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kennyc · 11-04-2011, 10:40 AM

UPDATE 1-Mars crew 'lands' after 520 days in isolation

Fri Nov 4, 2011 9:36am EDT

* Crew have been locked in module in Moscow

* Mission to test man's endurance for real Mars flight (Adds astronaut, space officials quotes)

By Alissa de Carbonnel

MOSCOW, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Pale-faced but smiling, the crew of a long-duration isolation study emerged bleary-eyed to daylight and applause on Friday after 520 days locked away in windowless, cramped cells to simulate the length of a journey to Mars.

The $15 million Mars500 experiment aims to answer one of the big unknowns of deep-space travel: can people stay healthy and sane during six months rocketing to the Red Planet?

The six male volunteers were allowed to briefly embrace family and friends before being ushered into a three-day quarantine period at the end of an experiment to recreate the psychological strain of a real Mars mission as closely as possible.

Clothed in blue jumpsuits, the would-be astronauts from Europe, Russia and China grinned and waved as the heavy metal door was shut on their home of the last 17 months in a mock spaceship at a Moscow research institute.

Rest here:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...7M41UT20111104

11-04-2011, 10:40 AM	#1
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,904 Karma: 119230421 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	Mars crew 'lands' after 520 days in isolation UPDATE 1-Mars crew 'lands' after 520 days in isolation Fri Nov 4, 2011 9:36am EDT * Crew have been locked in module in Moscow * Mission to test man's endurance for real Mars flight (Adds astronaut, space officials quotes) By Alissa de Carbonnel MOSCOW, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Pale-faced but smiling, the crew of a long-duration isolation study emerged bleary-eyed to daylight and applause on Friday after 520 days locked away in windowless, cramped cells to simulate the length of a journey to Mars. The $15 million Mars500 experiment aims to answer one of the big unknowns of deep-space travel: can people stay healthy and sane during six months rocketing to the Red Planet? The six male volunteers were allowed to briefly embrace family and friends before being ushered into a three-day quarantine period at the end of an experiment to recreate the psychological strain of a real Mars mission as closely as possible. Clothed in blue jumpsuits, the would-be astronauts from Europe, Russia and China grinned and waved as the heavy metal door was shut on their home of the last 17 months in a mock spaceship at a Moscow research institute. Rest here: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...7M41UT20111104