The European Space Agency has issued formal request to recruit volunteers for a simulated 520-day manned Mars mission, that is scheduled to begin in the year 2010. The proposed experiment is designed to evaluate the psychological and medical impacts of long duration space missions.

The volunteers will be living working in a sealed facility in Russia, that has been configured to replicate the Martian landscape and environment. The volunteer program is open to European residents only and the experiment will include a 30 day living project on the replicated Martian surface.

The experiment is being jointly conducted by the European Space Agency (ESA) Russia’s Institute of Biomedical Problems (IBMP) as part of the Mars 500 program. The Mars 500 program is aimed at determining the various effects and implications of a sustained and isolated long duration space mission, and the data gathered from the experiment is expected to help the ESA in preparing for a manned Mars mission in the future. The volunteer project requires four candidates, two as primary and two as back-ups and the will be given four months of intensive training.

The experiment that will take place in a remote and sealed facility of the IBMP, Russia, will involve a 250 day flight to Mars, 30 days of stay on the Martian surface and the 240 day return trip to earth. The pre-requisites for the volunteers is a very stringent one, where the candidates are required to be in good health and should not be taller than 185 cms. Furthermore, all the candidates should have a professional experience in the field of medicine, biology, life support systems engineering, computer engineering, electronic engineering or mechanical engineering.

Only European candidates from ESA Member States including Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Norway, The Netherlands, Sweden and Canada are allowed to take part in the project.

Via PhysOrg. & European Space Agency.