Simulating a voyage to Mars, under lockdown

The World

Can you imagine being stuck inside a small, sealed room under constant surveillance? Would you be able to endure being locked away with a few other people with no way out for months at a time? It’s not a prison sentence, it’s part of a new experiment to simulate the deprivation that astronauts would experience on a voyage to Mars.

Today, six men will be sealed inside a pod for eighteen months at the Institute for Biomedical Problems in Moscow. Researchers will monitor them physically and psychologically to see how humans will react to a prolonged space journey. The BBC’s Richard Galpin was on the scene in Moscow and spoke with The Takeaway as the participants were about to enter the probe.

Are you with The World?

The story you just read is available to read for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, the reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.

When you make a gift of $10 or more a month, we’ll invite you to a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of our newsroom to thank you for being with The World.