Mars-500

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Logo of the Mars-500 project

Mars-500 was an experiment carried out from June 3, 2010 to November 4, 2011 by the Russian space agency Roskosmos , the European ESA and the Chinese CNSA . The project simulated a manned flight to Mars , with six volunteers from Russia, France, Italy and China locked in a complex for 520 days. The work and daily structures were chosen so that it comes as close as possible to a return flight to Mars. The project was carried out at the IBMP (Institute for Biomedical Problems) near Moscow . Its cost was 15 million US dollars estimated.

Goal setting

Mars as seen with the Hubble Space Telescope

A manned flight to Mars is expected to take place in the first half of the 21st century. Such a mission involves extremely high costs and many technical problems, especially since it could take a few weeks due to the great distance (depending on the planetary constellation between 55 and 400 million kilometers) or even more than a year with today's drives. During the entire journey, a team of around half a dozen astronauts has to live together in a very small space. This can quickly lead to tensions and conflicts, especially since there is usually only routine work during the return flight and boredom can therefore become a serious problem.

The experiment tried to find answers to the following questions: Which group dynamics develop over time? What personality types are best for a long-term mission? How does the crew help itself with problems when external help is excluded?

But they also hoped for answers to the following medical questions: Which drugs and instruments are necessary for the medical care of the crew? How does the team react if the crew's doctor is absent due to illness?

Predecessor project

Between July 1999 and April 2000 the project Simulation of a Flight of International Crew on Space Station - '99 (SFINCSS-99) was carried out at the same institute for 263 days with similar goals. A Russian group of four stayed in the facility for the first 240 days. After three weeks, a second group of four, a German commander and three Russians, joined them. Since the German spoke fluent English and Russian, there were no communication problems. The second group left the facility after 110 days. About three weeks later, the third group joined the experiment, which, in addition to the Austrian commanding officer, also included a Japanese, a Russian and a Canadian. There were no interpersonal difficulties during the first month.

During the New Year celebrations, there was a fight between a Russian from the first group and the Russian from the third group. In addition, a Russian from the first group tried to forcibly kiss the Canadian from the third group. A cultural rift opened up in assessing these incidents. The Russians pointed out that it is normal in Russia for men to fight each other at a party and that they expected the Canadian woman to return the favor with a slap in the face and laugh at the incident. The three non-Russians declined these apology attempts and demanded that the Russians concerned be removed from the facility. One of the reasons for this incident was that the project management had provided a bottle of champagne for the New Year celebration.

There were also communication problems between the crews. Although English was the official project language, in the first group only the commanding officer could speak fluent English. One of the other three Russians from the first group became jealous of the good English-speaking Russian from the third group because he was able to communicate with the three non-Russians. This rivalry then erupted in a bloody brawl during the celebration. The situation for the third group was made more difficult by the fact that the project leaders spoke poor English and the three non-Russians relied on the interpreting skills of the Russian in their group. However, his integration into the group suffered from the fact that his wife worked as a doctor in the project management, so that he could telephone her daily, which meant that the other group members did not see him as their own, but as a kind of guardian from outside . Since the Russian project management agreed with their compatriots in assessing the two incidents and did not ban any from the facility, the mood among non-Russians deteriorated further. A month later, after 60 days, the Japanese left the facility prematurely. The remaining participants completed the experiment as intended.

The crew

The crew, consisting of 3 Russians, a French, an Italian and a Chinese, was under the direction of the then 38-year-old Russian commander Sitev Alexey Sergevich .

In addition, the crew was divided into three researchers / scientists, a flight engineer and an on-board doctor.

Structure of the station

Sketch of the planned module configuration according to http://spaceflight.esa.int/users/downloads/ao2007/AO-07-Mars500.pdf ( Memento from May 25, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 363 kB)
3D model of the complex

In the Mars-500 experiment, the station consisted of four modules that serve different purposes:

  1. A medicine and research module (38 m²)
  2. A living module with beds (72 m²)
  3. A Mars module (39 m²) in which the surface of Mars is simulated. This module was only accessible for 30 days.
  4. A storage module with packaged food and consumables (94 m²)

The total usable area was 243 m² with a volume of 550 m³. This corresponds to an average room height of 2.26 m. The graphic opposite gives an overview of the arrangement of the modules.

Candidates

The success of Mars-500 crucially depended on the selection of suitable candidates . For the job description, candidates with the following characteristics were sought:

  • Age: 25 to 50 years
  • Healthy and physically fit
  • University education
  • Training in one of the following areas was desired: medicine or first aid, physics, biology or engineering in one of the following areas: life support systems, computer technology, electronics or mechanics
  • Proficiency in English and Russian

The ESA presented as a project partner for a preliminary study two of the six crew members. In this study, the crew members completed a 105-day simulated mission to Mars. After the ESA posted a job advertisement on June 19, 2007, 5,600 people applied. On December 11, 2008, the names of the four ESA candidates were announced in an ESA press release: Cedric Mabilotte, Oliver Knickel (a 29-year-old Bundeswehr captain at the time of the project), Cyrille Fournier and Arc'hanmael Gaillard. The wage was 120 euros a day, which corresponds to an annual wage of 43,800 euros. The simulation was successfully completed on July 14, 2009.

On March 23, 2010, the names of the candidates who were being prepared for the 520-day main simulation were announced: Jerome Clevers (Belgium), Arc'hanmael Gaillard (France), Romain Charles (France) and Diego Urbina (Italy / Colombia) . The ESA could send two of them in the simulation.

On May 18, 2010, Roskosmos announced the participants in the Mars mission simulation: Since June 3, 2010, Romain Charles (France, age 31, engineer), Suchrob Kamolow (Russia, 32 years, surgeon), Mikhail Sinjelnikow (replacement, Russia, 37 years, engineer), Alexei Sitjew (Russia, 38 years, engineer), Alexander Smolejewski (Russia, 33 years, general practitioner), Diego Urbina (Italy, 27 years, engineer) and Wang Yue (China, 27 years, taikonaut instructor ) die Crew. The compensation was approximately $ 99,000.

procedure

From June 3, 2010, the six-person crew was hermetically sealed in a complex of various room modules for 520 days; contact with the fictitious ground station was only possible via a simulated radio link and email. The radio contact was delayed by up to 20 minutes (each direction) depending on the time of the mission, as will occur due to the great distance on a trip to Mars or back. The food was included at the beginning of the project and was strictly rationed. In addition, the crew had to master simulated emergencies.

The mission was divided into three main parts:

  • Outward flight to Mars: 250 days.
  • Stay of 3 crew members in the Mars module: 30 days.
  • Return flight to earth: 240 days.

During the isolation period, similar work was carried out as on the International Space Station . These were above all: medical examinations, physical training as well as repair and maintenance of the station. In addition, there were normal household chores and personal hygiene. Unless special situations forced a deviation, a work rhythm of 5 working days and 2 days off was adhered to.

On February 14, 2011, the team “reached” the surface of Mars after 250 days.

The project ended on November 4th, 2011.

Criticism and discourse

The project was also criticized, especially with regard to the following points:

  • Non-transferability of the results: Since the project deviated from a real Mars mission in several important points (lack of weightlessness and radiation exposure, access to the modules from outside at any time, less seriousness), there was no guarantee that the knowledge gained would relate to a Let Mars mission broadcast.
  • " Big Brother ": Many cameras were installed in the modules, which made it possible to monitor the crew almost completely.
  • All-male team: The social behavior of an enclosed mixed group was not researched.

The question of the extent to which the findings can be transferred to a later Mars mission can only be answered after a real Mars mission has been completed. The proponents of the Mars 500 project argued, however, that the simulated Mars mission should be designed as realistically as possible - as far as this was technically possible and financially sustainable. Great importance was attached to privacy in the video recordings. The monitoring only served to evaluate the mission more precisely.

Web links

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ "Mars-500" project. Retrieved November 15, 2018 .
  2. ^ "Mars-500" project. Retrieved November 15, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Tarig Malik: Russia's Mock Mars Mission to Cost $ 15 Million . Space.com, January 7, 2008, accessed December 14, 2010
  4. ↑ http://www.roscosmos.ru/main.php/?id=2&nid=11235&hl=%2525FF%2525E4%2525E5%2525F0%2525ED%2525FB%2525E9+%2525E4%2525E2%2525E8%2525E3%2525E0%25E5 .2% 2525F % 2525EB% 2525FC (Link not available) ( The development of a nuclear drive enables the flight to Mars within a month ) http://www.roscosmos.ru/main.php/?id=2&nid=11235&hl=%2525FF%2525E4% 2525E5% 2525F0% 2525ED% 2525FB% 2525E9 +% 2525E4% 2525E2% 2525E8% 2525E3% 2525E0% 2525F2% 2525E5% 2525EB% 2525FC
  5. ↑ a b c d e ESA prepares for a human mission to Mars article on esa.int of April 2, 2007.
  6. ↑ [1] Group Interactions in SFINCSS-99: Lessons for Improving Behavioral Support Programs, N. Inoue, I. Matsuzaki, and H. Ohshima (English)
  7. ^ "Mars-500" project. Retrieved November 15, 2018 .
  8. ↑ a b Mars500 - European candidates selected article on esa.int from May 27, 2007
  9. ↑ http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMI3FSTGOF_index_1.html
  10. ↑ To Mars for a handful of euro articles in Spiegel Online on June 19, 2007
  11. ↑ Mission accomplished: 105-day Mars mission simulation ends in Moscow ESA press release on the conclusion of the Mars500 preliminary study
  12. ↑ To Mars and back - as real as it gets ESA press release on the announcement of the European Mars500 candidates
  13. ↑ Complete Mars500 crew presented. Retrieved May 24, 2010 .
  14. ↑ ESA prepares simulated mission to Mars Article on astronews.com from April 3, 2007.
  15. ↑ Link to the 105-day preliminary experiment ( Memento from January 11, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  16. ↑ Simulated Mars mission reaches the Red Planet ( memento from February 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) tagesschau.de, accessed on February 14, 2011
  17. ↑ Interview November 4, 2011 in Spiegel online
  18. ↑ Lt. ORF has completed the experiment
  19. ↑ http://www.news-adhoc.com/kosmosveteran-bezweifelt-nutzen-des-mars-500-experiments-idna2009070338496/ (link not available)