Thursday, July 16, 2009

Russian Mock Mars Mission ends

Tim Sayell sends in an article from Yahoo News reporting the end of the Russian mockup of a trip to Mars.

The six test subjects emerged after 104 day still in good humor. The group had been locked inside the mock spacecraft since March 31.

The mock-up consisted of windowless metal cylinders each the size of rail cars. Common facilities included a gym and a small garden, and the modules were equipped with the new European and Russian exercise and training equipment for biomedical research. Each crew member did have a private room for sleep. The crew also specially prepared meals and used toilets closely resembling those on the space station.

There was no internet or TV and all communications were strictly between the crew and mission control which had a built in 20 minute delay to simulate the delay that would be experienced on a real trip.

read complete story here

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