Photo Gallery Isolated In A 'Barrel'
Six volunteers are being locked into a simulated spacecraft in Moscow for 520 days to test the effects of a trip to Mars. Here, Italian Diego Urbani (r) and Alexander Smoleyevsky, a military doctor for Russia's space forces, train in the area that is meant to simulate the surface of Mars.
The living quarters in the "Mars500" project: Inside are small personal cabins around three square meters in size, outfitted with a small bed, desk, chair and shelves for personal belongings.
The men have nicknamed the cramped system of pipes and tunnels that they will share for the next 520 days "bochka," or barrel.
Any radio conversations they have with "Earth" will come with a 20 minute delay, just as if they were floating in space.
The Red Planet: Scientists estimate a mission to the Red Planet using today's technology would take around 520 days.
The "Mars500" module is located at Russia's Institute of Biomedical Problems (IBMP) in Moscow.
The faux Mars descent module in Moscow: Researchers are hoping that the results of the $15 million (around 12 million) project , which is funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian space agency Roscosmos, will eventually lead to a real Mars mission.
Romain Charles, 31, is a French engineer who volunteered for the Mars500 project.
Training for the "Mars500": The Italian participant Diego Urbani practices before he and five others are locked into the space ship simulator.
For 18 months the Mars500 participants must do without fresh air, daylight and any direct contact with the outside world.
Every meal has been planned by a medical team at the University of Erlangen with the levels of vitamins and calories exactly measured. If the crew doesn't stick to the planned diets, they could exhaust the space ship's rations before the end of the mission.
New roommates: The Mars500 crew consists of (from left, front row): Alexei Sitev, Alexander Smoleyevsky, Mikhail Sinelnikov and (from left, back row) Sukhrob Kamolov, Romain Charles, Diego Urbina and Yue Wang. The six men in the tube will be under constant surveillance, one man will be a back-up.
