VOYAGE TO MARS PRACTISED ON EARTH

The dream of living on Mars is becoming more and more reality. In spite of the knowledge that there is hardly any oxygen and if you step outside without your special suit, your lungs will explode. Yet NASA states that man will be living there by 2030. The first 20 settlers, however, will not have the chance to return to earth.

NASA has already received £600,000 to start the colonising of Mars, although it will take a lot more to get the project off the ground. The distance from Earth to Mars varies from 34 million to 250 million miles, all depending on its position in the orbit.

So far it was all but a dream or science fiction. However, outside Moscow is now a scientific institute where six men are locked into a cylindrical spaceship simulator on a 520-day mission. The conditions are set to simulate the flight to Mars but without zero gravity and the radiation.

The scientific project which is between European Space Agency and other international partners hope to find out how well man can cope with such a long journey and the isolation. The men have to carry 105 experiments to prove their psychological and physical capabilities and show the effect of such a long isolation of minds and bodies.

All food rations and other supplies were loaded at the beginning and nothing will go in or out of the simulator during the time of the experiment. The only contact they have is by email.

The six volunteers are three from Russia, one from France, one from China and one Italian-Colombian. They are allowed to play computer games to find out their mental state. They took on board books, dictionaries to be able communicate, photographs of their families and some personal possession.

The worst of it all is missing out on sunshine. There are no windows to make it more real. To make it more homely they panelled the inside with wood. The 'cosmonauts' have a miniature greenhouse where they are growing radish, paprika, tomato and pea plants. The reason is to have a supply when their initial foods run out. The greenhouse also grows carnation and geraniums.

The flowers are there to keep them psychologically stimulated. Astronauts stated that after lengthy missions to the International Space Station the flowers had a good effect on people living in an enclosed space for a long time.

This simulated spaceship is a size of 150 cubic meters. A medical module and a household module. Each has a bedroom of six sqm with a bed, small cupboard, and a desk. There is also a landing module, a giant sandpit which would be the first sight on landing. They will orbit the earth 10 to 11 days then follows a long straight trajectory to Mars and a spiral trajectory on the final approach on Mars. This is the most dangerous part of the flight.

At the end only three men, on whom they voted on, will step outside on the simulated Mars and spend one month on the 'Martian surface' assisted by a robot and specialised instruments. The experiment will end after another eight months returning to earth.

To return to earth is a luxury the first real travellers will not have.