Volunteers needed for Mars mission
p2pnet.net OT news:- Does the idea of spending almost two years in “extreme isolation and confinement” appeal to you? Look no further because you’ll want to sign up for the European Space Agency (ESA) Mars mission.
ESA has teamed up with the Russian Institute of Biomedical Problems (IBMP) to send a joint crew of six on a 520 virtual mission to investigate the human factors of an extended trip to the Red Planet.
Candidates, who’ll live and work in hermetically sealed modules at an IBMP facility in Moscow, will be chosen based on education, professional experience, medical fitness and social habits and will be screened in a process similar to that currently used in astronaut selection, says ESA.
“The simulation follows the mission profile of a real Mars mission, including a exploration phase on the ’surface’.
Nutrition will be identical to that provided on board the International Space Station.
An initial 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, says ESA.
Here’s how it’ll work, says a detailed project write-up (.pdf):
The crew will follow a programme designed to simulate travel to Mars (250 days), a 30 day Mars surface exploration phase and travel back (240 days).
They will live and work in a facility in Moscow, which has been specifically designed for the needs of these simulations. The facility (total surface area: approximately 200m2) comprises:
A medical module: it will accommodate up to 2 crewmembers in case of illness, and has equipment for routine medical and laboratory investigations, living quarters with 6 individual compartments (each room approx. 3m2), a kitchen-dining room, living room and a toilet
A Mars landing module, which will only be used during the 30 day Mars orbiting phase and
A storage module containing food supplies, an experimental greenhouse, sauna and gym.
Nutrition and hygiene of the crew members will be comparable to that on-board the International Space Station, i.e. food will be predefined and carefully rationed, there will be no shower, and water supply will be limited. Smoking and consumption of alcoholic beverages will not be allowed.
The crew will largely be autonomous, which will be expressed in independent decision-making, control of the environmental situation and of consumable resources, to name a few.
A signal passage delay of up to 20 minutes one-way during communication of the crew and the ground-based control center will be gradually built in with the aim of simulating a real interplanetary mission. Additionally, private communication to family and friends will be limited comparable to a spaceflight situation.
The daily routine will be similar to the schedule of crews in orbital flights (7 day week with two days off) and will consist of 8 hours of work, 8 hours of leisure time and 8 hours of sleep per day. In addition all crewmembers will operate on night-shifts for one week each, in rotation.
During work time the crew will conduct scientific experiments, perform physical exercise (1hour per day), as well as tasks related to maintenance of the facility, life support system control and maintenance, skill maintenance and learning, sanitary and hygienic procedures, etc.
The scientific experiments may involve invasive medical procedures, for example blood draws, urine and saliva samples, for which the crewmembers will be test subjects.
In addition to the daily routine, off-nominal and emergency situations will be simulated, for example sickness or failures of on-board systems and equipment.
During ‘Mars surface operations’ the crew will be divided into two groups of three people each. Once the first group of crewmembers has moved to the Martian surface, the hatch between the Martian simulation module and the rest of the facility will be closed for the entire duration of the Mars surface stay simulation.
Prior to the isolation and confinement studies, the crewmembers will undergo a training programme, in which they will familiarize themselves with the habitat and the equipment and procedures they will be expected to use and perform during the simulation.
After completion of the isolation period, the crewmembers will be expected to participate in follow-up studies for up to one year after the simulation, as part of the scientific experimental programme.
Also See:
ESA – ESA seeks candidates for simulated ‘Missions to Mars’ in 2008/2009, June 19, 2007
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Tired of being treated like a criminal? They depend on you, not the other way around. Don’t buy their ‘product’. Do bug your local politicians. Use emails, snail-mail, phone calls, faxes, IM, stop them in the street, blog. And if you’re into organizing, organize petitions, organize demonstrations and then turn up on your local political rep’s doorstep, making sure you’ve contacted your local tv/radio station/newspaper in advance. Don’t just complain. Do something!
June 22nd, 2007 at 12:12 pm
Why not an exedition to Washington D.C. for the purpose of discovering how corruption in America works? Also how RIAA works in America.
Sure, the design work would be far more complicated than going to Mars.
Too, the mission would take many years, as the volunteers would have to be isolated for about 10 year, to thoroughly cleanse the propaganda lodged in their brains. Without this, whatever investigative work they do will be biased, as is always the case.
We dont want corrupt persons investigating corruption, do we?
Now, if we dont know how corruption in America works, or why thousands die of hunger each day in Africa, why do we want to go to Mars? It makes no sense. Gee, talking about corruption!