'Mars mission' crew returns to Earth
Source: Agencies |
November 5, 2011, Saturday
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PALE but smiling, an international crew of researchers yesterday walked out of a set of windowless modules after a grueling 520-day simulation of a flight to Mars.
The all-male crew of three Russians, a Chinese, a Frenchman and an Italian-Colombian emerged from a western Moscow facility that simulated the confinement, stress and fatigue of interplanetary travel, minus the weightlessness.
Dressed in blue tracksuits emblazoned with the mission emblem, they climbed down a metal ladder to a crowd of officials and journalists.
"The crew has completed the experiment," team leader Alexey Sitev reported to Russian space officials. "The mission is accomplished, the crew is in good health and is ready for new missions."
Psychologists said long confinement without daylight and fresh air put the team members under stress as they grew increasingly tired of each other's company. They said psychological conditions can even be more challenging on a mock mission because the crew did not experience any of the euphoria or dangers of actual space travel.
Despite that, crew members showed no sign of stress. "We hope we can help in designing future missions to Mars," Frenchman Romain Charles said. His Italian-Colombian crewmate Diego Urbina said the crew felt proud to complete the longest imitation of space flight, so that "humankind can one day greet a new dawn on the surface of distant but reachable planet."
The facility at Moscow's Institute for Medical and Biological Problems, Russia's premier space medicine center, includes living compartments the size of a bus connected with other modules for experiments and exercise.
During the experiment, the crew communicated with the organizers and their families via the Internet, which was delayed and occasionally disrupted to imitate the effects of space travel. They ate canned food similar to that offered on the International Space Station.
Midway through the mission, the crew conducted a mock Mars landing, venturing from their cramped quarters in heavy space suits to trudge into a sand-covered room and plant the flags of Russia, China and the European Space Agency. They also took "samples" and conducted experiments.
The organizers said each crew member will be paid about US$100,000, except the Chinese researcher whose reward has not been revealed by Chinese officials. The crew will now spend three days in quarantine to minimize the risk of infection.
The all-male crew of three Russians, a Chinese, a Frenchman and an Italian-Colombian emerged from a western Moscow facility that simulated the confinement, stress and fatigue of interplanetary travel, minus the weightlessness.
Dressed in blue tracksuits emblazoned with the mission emblem, they climbed down a metal ladder to a crowd of officials and journalists.
"The crew has completed the experiment," team leader Alexey Sitev reported to Russian space officials. "The mission is accomplished, the crew is in good health and is ready for new missions."
Psychologists said long confinement without daylight and fresh air put the team members under stress as they grew increasingly tired of each other's company. They said psychological conditions can even be more challenging on a mock mission because the crew did not experience any of the euphoria or dangers of actual space travel.
Despite that, crew members showed no sign of stress. "We hope we can help in designing future missions to Mars," Frenchman Romain Charles said. His Italian-Colombian crewmate Diego Urbina said the crew felt proud to complete the longest imitation of space flight, so that "humankind can one day greet a new dawn on the surface of distant but reachable planet."
The facility at Moscow's Institute for Medical and Biological Problems, Russia's premier space medicine center, includes living compartments the size of a bus connected with other modules for experiments and exercise.
During the experiment, the crew communicated with the organizers and their families via the Internet, which was delayed and occasionally disrupted to imitate the effects of space travel. They ate canned food similar to that offered on the International Space Station.
Midway through the mission, the crew conducted a mock Mars landing, venturing from their cramped quarters in heavy space suits to trudge into a sand-covered room and plant the flags of Russia, China and the European Space Agency. They also took "samples" and conducted experiments.
The organizers said each crew member will be paid about US$100,000, except the Chinese researcher whose reward has not been revealed by Chinese officials. The crew will now spend three days in quarantine to minimize the risk of infection.
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