• More Blogs
• Observations »
• Bering in Mind »
• Cross-check »
• Extinction Countdown »
• Solar at Home »
• Expeditions »
• Guest Blog »
• Anecdotes from the Archive »

Four Russians, a German and a Frenchman walk into a pod. That may sound like a setup to an off-color joke, but in actuality it's the start of a prolonged isolation study set to begin tomorrow in Moscow. The six volunteers will spend 105 days sealed off from the rest of the world in a special facility, sleeping in tiny bedrooms, to assess the psychological and physical effects that a lengthy flight to Mars might incur. (The 105-day trial is merely a warm-up for a planned 520-day version down the road that would more closely replicate the amount of time needed for a Martian round-trip.)

A BBC correspondent took a tour of the isolation module earlier in the month, reporting that the space offered "a few home comforts, including a large flatscreen TV, a plastic kettle and an empty fridge. But overall it was cramped, airless and without windows." Each individual bedroom is about 34 square feet (3.2 square meters)—roughly the size of a Ford F-150 pickup truck bed. The crew will be monitored remotely by command center personnel, but all communications will be subject to an artificial 20-minute delay to simulate a deep-space-to-Earth link.

The program, known as Mars500, is a collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian Institute for Biomedical Problems in Moscow, which will house the study. The ESA says it had 5,600 applicants for its two slots, each of which comes with a monthly salary of $6,500, according to the BBC. The space agency settled on an engineer from the German army and a French airline pilot; the Russian contingent includes two cosmonauts, a physiologist and a doctor.

According to the ESA, the study's "participants will act as subjects in scientific investigations to assess the effect that isolation has on various psychological and physiological aspects, such as stress, hormone regulation and immunity, sleep quality, mood and the effectiveness of dietary supplements."

Could reality TV be far behind?

Photo credit: S. Corvaja/ESA

6 Comments

1. 1. atphan 06:18 PM 3/30/09

   I'm curious if they're going to have those people play mission roles as well to more accurately model the dynamic of a mission to Mars.
   
   blog.benchside.com

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

2. 2. MrMylesGuy 11:38 PM 3/30/09

   By the time they are done with this experiment and come out of their pod , I'm sure they will have a lot to tell us about mars.

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

3. 3. TheBlock 03:37 PM 4/1/09

   I believe the purpose of this experiment is not to learn anything about Mars. The idea is a study in isolation over a long period of time, which is a necessary part of any Journey further than our Moon. Even longer stays on a space station could be very isolated if the traffic from Earth is reduced.

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

4. 4. RKSIDDHARTH 02:01 AM 4/2/09

   I am eager to know if this practice might lead to a man-mission to mars!

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

5. 5. RKSIDDHARTH 02:06 AM 4/2/09

   I think that this practice is to check the mental condition of a person who will be isolated and lonely in a spacecraft. This might be required for the futurelong man- mission to mars.

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

6. 6. estermazda 06:20 AM 4/8/09

   I strongly believe that sending a manned mission to Mars with minimalist means in order to save money and to meet unrealistic deadlines as well as to please some national political agendas is a bad idea. Such a mission would be way too risky for those embarked as no sensible rescue operation could be organized remotely or otherwise in case of mishap. Not to mention the risk of solar flares and regular exposure to cosmic radiation for the crew. Further I don't think the rewards would be that great as I suspect Mars is a planet with partly frozen seas covered by space dust accumulated on the surface since eons. Yes, one would find life in those subsurface bodies of water and pockets of gases heated by telluric activity and gravitational pressure. Nothing much different than what's found at the bottom of our oceans near the rift of continental plates. Maybe a little more complex, like jellyfish. Same dna as well due to converging evolution processes.
   A better approach would be to build in Earth orbit a very large ship capable of supporting a few hundred crewmembers. Such a platform could conduct rescue operations and would be almost completely autonomous in most situations. It would offer better protection in case of flares and everyday exposure as living quarters could be protected by a surrounding buffer of gas in an enveloppe and an electric field. It could also provide some artificial gravity.
   The initial cost will be staggering but unlike as with the I.S.S .this will become very small as time goes by because we're looking at centuries of use for this ship in solar system exploration.
   Now what nation or decider on Earth wouldn't be part of such a world project , living a mark for centuries to come

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this