On Offer: A Trip To Mars
By Hannah Isom
For all you budding astronauts out there, your chance to enter outer space in a mission to Mars could finally be here! The European Space Agency (ESA) is looking for six volunteers to ‘pilot’ a 500-day simulated mission to examine the effects of travelling to the Red Planet on the average Joe.
Those who suffer from travel sickness need fear not, however, as the crew will actually spend the entire time in a ‘special isolation facility’ (essentially a couple of garden sheds) in the middle of the Russian wilderness. Rather than assessing the technical aspects of this type of space travel, the scientists want to investigate the psychological, medical and emotional impact of a long-term mission.
During their stay, volunteers will be subjected to a variety of scenarios to accurately simulate what could happen on a real mission to Mars (and probably a few for the simple amusement of the investigators, who let’s face it, will be pretty hard-up for entertainment after 18 months in a research facility). The experiment will begin with a 250-day outward journey, followed by a descent onto the surface of Mars, and then the return journey home.
The accommodation will hardly be five-star either. The series of metal tanks that the crew will call home will comprise a medical area, a research area, a crew compartment and a kitchen, with a combined area of only 200 square metres! The only contact with the outside world will be subject to delays of up to 40 minutes, to simulate real-life space communication.
To add a further level of conflict, all food will be supplied at the beginning of the mission, and the crew must ration the supplies among themselves. So is this just Big Brother in a tin can? Marc Heppener from the ESA explains the study in further detail:
“Our main interest is to look at the psychology of such a mission knowing that you are enclosed for five hundred days”, says Marc, “as soon as there is a problem, the crew knows that they are on their own, and they have to solve it themselves.”
“How will group relations evolve? What are the potential dangers could we encounter? What kind of countermeasures can we invent that can prevent this? For us we can also learn about what types of personality we should select for a real mission.”
Applications for the mission will open mid-June, and the selection criteria will be similar to that for the selection of astronauts, which probably counts the likes of you and me out. Participants will be reimbursed for taking part though, so for all you students out there, that could mean a substantial boost to your beer fund, even if you do have to wait two years for your next pint!
Feeling spaced out? Let Hannah bring you back to Earth, or stay stellar with more star science:
- Strange - Sinister shapes on Saturn
- Spoof - Custard proves space threat
- News - Planets, planets everywhere
- News - Global warming threat to the Hubble telescope
Those who suffer from travel sickness need fear not, however, as the crew will actually spend the entire time in a ‘special isolation facility’ (essentially a couple of garden sheds) in the middle of the Russian wilderness. Rather than assessing the technical aspects of this type of space travel, the scientists want to investigate the psychological, medical and emotional impact of a long-term mission.
During their stay, volunteers will be subjected to a variety of scenarios to accurately simulate what could happen on a real mission to Mars (and probably a few for the simple amusement of the investigators, who let’s face it, will be pretty hard-up for entertainment after 18 months in a research facility). The experiment will begin with a 250-day outward journey, followed by a descent onto the surface of Mars, and then the return journey home.
The accommodation will hardly be five-star either. The series of metal tanks that the crew will call home will comprise a medical area, a research area, a crew compartment and a kitchen, with a combined area of only 200 square metres! The only contact with the outside world will be subject to delays of up to 40 minutes, to simulate real-life space communication.
To add a further level of conflict, all food will be supplied at the beginning of the mission, and the crew must ration the supplies among themselves. So is this just Big Brother in a tin can? Marc Heppener from the ESA explains the study in further detail:
“Our main interest is to look at the psychology of such a mission knowing that you are enclosed for five hundred days”, says Marc, “as soon as there is a problem, the crew knows that they are on their own, and they have to solve it themselves.”
“How will group relations evolve? What are the potential dangers could we encounter? What kind of countermeasures can we invent that can prevent this? For us we can also learn about what types of personality we should select for a real mission.”
Applications for the mission will open mid-June, and the selection criteria will be similar to that for the selection of astronauts, which probably counts the likes of you and me out. Participants will be reimbursed for taking part though, so for all you students out there, that could mean a substantial boost to your beer fund, even if you do have to wait two years for your next pint!
Feeling spaced out? Let Hannah bring you back to Earth, or stay stellar with more star science:
- Strange - Sinister shapes on Saturn
- Spoof - Custard proves space threat
- News - Planets, planets everywhere
- News - Global warming threat to the Hubble telescope
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