May 11
An 18-month simulated mission to Mars has two new members, a Frenchman and a Columbian-Italian, BBC News reports.
Both will join two Russians and a Chinese national in entering a set of steel containers on June 3rd. The Mars500 “spaceship,” located in Russia’s Institute of Biomedical Problems, has no windows; the goal is to test the physical and mental requirements of super-long spaceflight, the report said.
The containers will house all the necessary food and water, and will even feature a time delay in communications with “Earth” after the first two months of the “trip.”
After about 250 days aboard the four-container Mars500, half of the crew will enter a “landing craft” and “descend” to the planet (a fifth container) where they’ll walk around wearing modified spacesuits. More crew members will be chosen in the coming days, according to the report.
I don’t know about you, but I’m off to re-read some good Mars fiction.
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