I Can't Believe It's Science

Togetherness

After an unpleasant encounter with roommates or coworkers, it's always nice to go out, get some fresh air, and perhaps blow off steam by kvetching to friends or loved ones. But your usual methods of coping won't save you when you're 30 million miles from Earth, hurtling through space toward the red planet with the better part of a year remaining before you're allowed to experience the creature comforts and normal human contact of that pale blue dot you call home. On a manned mission to Mars, crew members would face exactly those psychological pressures, so Russia's Institute for Biomedical Problems will be carrying out a 520 to 700 day simulation to see whether crew members could withstand the mental trials. Six subjects with live in a mock-up spaceship consisting of five interconnected modules. They will have no contact with the outside world, save communications with "mission control," which will be delayed by up to 40 minutes to simulate the actual time it would take messages to travel between Earth and Mars. They will eat only the finest in prepackaged meal packets, and minor emergencies (little things like appendicitis) will have to be handled by the isolated crew members. The gender split has yet to be determined. Some think six members of one sex would be problematic because the crew would lack the calming presence and unique insight of the opposite sex, five to one could lead to extreme sexual rivalry, and three-three could precipitate "gender tribalism." Says Marc Heppener of the ESA Science and Application Division, "Four and two might be appropriate."

Maggie Wittlin

SEEDMagazine.com, June 25, 2007
http://www.seedmagazine.com/news/2007/06/i_cant_believe_its_science_for_40.php