Scientists Begin
520-Day Mars
Mission
Simulation
By Vladimir
Isachenkov (AP)
MOSCOW — An
international
team of
researchers
climbed into a
set of
windowless steel
capsules
Thursday to
launch a 520-day
simulation of a
flight to Mars
intended to help
real space crews
of the future
cope with
confinement,
stress and
fatigue of
interplanetary
travel.
The six-member,
all-male crew of
three Russians,
a Frenchman, an
Italian-Colombian
and a Chinese
will follow a
tight regimen of
experiments and
exercise under
video
surveillance.
The Mars-500
experiment —
conducted by the
Moscow-based
Institute for
Medical and
Biological
Problems in
cooperation with
the European
Space Agency and
China's space
training center
— aims to
reproduce the
conditions of
space travel,
with exception
of
weightlessness.
"For me, it will
be mainly my
family, and the
sun and fresh
air," French
participant
Romain Charles
said when asked
by reporters
what he will
miss most during
the nearly a
year and a half
of confinement.
The researchers
will communicate
with the outside
world via the
Internet —
delayed and
occasionally
disrupted to
imitate the
effects of space
travel. They
will eat canned
food similar to
that currently
offered on the
International
Space Station
and shower only
once a week or
so. Crew members
will have two
days off a week,
except when
emergencies are
simulated,
though they will
still be in the
capsules.
"Certainly, the
crew is largely
on its own here,
with very
limited
communications
with the outside
world," Martin
Zell of the
ESA's
Directorate of
Human
Spaceflight told
The Associated
Press. "They
have to cope
internally with
a lot of
conditions and
to organize
themselves."
A real mission
to Mars is
decades away
because of huge
costs and
massive
technological
challenges,
particularly the
task of creating
a compact shield
that will
protect the crew
from deadly
space radiation.
President Barack
Obama said last
month that he
foresaw sending
astronauts to
orbit Mars by
the mid-2030s.
The crew members
said they were
confident of
success. Diego
Urbina, the
Italian-Colombian
member, told a
news conference
that for him it
would mean
"accomplishing
dreams about the
future, doing
something that
no human has
done before."
Psychologists
said long
confinement
would put the
team under
stress as they
grow
increasingly
tired of each
other's company.
Psychological
conditions can
be even more
challenging on a
mock mission
than a real
flight because
the crew won't
experience any
of the euphoria
or dangers of
actual space
travel.
French
participant
Romain Charles
said he was
bringing along a
guitar to warm
the atmosphere.
Others said they
would bring
books, movies
and pictures of
their relatives.
The crew will
split their days
into eight hours
of work, eight
hours of sleep
and eight hours
of leisure.
"The routine is
much more than
on a real
mission, there
is a little bit
less thrill,"
Zell said. "But
I think their
team spirit, and
their motivation
to go there and
to accomplish
the whole
mission is
enormous."
As part of
efforts to keep
the crew in good
spirits, they
will play an
"interplanetary"
match with
former world
chess champion
Anatoly Karpov
at some point
during the
experiment.
The facility for
the experiment
is in western
Moscow and
includes living
compartments the
size of a bus
connected with
several other
modules for
experiments and
exercise. A
separate
built-in
imitator of the
Red Planet's
surface is also
attached for a
mock landing.
The mission
director,
cosmonaut Boris
Morukov, said
the experiment
could be
disrupted for
medical or
technical
reasons or if
some of the
participants
categorically
demand it be
stopped.
"Each crew
member has the
right to end the
experiment and
walk out," he
said at a news
conference. "We
have had such
negative
experience in
the past, and I
hope it won't
happen during
this
experiment."
A similar
experiment in
1999-2000 at the
same Moscow
institute went
awry when a
Canadian woman
complained of
being forcibly
kissed by a
Russian team
captain. She
also said two
Russian crew
members had a
fist fight that
left blood
splattered on
the walls.
Russian
officials
downplayed the
incidents,
attributing them
to cultural gaps
and stress.
Morukov said the
organizers had
considered some
female
candidates for
the current
experiment, but
they hadn't been
chosen for
various reasons.
"Selecting an
all-man crew
wasn't our
goal," he said.
Other crew
members include
Russians Alexey
Sitev, 38,
Sukhrob Kamolov,
37, Alexander
Smoleyevsky, 33
and Wang Yue,
26, from China.
The organizers
said each crew
member will be
paid about
$97,000 for
taking part in
the experiment.
For Sitev, the
mission captain,
the experiment
means separation
from his wife
just a few weeks
after the two
tied the knot.
"It's difficult
for me to part
with my family,
just as it is
for any other
person," he told
journalists just
before stepping
in.
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