Russian Simulated Mars Mission Ends

A 105-day simulated mission to Mars ended on Tuesday, July 14, 2009.

The mission was part of the Mars-500 project at the Institute of Biomedical Problems in Moscow.

During the mission, six men were confined to a series of hermetically sealed tubes, designed to act as a mock spacecraft. They conducted approximately 70 experiments, testing the physiological and psychological effects of long-term isolation.

Four members of the crew were Russian, one was German and one was French. They were chosen from 6,000 applicants and were paid 15,000 euros to live in isolation from the rest of the world beginning March 31.

Crewmembers could only connect with the outside world via the controllers of the experiments and via an internal email system. All communications with the world outside had 20 minute delays, reflecting the conditions of an actual space flight.

Each crewmember had a personal cabin, and the men shared a gym and a garden.

Captain Sergei Ryazansk said that the most difficult part of the mission was knowing that they were not on a real trip in space, while crewmember Alexey Baranov thought that the worst thing was being separated from his loved ones.

According to Psychologist Olga Shevchenko, all the crewmembers missed the sights of the natural world and the company of their families. A hectic schedule and strenuous physical training helped them to avoid conflicts.

The crewmembers' activities were shown on Russian TV.

Bouquets of flowers were handed to the men when they emerged from isolation.

The Mars-500 project will end with an isolation experiment that begins next year. This experiment is scheduled to last 520 days.

International scientists believe that this could be a stop toward a manned mission to Mars, which would take over 500 days.

The mission was declared an overall success.

This is the second such experiment for the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems. During a previous 1999 experiment, a Canadian woman said that a Russian captain forcibly kissed her and that two Russian crewmembers had a fistfight that ended with blood being spilled.

A similar yearlong experiment with Soviet engineers was stopped because of constant conflicts between members of crew.