A green thumb and a little flair as a gourmet chef may be among the key skills for the first men and women who travel to the Red Planet later this century.

Now that the Mars500 crew has been united, when the Marswalkers, 'returned' from the surface of the Red Planet to join the 'orbital' trio, Diego has again had time to send his thoughts.

Astronauts participating in a simulated space mission to Mars made a second walk on the imitation surface of the Red Planet in Russia on Friday.

On Saturday a group of volunteers will reach a stage in their one-and-a-half year experiment to study the effects of a mission to Mars when they "land" on the Red Planet's surface.

The Mars500 mission director said on Friday that six researchers on a 520-day mock flight to Mars are all feeling ready to "land" on the Red Planet after 233 days in a locked steel capsule.