Space pioneers wanted for 520-day Mars experiment

[Space Wolves]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070619...e_070619110956

LE BOURGET, France (AFP) - The European Space Agency (ESA) on Tuesday called for applications for one of the most demanding human experiments in space history: a simulated trip to Mars in which six "astronauts" will spend 17 months in an isolation tank on Earth.
Their spaceship will comprise a series of interlocked modules in an research institute in Moscow, and once the doors are closed tight, the volunteers will be cut off from all contact with the outside world except by a delayed radio link.
They will face simulated emergencies, daily work routines and experiments, as well as boredom and, no doubt, personal friction from confinement in just 550 cubic metres (19,250 cubic feet), the equivalent of nine truck containers.
Communications with the simulated mission control and loved-ones will take up to 40 minutes, the time that a radio signal takes to cross the void between Earth and a spaceship on Mars. Food will comprise mainly the packaged stuff of the kind eaten aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
The goal is to gain experience about the psychological challenges that a crew will face on a trip to Mars.
Four of the crew will be Russian, and two will come from countries that are members of ESA, agency and Russian officials said at the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget.
In all, 12 European volunteers are needed.
A precursor 105-day study is scheduled to start by mid-2008, possibly followed by another 105-day study, before the full 520-day study begins in late 2008 or early 2009.
Backup for the two volunteers taking part in each of these simulations means that 12 Europeans are needed.
"The selection procedure is similar to that of ESA astronauts, although there will be more emphasis on psychological factors and stress resistance than on physical fitness," ESA said in a press release.
Men and women who think they have the right stuff can download the application form on (http://www.spaceflight.esa.int/CallforCandidates).
The terrestrial Mars-stronauts will not get much glory for their confinement, nor will they get particularly rich.
They will get paid 120 euros (158 dollars) a day, said Marc Heppener of ESA's Science and Application Division.
Viktor Baranov of Russia's Institute of Biomedical Problems, where the experiment will take place, said his organisation had received about 150 applications, only 19 of which came from women.
"The problem is that it is very difficult to find healthy people for this kind of experiment," he said.
Assuming that Mars and Earth are favourably aligned, with their closest distance of 56 million kilometres (35 million miles), it would take 250 days to get there, 30 days spent on site to conduct experiments and 240 days for the return, said Baranov.
A trip to Mars is not an early prospect. The United States has set plans to return to the Moon by 2018 and later head to Mars, but without setting a date.
The trip is fraught with many technical challenges, many of which are outranked by the question of keeping the crew healthy and sane.

who here wants to do this, and have the spare time to do it?

[Francisco Montana]

Thread moved to the Athenaeum. ~ Lord Gruffles

[sgtgoody]

Sign me up.

[Chaigidel]

very interesting -- way to get to work europe

[Gary88]

maned flight to mars is at very best a long long way off. it would take for ever and would probably kill the astronoughts. going to mars compared to going to the moon is like going to New Zealand compared to walking to the end of the road.


edit, hence sitting in a tank for 17 months is ****ing stupid

[sgtgoody]

Taking a metal tube, stuffing it full of people, and pushing through the air at several hundred miles an hour is pretty stupid too.

[Chaigidel]

thats why the **** is so damn cool--- its completely absurd. same as strapping yourself to an engine with wings and some guns and taking off into the air-- goddamn madness

[Cataclysm]

They're going to kill each other. Mark my words.

[Leonidas The Lion]

It is going to get rough for sure.
Knowing that you are on Earth things will be different than if they were actually on Mars.

[Kanaric]

They should do something like this on the space station, how else will you simulate the full effects of being in no gravity and in space for so long?

That has more of an effect on how people act than just being cramped.

[MathiasOfAthens]

Obviously if they going to be locked in there for so long then to ensure absolute scientific discovery the guine pigs must not be disturb no matter what happens even if one kills the rest. Its all for science.

But seriously money would better be spent on building a massive starship with living quarters, a kitchen, theater, sports arena, science rooms, then launch it to mars. That way if they have to spend 520 days in space at least its not in a ****ing metal can. ALso create artificial gravity that would make them feel like home.
________
California mdecial marijuana dispensaries

[MrMofo]

the pointlessness of this experiment will be its downfall. It's not a module, it's a prison.

people can endure any sort of ordeal for a purpose, but *just to see what will happen* is not purpose enough.

[Kanaric]

this experiment is pointless simply because its not done in space.

[Thanatos]

It's real good this experiment isn't done for the same duration in space. The astronauts would suffer from the complete destruction of their bones. They'd be piles of goo.

[Bootsiuv]

It's real good this experiment isn't done for the same duration in space. The astronauts would suffer from the complete destruction of their bones. They'd be piles of goo.

Thus, it won't really tell us much of anything, except what people do when confined in tight quarters for long periods of time, which might be useful in and of itself, but seems hardly worth the effort.

[sgtgoody]

Wow, there is an amazing lack of vision in today's generation.

[MrMofo]

Wow, there is an amazing lack of vision in today's generation.

honestly i dont think there's much *vision* involved in this concept further than *can ppl of different nations get along in a confined space for a long time?* - which doesnt really seem valid seeing it appears to be open to ppl of all ages and trades, and not necessarily looking for subjects of the same academic makeup of those who will eventually undergo the voyage.

really, and i mean this truly, and not sarcastically at all, if you see a grand vision in this experiment, i would like to know about it

[Thanatos]

No, it's just that we have more opportunities to show it nowadays, that's all.

[Big War Bird]

I wonder if they will let them have an internet connection? Could you imagine having to wait 40 minutes every time you clicked a link? It would be like having dial up again.

[Gary88]

Wow, there is an amazing lack of vision in today's generation.

explain?

ps does anyone else thing these guys will become gay? i might if i couldnt get any for that long, or they might put women in but i think we all know that wont happen, tsk women in space