ESA seeks volunteers for simulated trip to Mars

"ESA is preparing for future human exploration missions to Mars. We are currently looking for volunteers to take part in a 520-day simulated Mars mission.

To go to Mars is still a dream and one of the last gigantic challenges. But one day some of us will be on precisely that journey to the Red Planet. A journey with no way out once the spaceship is on a direct path to Mars."

For more:
www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMAJPXXV2F_index_0.html

I remember roundabout 8 years ago, an experiment was run to see the effects of longterm space travel. Volunteers were put up in beds fo about 120 days to find out what way muscles could atrophy through long periods of stasis. Muscle wastage was huge, but at the time, they couldn't think of any other way to realistically provide a comfortable 4 month trip with no way of being resupplied like the 6-month-per-stay astronauts on the ISS are here (at least every 2 months).

I must read that article and see what the ESA are proposing.

Certainly interesting

No mention of the most lethal dangers of all:

1.Galactic and Intergalactic cosmic rays.

2. Solar weather.

Only people who look at Big Brother would think that that simulation has any bearing on the REAL perils they face.

P.R job.

Peter.

Abstract from Scientific American magazine:

Shielding Space Travelers; March 2006; Scientific American Magazine; by Eugene N. Parker

"In science fiction, the worst threats to space travelers are large ones: careening asteroids, ravenous creatures, imperial battle cruisers. In reality, though, the scariest menaces for humans in space are the tiniest: fast-moving elementary particles known as cosmic rays. On a long journey, they would give astronauts a dose of radiation serious enough to cause cancer. Unlike most of the other challenges of venturing into deep space, which engineers should be able to solve given enough time and money, cosmic rays pose irreducible risks, and dealing with them involves fundamental trade-offs. They could be the show-stopper for visiting Mars. "

Peter.

Peter - whilst of course cosmic rays and other radiations pose significant risks, perhaps the drive behind the experiment is to look at other factors - like boredom, social interaction etc. There would be an outcry if they put volunteers in a chamber on earth and bombarded them with high doses of radiation - particularly if were only an experiment.

Presumably, they are hoping that by 2030, new protective measures will have been discovered and refined. But that's no reson to dealy other tests in the meantime.

I have to say that if I were stuck in a vessel with you for 500 days, radiation would be the least of my worries

Dave