Volunteers begin Mars500 isolation

[Forkboy]

Six would-be cosmonauts have entered a sealed facility where they will spend 18 months with no windows and only e-mail contact with the outside world. The men are taking part in the Mars500 project, which aims to simulate a mission to Mars. They entered the craft, located at a medical institute in Moscow, just before 1100 BST on Thursday.

Scientists say the study will help them understand how humans would cope on a long journey to another world.

During a press conference on Thursday morning, the six men - three Russians, two Europeans and a Chinese man - all described what motivated them to take part in the experiment.

Twenty-six year old Wang Yue from China, the youngest of the volunteers, said he was excited to be involved in a project that he felt would be "excellent for science and for all of humankind".

French volunteer Romain Charles acknowledged that it would be a "difficult" mission and said that he would miss his family and "the Sun and fresh air".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10197470.stm


Where do I sign up?

[RT Atlanta]

1. fascinating experiment

how will the social interaction play out? will it devolve into a bad episde of "Real World?" hopefully some useful results will come from this experiment.