Two astronauts landed on fantasy Mars

According to Russian news agency Ria Novosti, on February 14, two members of the volunteer group who participated in the "Mars-500" project made their first "landing" on the fictional "Red planet" surface. suffering 520 test flight day and night on Mars.

The crew participated in the "Mars-500" project within the framework of the flight
test 520 days and nights.

Two astronauts - the study included Alexander Smoleevsky (Russian) and Diego Urbina (Italian), in white space suits, were the first to " walk " on the Mars model surface covered with stones and sand. .

This is actually a special medical - medical technology complex, covering an area of ​​180m2 located in the suburbs of Moscow, Russia, simulated as a closed spacecraft, completely isolated from the outside. In this complex there are conditions similar to those when humans fly to Mars (except for non-weight status and radiation effects).

The 520 day and night flight test in the Mars model began on June 3 last year, with the participation of six international volunteer teams, including three Russians, one French, one Italian and one person. China.

This 520 day and night trial is calculated based on the assumption of the time to complete a flight to Mars, of which 250 days to fly from Earth to Mars, 30 working days on the surface " Red planet "and 240 days of flight to Earth.

The goal of the experiment was to study the characteristics of mind-ness - physiology of the crew in the conditions of living and working separately from the Earth, studying the possibility of interaction between the crew and the Control Center. test in other communication conditions (email and radio communication), check the means of ensuring living activities and scientific equipment.

This 520 day and night flight is the third and most important phase of the " Mars-500 " project jointly implemented by the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Russian Space Agency, to gain experience to prepare. for actual flight to bring people to Mars.

In addition to the two members above, this international volunteer team also includes captain Aleksey Sitev (Russia), Dr. Sukhrob Kamolov (Russia), engineer Romain Charles (France) and researcher Vang Yue (China).

The previous two phases of the " Mars-500 " project were conducted in November 2007, including 14 days and nights of studying the entire system of the Mars Group, and July 2009 consisting of 105 days and nights " flying test to Mars ".

Russia hopes, in the next 20-30 years, to " realize " the spacecraft launch project to bring people to Mars.