REAL LIFE NEWS: 12 MONTH MARS SIMULATION ENDS
by Hazed
For the last year, six people have been pretending that they live on Mars. They’ve been taking part in a NASA simulation in Hawaii, living in isolation in a dome, without fresh air, fresh food or privacy.
Having survived the confinement, the crew members said they were confident a Mars mission could succeed. “I can give you my personal impression which is that a mission to Mars in the close future is realistic,” Cyprien Verseux, a crew member from France, told journalists. “I think the technological and psychological obstacles can be overcome.”
Each of the “astronauts” had a small sleeping cot and a desk inside their rooms. The lack of privacy was challenging, as the mission commander Carmel Johnston said: “It is kind of like having roommates that just are always there and you can never escape them so I’m sure some people can imagine what that is like and if you can’t then just imagine never being able to get away from anybody.”
The idea fills me with horror. While I love the concept of space travel, sadly I recognise it wouldn’t be for me. The cramped conditions – not to mention the fact that I would surely get space sick – mean I must remain earthbound (apart from in Fed DataSpace). But I am delighted that there are people willing to undertake such an ordeal and I hope a mission to Mars does happen in my lifetime.
