Mars500’s six brave volunteers stepped out of their ‘spacecraft’ today to be welcomed by the waiting scientists – happy that the venture had worked even better than expected.
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Related links
ESA BR-300 ELIPS: Research in space for the future
This brochure gives an overview of the wide range of research the European Space Agency is performing under the unique conditions found in space.Read online
End of the Mars500 520-day isolation
The record-breaking simulated mission to Mars has ended with smiling faces after 17 months. Mars500’s six brave volunteers stepped out of their ‘spacecraft’ on 4 November and were welcomed by the waiting scientists – happy that the venture had worked even better than expected.On 8 November they met the press in media conference held at the RIA Novosti in Moscow.
Mars500 crew's statements (mp3)
Mars500 quick facts
Mars500 is an international study into interplanetary spaceflights and is conducting in 2010-11 the first full duration simulation of a manned flight to Mars.
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