Slashdot Mirror
Volunteers Wanted For Simulated 520-Day Mars Trip
anglico writes 'Starting in 2010, an international crew of six will simulate a 520-day round-trip to Mars, including a 30-day stay on the martian surface. In reality, they will live and work in a sealed facility in Moscow, Russia, to investigate the psychological and medical aspects of a long-duration space mission. ESA is looking for European volunteers to take part.'
The lag is going to be murder once they get a good distance to Mars.
It should be noted that NASA has long had a problem with the reality of space flight vs. their selection process. Their astronaut selection process tends to weed out all but the most motivated adventurous go-getters who tend to go crazy when asked to do basically nothing for 6 months.
I read the internet for the articles.
At least according to this Slashdot article http://science.slashdot.org/story/09/10/19/1324222/VASIMR-Ion-Engine-Could-Cut-Mars-Trip-To-39-Days
Biodome wasn't good science, if I can remember correctly. Beneath a very reasonable idea (trying to create a self-contained artificial biosphere that can support humans) there was a lot of hippie crap thrown in; things about trying to replicate every different ecosystem found on earth, and having rock pools and stuff. Thing is, the whole grow-plants-to-let-the-humans-breathe idea was well explored by the Soviets decades earlier - rather than piss around creating a Zen garden they just used boring old algae beds. And they, AFAIK, didn't need an injection of oxygen half way through the experiment.
If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we shoot people for Apollo-related non-sequiturs?
Russia has conducted shorter simulations in the past and has seen firsthand the issues that arise, including sexual harassment. In an eight-month IMBP simulation in 2000, a Russian man twice tried to kiss a Canadian female researcher after two other Russians had gotten into a bloody brawl.
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.
Since 'funny' mods don't give karma, the person who modded you insightful was probably just restoring your karma after the flamebait mod.
Insanity: voting in the same two parties over and over again and expecting different results