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Mock Mars mission reaches planet's orbit
by Yasser Ali - February 5, 2011 - comments
The most important goal of the giant experiment is to be fully prepared for the actual journey to Mars.
The Mars500 mission spacecraft with five astronauts has finally entered the orbit of Mars after a grueling interplanetary flight. It will soon land on the red planet on Feb. 12.
The Mars mission spacecraft actually is an array of enclosed spaces in Moscow, designed to simulate an actual Mars journey into outer space.
Mars500 is a whopping $15 million venture done in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), Russia and China. The mission hit one of its major milestones yesterday, as it entered a mock Mars orbit.
Mission to simulate actual spaceflight
The most important goal of the giant experiment is to be fully prepared for the actual journey to Mars.
The project seeks to find out what technical or psychological difficulties can crop up during such an extended flight to outer space.
It’s been nearly eight months since the entire experiment began in a mock spacecraft at the Institute of Biomedical Problems in Moscow.
According to Simonetta Di Pippo, ESA's director for human spaceflight, Mars500 is a “visionary experiment.”
"Europe is getting ready to make a step further in space exploration: Our technology and our science grow stronger every day. Mars500 today is only an enriching simulation, but we are working to make it real.”
The six men who volunteered for this mission are two Europeans, three Russians, and a Chinese. The volunteers have been living together inside the mock spacecraft for eight months now and have been paid an attractive sum of $97,000 for volunteering for the mock Mars mission.
The most important goal of the giant experiment is to be fully prepared for the actual journey to Mars.
A realistic voyage
The schedule designed for these volunteers is exactly similar to the one faced by astronauts at the International Space Station (ISS), according to the ESA officials.
The astronauts are supposed to exercise daily and keep themselves busy with maintenance jobs and experiments, getting only two days off every week.
ESA officials have made sure that the volunteers follow this regimen religiously, to make the entire experience as close to real as possible.
The six volunteers are Alexandr Smoleevskiy, Diego Urbina, Wang Yue, Romain Charles, Sukhrob Kamolov and Alexey Sitev.
Not all of the crew members are going to land on the mock planet. Three of them are going to stay in orbit, while three of their team mates will touch down on the simulated Mars surface.
The volunteers reached close to the Mars orbit on Dec. 24.