Jason things

So everyone says that we should go to Mars.

It's the next step in space exploration, right?

Well, the actual ramifications of this desire are monumental.

Setting aside all technological and budgetary issues, what about the strain on the human psyche? A Mars mission would be over a year long.

Over a year without friends and family.

Over a year stuck in an enclosed space.

Over a year stuck with the same people.

Well to test this, a mock facility has been created and a crew is about to embark on a 520 Day Mission.

Six men from Europe, Russia and China embarked on a 520-day mock mission to Mars, heading out to a crew module in a warehouse in Moscow and locking the hatches behind them today. The mission runs from June 2010 to November 2011, and like a real Mars mission, the crew will live and work like astronauts, eating special food and exercising the same way as crews aboard the International Space Station. Additionally their communications with their mission control and anyone else from the rest of the world will have a delay of up to 40 minutes.

I salute these men and wish them the best of luck.

Can't wait to read the journal entries they start posting.