The Earth-based project, called Mars-500, will subject six crewmembers with all of the medical, communications, physical, and psychological aspects of a one-and-one-half year manned flight to the planet Mars. The project is projected to start in the fourth quarter of 2007 at the Institute of Biomedical Problems at the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Six subjects will be selected from an international group of candidates. The mission will last at least for 520 days and may go up to 700 days. The volunteers will simulate all the activities that a real Martian mission will involve. They will only be able to communicate via e-mail, and communications will be delayed up to 40 minutes to simulate the time delay between the Earth and Mars. They will be supplied with three tons of water and five tons of food and oxygen.

The requirements for the candidates are: 25 to 50 years of age; attainment of a higher education under a profession in general medicine, diagnostic physician/investigator, biologist, or engineer in life support systems, computer techniques, or electronics; and knowledge of Russian and English languages.

So far, over 120 people from 21 countries including Argentina, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Ukraine have applied for the jobs.

Further information about the Mars-500 project is found at: http://www.imbp.ru/Mars500/Mars500-e.html and http://www.russia-ic.com/education_science/science_overview/229/.

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