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Volunteer to Simulate a Mars Mission for the ESA

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wed Jun 20, 2007 09:40 AM
from the 17-months-seems-fair-to-me dept.

number6x writes "The European Space Agency (ESA) is looking for volunteers for a simulated trip to Mars. The simulation will put a crew of six in isolation for 17 months. The crew will be made up of 4 Russians and 2 Europeans. In all the ESA will need 12 volunteers for back up purposes. Seventeen months was chosen to simulate the time needed for the journey to Mars and back, as well as a 30 day period spent doing experiments on the red planet."

+ -

OriginalArlen writes "The BBC has a first look at NASA's initial concepts for a manned Mars mission, currently penciled in for 2031. The main vehicle would be assembled on orbit over three or four launches of the planned Ares V heavy lift rocket. New abilities to repair, replace, and even produce replacement parts will be needed to provide enough self-sufficiency for a 30 months mission, including 16 months on the surface. The presentation was apparently delivered at a meeting of the Lunar Exploration Management Group, although there's nothing on their site yet."

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Will they be allowed to have sex? (Score:5, Interesting)

by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 20 2007, @09:41AM (#19578725)

Simple question. Will they be allowed to have sex?
- Re:Will they be allowed to have sex? (Score:5, Interesting)
  
  by WindBourne (631190) on Wednesday June 20 2007, @10:06AM (#19579159) Journal
  
  From a bit of quiet gossip, both Russia and America has conducted experiments of sex in space (mir and ISS). In addition, EU and Russian are nowhere near as prudish as America is (they are LONG past the neo-con stage). I would be surprised if either groups (EU|russia) is going to object to sex.
  
  Parent
  - Re:Will they be allowed to have sex? (Score:5, Insightful)
    
    by cmeans (81143) <cmeans.intfar@com> on Wednesday June 20 2007, @11:00AM (#19580127) Homepage Journal
    
    They might not object to sex, but they might object to babies... 17 months is plenty of time to increase the crew complement.
    
    Parent
  - Re:Will they be allowed to have sex? (Score:5, Funny)
    
    by dintech (998802) on Wednesday June 20 2007, @11:01AM (#19580145)
    
    Yep, the 240-mile-high club is pretty exclusive.
    
    Parent
- Re:Will they be allowed to have sex? (Score:4, Funny)
  
  by billdar (595311) * <COFFEEyap minus caffeine> on Wednesday June 20 2007, @10:35AM (#19579673) Homepage
  
  Better question:
  "When will FOX air it on TV?"
  
  Parent
  - Yes! (Score:5, Funny)
    
    by FatSean (18753) on Wednesday June 20 2007, @11:25AM (#19580559) Homepage Journal
    
    And FoxNews will devote several hour-long 'special features' and 'townhall meetings' which center arround bashing those godless heathens who would have sex outside of marriage and a gravitational field.
    
    Parent
Oh the humanity! (Score:4, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 20 2007, @09:43AM (#19578763)

Four Russians and two Europeans cooped up for 17 months in a confined space? Do you have any idea how bad that's going to smell? It's going to be like feet wrapped in leathery, burnt bacon. Ewwww!
Do they intend to simulate (Score:4, Funny)

by RealGene (1025017) on Wednesday June 20 2007, @09:44AM (#19578771)

...bone loss, extended radiation exposure, and catastrophic micrometeorite punctures?
That would be a reality show worth watching...
--Gene
Strong recommendation (Score:5, Funny)

by edwardpickman (965122) on Wednesday June 20 2007, @09:45AM (#19578787)

The entire crew should be made up of nerds and geeks. They can do 17 months without sex standing on their heads.
- Re:Strong recommendation (Score:5, Funny)
  
  by TripMaster Monkey (862126) on Wednesday June 20 2007, @09:47AM (#19578825)
  
  They can do without sex, sure...but the simulated latency on WoW would demoralize them within a week. ^_^
  
  Parent
- - Re:Strong recommendation (Score:4, Funny)
    
    by BlackCobra43 (596714) on Wednesday June 20 2007, @10:58AM (#19580113)
    
    but how will they get on Battlegrounds? Which group would they be in? Never mind that, which ZONE? US? Oceanic? "Outer fucking space"?
    
    Parent
Interesting ... (Score:5, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 20 2007, @09:48AM (#19578847)

"Communications with the simulated mission control and loved-ones will take up to 40 minutes"
They're running Vista?
What they fail to mention in the summary (Score:4, Informative)

by Zarhan (415465) on Wednesday June 20 2007, @09:53AM (#19578921)

You get paid 120 EUR / day. And if I understood correctly, it's counted as "allowance", meaning it's tax-free..
- Re:What they fail to mention in the summary (Score:5, Insightful)
  
  by Opportunist (166417) on Wednesday June 20 2007, @09:59AM (#19579047)
  
  Sounds like a fair lot 'til you realize that this is for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and that your hourly wage is about 5 bucks. Whether you're awake or sleeping, granted, but then again, I do value my privacy somewhat.
  
  But hey, here's an idea. How about stuffing all those "if you got nothing to hide..." people in there? I'm pretty sure it might make them reevaluate that stance.
  
  Parent
Just think... (Score:5, Funny)

by spungo (729241) on Wednesday June 20 2007, @09:59AM (#19579041)

Every single day, the same routine, the same faces, the same surroundings, the same conversations... or I could leave IT and sign up for this!
/. is falling behind (Score:5, Funny)

by phrostie (121428) on Wednesday June 20 2007, @10:00AM (#19579061)

/. is falling behind. this is old news.

my wife was trying to volunteer me for this yesterday.

wait,,,
I'm got dibs on being the alien lifeform (Score:4, Funny)

by Timesprout (579035) on Wednesday June 20 2007, @10:00AM (#19579067)

you know, the one that slaughters the crew.
Backup? (Score:4, Funny)

by Plutonite (999141) on Wednesday June 20 2007, @10:24AM (#19579455)

In all the ESA will need 12 volunteers for back up purposes.
Me != Hard disk drive, thank you very much. Europeans..
Been there, done that... (Score:5, Interesting)

by dargaud (518470) <slashdot AT gdargaud DOT net> on Wednesday June 20 2007, @10:35AM (#19579675) Homepage

Seriously ! I spent a year with 12 other people in the middle of Antarctica in 2005 [gdargaud.net] and we were being followed by shrinks of the ESA. There's a big difference between a winterover and the proposed experiment: the first has a purpose while the second has not. I mean the only purpose here is to stay in a can. At least when you go to Mars or to Antarctica you have a job to perform and important things to do (science and ensuring your survival because there's no way out). Here you'll have people crack down after a few weeks from a sense of uselessness. I would sign up for another winterover or a Mars mission no questions asked. I wouldn't get canned like this for a heap of gold and an all you can download porn access.
- Re:Simulating the wrong mission (Score:5, Interesting)
  
  by SatanicPuppy (611928) * <Satanicpuppy@gmai[ ]om ['l.c' in gap]> on Wednesday June 20 2007, @09:56AM (#19578987) Journal
  
  The hard part will be getting there and back; they need to know the levels of cabin fever that are going to occur and they need to be able to test that in a simulated environment.
  
  Locking people in a tank for 17 months and watching how they deal with each other is a valuable experiment. Spending 2 years running around the desert in a spacesuit to simulate martian experiments...Now that would be worthless.
  
  Parent
  - Re:Simulating the wrong mission (Score:4, Insightful)
    
    by Cthefuture (665326) on Wednesday June 20 2007, @11:25AM (#19580539)
    
    Yeah but I could deal with the confinement at lot better knowing the reward is being on Mars eventually. That and knowing I'm hurling through space at a brazillion miles an hour very far from Earth.
    
    Doing this experiment would drive me insane because there is no payoff for the suffering other than research data.
    
    Parent
- Re:Too bad.. (Score:5, Insightful)
  
  by Lord Bitman (95493) on Wednesday June 20 2007, @10:00AM (#19579055) Homepage
  
  wouldn't it suck if we worked all that out but still had to wait another 17 months while we figured out the psychological effects?
  
  Parent
- Re:Simulated radiation trauma? (Score:4, Interesting)
  
  by Von Helmet (727753) on Wednesday June 20 2007, @10:09AM (#19579197)
  
  Interestingly, I read about a bunch of tiny worms on their way back from space. They've been up there long enough to produce 25 generations and scientists are going to examine their DNA to see if it's changed along the way due to aforementioned radiation.
  
  Links at Google News [google.co.uk].
  
  Parent
- Re:social, not ecological isolation (Score:4, Insightful)
  
  by Ihlosi (895663) on Wednesday June 20 2007, @10:30AM (#19579549)
  
  Most participants lost 1/4 to 1/3 of weight.
  
  They should have made it a diet center instead of using the space for condos, then.
  
  That aside, IMHA Biosphere II used the wrong approach - too many things at once (several different ecosystems, lots of species, etc). A better approach could be to find the minimum number of species that is necessary (which means that there'll be a lot of algae and fungi, and not all that many vertebrates and insects), and determine what type of inputs and outputs are necessary (even on the most barren planet, there'll be some local resources to use).
  
  Parent
- Re:I'm getting antsy just thinking about this... (Score:4, Funny)
  
  by Hatta (162192) on Wednesday June 20 2007, @10:57AM (#19580103) Journal
  
  The only thing worse is being confined to a rock with 6 billion other people for the rest of your life.
  
  Parent

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Will they be allowed to have sex? (Score:5, Interesting)

Re:Will they be allowed to have sex? (Score:5, Interesting)

Re:Will they be allowed to have sex? (Score:5, Insightful)

Re:Will they be allowed to have sex? (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Will they be allowed to have sex? (Score:4, Funny)

Yes! (Score:5, Funny)

Oh the humanity! (Score:4, Funny)

Do they intend to simulate (Score:4, Funny)

Strong recommendation (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Strong recommendation (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Strong recommendation (Score:4, Funny)

Interesting ... (Score:5, Funny)

What they fail to mention in the summary (Score:4, Informative)

Re:What they fail to mention in the summary (Score:5, Insightful)

Just think... (Score:5, Funny)

/. is falling behind (Score:5, Funny)

I'm got dibs on being the alien lifeform (Score:4, Funny)

Backup? (Score:4, Funny)

Been there, done that... (Score:5, Interesting)

Re:Simulating the wrong mission (Score:5, Interesting)

Re:Simulating the wrong mission (Score:4, Insightful)

Re:Too bad.. (Score:5, Insightful)

Re:Simulated radiation trauma? (Score:4, Interesting)

Re:social, not ecological isolation (Score:4, Insightful)

Re:I'm getting antsy just thinking about this... (Score:4, Funny)

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Will they be allowed to have sex? (Score:5, Interesting)

Re:Will they be allowed to have sex? (Score:5, Interesting)

Re:Will they be allowed to have sex? (Score:5, Insightful)

Re:Will they be allowed to have sex? (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Will they be allowed to have sex? (Score:4, Funny)

Yes! (Score:5, Funny)

Oh the humanity! (Score:4, Funny)

Do they intend to simulate (Score:4, Funny)

Strong recommendation (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Strong recommendation (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Strong recommendation (Score:4, Funny)

Interesting ... (Score:5, Funny)

What they fail to mention in the summary (Score:4, Informative)

Re:What they fail to mention in the summary (Score:5, Insightful)

Just think... (Score:5, Funny)

/. is falling behind (Score:5, Funny)

I'm got dibs on being the alien lifeform (Score:4, Funny)

Backup? (Score:4, Funny)

Been there, done that... (Score:5, Interesting)

Re:Simulating the wrong mission (Score:5, Interesting)

Re:Simulating the wrong mission (Score:4, Insightful)

Re:Too bad.. (Score:5, Insightful)

Re:Simulated radiation trauma? (Score:4, Interesting)

Re:social, not ecological isolation (Score:4, Insightful)

Re:I'm getting antsy just thinking about this... (Score:4, Funny)

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