Moscow - Six volunteers embarked on a 105-day simulated trip to Mars on Tuesday to test how humans would cope with the long periods of isolation.
The male crew of four Russians, one German and a Frenchman smiled and waved to cameras before sealing themselves in the maze of cramped compartments in an imitation spaceship at a Russian research institute.
A padlock was hung on the giant metal hatch of the warren, focus of a joint project run by Russia's space agency Roskosmos and the European Space Agency.
"To tell you the truth, I am pretty happy with my crew," Russian crew commander Sergei Ryazansky told a news conference held at Moscow's Institute of Medical and Biological Problems.
"I believe this team should have no psychological problems," said the 34-year-old scientist who is a trained cosmonaut.
"I also want this mission to be at least a little bit like a real space flight which all of us are craving."
Reaching Mars on current space ships would take at least 500 days, subject astronauts to massive doses of radiation and cost tens of billions of dollars. Russian officials say the earliest such flight could be expected in 2030.
The experiment, part of the Mars-500 experiment, is aimed at testing how humans deal with the psychological and physical effects of long periods in closed quarters.
The crew will face specially designed emergencies and problems such as delays of as much as 20 minutes in communication with flight control as the radio signal travels the enormous distance to Earth and back.
The crew members will be closely monitored to assess the impact of isolation on stress levels, hormone regulation and sleep. A 520-day simulated experiment is scheduled to start later this year. - Reuters