IF THE TV show Big Brother is anything to go by, the Mars500 mission will have its share of trials and arguments. But does getting six men to spend 520 days locked inside a 鈥淢artian spacecraft鈥� that never actually leaves Moscow hold benefits for science?
鈥淪ix volunteers will spend 520 days locked inside a 鈥楳artian spacecraft鈥� that never leaves the ground鈥�
The European Space Agency, which closed the facility鈥檚 hatch on 3 June, describes the project as an 鈥渆xtreme test of human endurance鈥�. As the occupants perform the technical feats required for a real journey, their group dynamics, stress levels, immune responses and sleep patterns will be monitored.
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In a pilot 105-day mission, crew struggled with boredom and a cramped environment. The longer Mars500 should be a better guide to the problems that may arise on a real, 900-day Mars mission.
The project has its limitations, though. There will be no exposure to radiation or zero gravity, and the psychological conditions will be different, as volunteers know that in an emergency, they can escape.
Peter Suedfeld of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, suggests that a better way to identify potential stresses might be to use the diaries of explorers on long sea and land expeditions (Planetary and Space Science, ).
Many people may be banking on high stress levels in Mars500, though: bookies are offering odds on the first person to quit.