Travel to Mars, Russian style

William Atkins
Thursday, 02 April 2009 18:23

Science - Space

Cyrille Fournier, another member of the crew, also stated when asked his feelings before entering the capsule: "How do I feel? I am very motivated. There is a kind of relief. We have been working for a long time and finally were are getting to the start point.” [BBC]

And Oliver Knickel, a third crewmember, added, "The challenge is to live with the same people for a long period but it is a positive challenge. I think we are going to learn a lot about each other.” [BBC News]

The BBC article also states that after this 105-day mission is completed a more exhaustive 520-day mission is planned to begin at the end of 2009 or beginning of 2010. This mission is being called Mars500, and these same six men are the prime crew for this mission, too.

Simonetta di Pippo, ESA director of human spaceflight, stated, "Mars500 is the proof that we are preparing for the future…. [It] is an important part of this global endeavor as it provides us with the knowledge of how to keep a small crew psychologically and physiologically healthy, and ultimately, to succeed in the big challenge to bring humankind to Mars and safely back to Earth." [Space.com: “Volunteers Locked Away in Mock Mars Mission”]

Martin Zell, chief of the ESA space station utilization department, added, "A crew traveling to Mars will face major challenges, not least, how to cope with being confined to a small space and seeing the same faces for one and a half years. It is of paramount importance to understand the psychological and physiological effects of long-duration confinement, to be able to prepare the crews in the best way possible and to learn about important aspects of the vehicle design." [Space.com]

Zell adds, “To contribute to their psychological wellbeing and long-term performance, we need to learn how to support the crew with optimum nutrition, artificial light, appropriate medical countermeasures and also planned and off-nominal task management.” [ESA: “Russian-European crew starts 'Mars mission'”]

You can follow along on this 105-day simulated flight to Mars by going to the ESA webpage ESA’s participation in Mars500.