Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Mars on 120 Euros a Day

The European Space Agency, in a cooperative program with Russia, is looking for six volunteers to spend up to 17 months away from the world. The "crew" will live in a closed-off habitat simulating a spacecraft traveling to Mars. Their only contact with Earth will be by radio - and, as on Mars, it will take 40 minutes to get an answer back from Earth. The goal is to get a better understanding of the group dynamics likely to develop in the cramped conditions of a long, stressful mission. The crew will have tasks to perform which will simulate, as closely as possible, with the exception of Earth gravity, the work involved in sending humans to Mars. Simulated emergencies will be thrown in. The crew, in short, will definitely have earned their daily stipend of 120 Euros by the time the mission is over.
So if you are a healthy European man or woman with a working knowledge of Russian and nothing to do for this next couple of years, this might be your opportunity to contribute to space exploration.

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