MARS-500

A 3D plan of the experimental complex. The large brown module contained the mock-up of the Martian surface.

Mars-500 is a psychosocial experiment conducted by Russia, Europe and China in preparation for manned spaceflight to the planet Mars. The experiment's facility is located at the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Biomedical Problems (IBMP) in Moscow, Russia. The IBMP has conducted similar co-operative isolation studies in preparation for spaceflight. ESA participated in 1994 with Human Behavior in Extended Spaceflight (HUBES) study, which prepared for the joint EuroMir-95 mission, then in 1999, ESA and the IBMP conducted 'Simulation of the Flight of the International Crew on Space Station' (SFINCSS) in preparation for the International Space Station (ISS) project. In 2004, preparation for a mission to Mars began with discussions resulting in the Mars-500 experiment, complimenting contemporary research on-board the ISS.

Between 2007 and 2011, a crew of volunteers lived and worked in a mock-up spacecraft. The final stage of the experiment, which was intended to simulate a 520-day manned mission, was conducted by crew consisting of three Russians, a Frenchman, an Italian and a Chinese citizen. The experiment helped plan the interplanetary mission, identifying possible problems and solutions. The mock-up facility simulated the Earth-Mars shuttle spacecraft, the ascent-decent craft, and the martian surface. Volunteer crew used in the three stages included professionals with experience in fields such as engineering, medical, biology, and previous spaceflight experience.

The 'Orbital Piloted Assembly and Experiment Complex' (OPSEK) is the Russian successor to the ISS, with the primary mission of supporting deep space exploration. Opsek is being assembled whilst attached to the ISS. Rassvet, a planned Opsek module, arrived in Orbit in 2010. All the main components of a Mars expedition would first dock at the station, before leaving for Mars.

Project overview

Purpose

The experiment was intended to yield valuable psychological and medical data on the effects of the planned long-term deep space mission. The experiment permitted the study of the technical challenges, work capability of crew and management of long-distance spaceflight. Communications lag, autonomy, resource rationing, health, conditions of isolation and hermetically closed, confined environment, are the main peculiarities of the Martian flight.

Scientific objectives

The experiment was designed to allow planning the methods and means of control and monitoring of the habitat during lengthy crew stays in confined and cramped conditions. Planning diagnostic, forecast and treatment of medical support and prophylaxis, the use of telemedicine technologies, countermeasures against adverse effect of the "flight" factors on the human body, psychological support, and the creation of a reporting system for activity of the crew and electronic transfer of information. Methods of psychological support and approbation, using the sociomapping method.

Experiment stages

A total of 640 experiment days were scheduled between 2007 and 2011, divided into three stages of differing length. During each stage, the crew of volunteers lived and worked in a mockup spacecraft. Communication with the outside world was limited, and was conducted with a realistic time delay of up to 25 minutes, to simulate the real-life communications lag between Mars and Earth. Similarly, a realistically limited supply of on-board consumables was provided for the volunteers. Although some conditions, such as weightlessness and cosmic radiation, could not be simulated.

The first fifteen-day stage of the Mars-500 experiment took place from 15 November 2007 to 27 November 2007. The purpose of this stage was to test the technical equipment, facilities, and operating procedures for the voyage.

The second, 105-day stage of the Mars-500 experiment began on 31 March 2009 when six volunteers started living in the experiment's isolated living complex. On 14 July 2009, this stage of experiment was completed.

The 520-day final stage of the experiment, which was intended to simulate a full-length manned mission, began in 3 June 2010 and ended on 4 November 2011.. This stage was conducted by a six-man international crew, consisting of three Russians, a Frenchman, an Italian and a Chinese citizen. The stage included a simulation of a manned Mars landing, with three simulated Mars-walks carried out on 14, 18 and 22 February 2011. The experiment ended on 4 November 2011, with all the participants reportedly in optimal physical and psychological condition.

Facility

A labelled diagram of the experimental isolation facility.

The experiment facility was located on the Institute of Biomedical Problems' site in Moscow. The complex consisted of the isolation facility, the mission operations room, technical facilities, and offices.

The isolation facility consisted of five different modules. Three of the modules – the habitat, utility, and medical modules – simulated the main spacecraft. The fourth module simulated the Martian-lander ship and was connected to the main spacecraft. The fifth module was a simulator of the Martian surface, and is connected to the Martian-lander. The combined volume of the modules was 550 m³ (19,000 cu ft).

The facility included all the necessary equipment for running the experiment. These included communications and control systems, ventilation systems, air and water supplies, electrical installations, sewage systems, air and water quality monitoring and partial recycling systems, medical equipment, fire and other safety monitoring systems, and emergency equipment. The modules were maintained at Earth-normal barometric pressure.

Habitable module

The habitable module was the main living quarters for the crew. The cylindrical 3.6 × 20 m (12 × 66 ft) module consisted of six individual crew compartments, a kitchen/dining room, a living room, the main control room, and a toilet. The individual bedroom compartments, which had an area of approximately 3 m² (32 sq ft) each, contained a bed, a desk, a chair and shelves for personal belongings.

Medical module

Overhead plan of the experimental complex.

The cylindrical medical module measured 3.2 × 11.9 m (10 × 39 ft) and housed two medical berths, a toilet, and equipment for routine medical examinations. It also contained equipment for telemedical, laboratory, and diagnostic investigations. If a crew-member had become ill, they would have been isolated and treated in the module.

Mars landing module simulator

The Mars landing module simulator was only used during the 30-day "Mars-orbiting" phase of the experiment. The 6.3 × 6.17 m (21 × 20.2 ft) cylindrical module accommodated up to three crew members, and had three bunk beds, two workstations and a toilet. Its ancillary systems included a control and data collection system, a video control and communications system, a gas analysis system, an air-conditioning and ventilation system, a sewage system and water supply, and a fire-suppression system.

Storage module

The cylindrical 3.9 × 24 m (13 × 79 ft) storage module was divided into four compartments:

1. A refrigerated compartment for food storage
2. A compartment for storage of non-perishable food
3. An experimental greenhouse
4. A compartment containing a bathroom, sauna, and gym

Crew

Advertised volunteer requirements

The MARS-500 project posted a number of basic requirements for any potential candidates. These are:^{[citation needed]}

1. Age: 25–50 years old
2. Higher education
3. Professional requirements:
   • general practitioner having skills of first medical aid
   • physician-investigator having skills of clinical laboratory diagnostics
   • biologist
   • engineer – specialist in life support systems
   • engineer – specialist in computer science
   • engineer – specialist in electronics
   • engineer – mechanic
4. Language skills: knowledge of the Russian and English languages at a professional level

Crew of the first stage

The crew of the first 15-day stage of the isolation experiment was composed of six Russians: five men and a woman. This stage of the experiment was conducted in November 2007.

• Anton Artamonov (born 1982), engineer, physicist and programmer
• Oleg Artemyev (born 1970), engineer and cosmonaut, scheduled in 2011 to fly to the ISS as part of Expedition 39
• Alexander Kovalev (born 1982), engineer employed by IBMP's telemedicine laboratory
• Dmitry Perfilov (born 1975), anesthesiologist employed by IBMP's telemedicine laboratory
• Sergei Ryazan (born 1974), crew commander, physiologist and cosmonaut
• Marina Tugusheva (born 1983), biologist, IBMP researcher

Marina Tugusheva, the only woman of the crew, was excluded from the longer missions, to prevent sexual tension from jeopardising the mission.

Crew of the second stage

The 105-day second stage involved a crew of six members, and ended on 14 July 2009.

• Oleg Artemyev, Russian cosmonaut
• Alexei Baranov, Russian medical doctor
• Cyrille Fournier, French airline pilot
• Oliver Knickel, mechanical engineer in the German Army
• Sergei Ryazansky (commander), Russian cosmonaut
• Alexei Shpakov, Russian sports physiologist

2nd stage Crew Photo on Russian Wikipedia.

Crew of the third stage

More than 6,000 people from 40 countries applied for the 520-day third stage of the experiment. The selected volunteers were three Russians, two Europeans and one Chinese. They had a varying command of English, but not all spoke Russian.

• Romain Charles, 31-year-old French engineer.
• Sukhrob Rustamovich Kamolov (Сухроб Рустамович Камолов), Russian surgeon
• Alexey Sergeyevich Sitev (Алексей Сергеевич Ситёв), Russian engineer and commander of the mission
• Alexandr Egorovich Smoleevskiy (Александр Егорович Смолеевский), Russian physiologist
• Diego Urbina, 27-year-old Italian-Colombian engineer
• Wang Yue (王跃), 27-year-old Chinese instructor at the China Astronaut Research and Training Center

The other member of the crew, a replacement, was Mikhail Sinelnikov (Михаил Олегович Синельников), a 37-year-old Russian engineer. The mission started on 3 June 2010 and concluded on 4 November 2011, whereupon the participants entered a four-day quarantine before leaving the facility.

See also

• Manned mission to Mars
• Colonization of Mars
• Mars Society
• Mars to Stay

External links

• Information at the official site IMBP in Russian (up-to-date, more extensive), and in English
• Information at the official ESA site
• Information on Czech scientific participation in the MARS-500 project
• Official project blog
• News report on the end of project with quality photos (Russian)
• Official illustrated report on the end of the 520-day isolation (English)

News articles on the project

• Inside the Mars-500 "spaceship", BBC News, 3 March 2008
• Russia continues flight simulation experiments for Mars-500, RIA Novosti, 15 April 2008
• Volunteers flock to space experiment , BBC News, 27 March 2009
• "Cosmonauts" ready for Mars test, BBC News, 22 March 2010