I thought about putting this in the Science & Technology forum but after factoring in the sacrifice and sheer mental endurance I felt it deserved a broader audience. I didn't know about the experiment's existence until today.
Fascinating would be an understatement, in my opinion. Anyway, see for yourselves:
Simulated Mars Mission - BBC
Fascinating would be an understatement, in my opinion. Anyway, see for yourselves:
Six men locked away in steel tubes for a year-and-a-half to simulate a mission to Mars have emerged from isolation.
The Mars500 project, undertaken at a Moscow institute, was intended to find out how the human mind and body would cope on a long-duration spaceflight.
It is a venture that has fascinated all who have followed it around the globe.
The study even saw three of the men carry out a pretend landing on Mars, donning real spacesuits and walking across an enclosed sandy yard.
The crew has comprised a trio of Russians (Alexey Sitev, Alexandr Smoleevskiy and Sukhrob Kamolov), two Europeans (Romain Charles and Diego Urbina), and a Chinese national, Wang Yue.
Simulated Mars Mission - BBC