Latest Manned mission to Mars Stories

The Health Museum in Houston, Texas to be Site of Facing Mars' U.S. Premiere HOUSTON, May 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On May 30, 2009, the John P. McGovern Museum of Health & Medical Science, also called The Health Museum, will launch the U.S. premiere of Facing Mars. The exhibit features interactive stations that encourage visitors to "walk on Mars," test and launch rockets, "fly over" the Martian landscape and consider the implications humans face in their quest to reach the...

One week into their simulated Mars mission inside a special isolation facility in Moscow, the crew of six are reported to be in good spirits. ESA-selected crewmember Oliver Knickel sent the first diary entry since starting the 105-day stay for the Mars500 study.Oliver Knickel writes:After the excitement and stress of the weeks leading up to the start of the experiment, we were all happy and relieved after the hatch closed behind us on 31 March at 14:00 Moscow time. We first cleaned the whole...

Two European Space Agency and four Russian volunteers have embarked on a 105-day simulated mission to Mars to help prepare for such a real space trip. The crew of six entered a dedicated isolation facility Tuesday in Moscow at the Institute of Biomedical Problems. Accompanying ESA participants Oliver Knickel and Cyrille Fournier are four Russian crewmembers: cosmonauts Oleg Artemyez and Sergei Ryazansky, Dr. Alexei Baranov and sports physiologist Alexei Shpakov. While in the facility, the...

Earlier today, a crew of six, including two ESA-selected participants and four Russians, embarked on a simulated mission to Mars. Although they will not leave the confines of a dedicated isolation facility in Moscow for 105 days, their mission will help prepare for a real human mission to Mars in the future.At 12:00 CEST (14:00 local time), once all six crewmembers had entered the special habitat at the Institute of Biomedical Problems (IBMP), the hatch was firmly closed for the last time in...

A simulated manned mission to Mars, scheduled to start on Tuesday, will see six European and Russian volunteers locked up in a capsule in Moscow for over three months to simulate the conditions of a trip to the Red Planet, the AFP reported.The crew will spend 105 days at the facility until their "mission" ends, allowing scientists to assess the psychological effects of long duration space flight.The scientific experiment will show the impact of prolonged isolation on stress, hormones,...

On March 31, a crew of six, including a French pilot and a German engineer, will embark on a 105-day simulated Mars mission. They will enter a special facility at the Institute of Biomedical Problems (IBMP) in Moscow, to emerge only three months later.Their mission will help in understanding the psychological and medical aspects of long-duration spaceflight. Media representatives are invited to meet the participants just before they enter the isolation facility.Over two days, there will be...

ESA has announced the European prime and backup crewmembers for the 105-day Mars500 study. From March 31, 2009, two Europeans are set to join four Russian crewmembers on a simulated human mission to Mars.After a selection process which started with some 5600 applicants, the final four European candidates began training for the Mars mission simulation last month. From these four candidates, ESA has now selected the two who are assigned as prime crewmember and the two who will act as their...

The final four Europeans who are set to take part in a 105-day simulated Mars mission were presented to the media in Paris today. From March next year, two of the group will join four Russian participants inside an isolation facility in Moscow.A selection process which started with 5600 applicants has now been finalized with the presentation today of the final four participants at ESA's Headquarters in Paris, France."These four men are highly motivated individuals," says Jennifer Ngo-Anh,...

China and Russia have plans to send two satellite probes to Mars and one of its moons in October 2009, according to a Shanghai Space Administration official.Chen Changya, who is also deputy designer-in-chief of China's Mars rover, reported plans on Wednesday at an aerospace exhibition in Shanghai.China intends to send a small spacecraft called Yinghuo-1 into orbit by August 2010. Yinghuo-1 will collect scientific data using two cameras while in orbit. It will constantly transmit data back to...

By Josh McAuliffe, The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa. Jul. 22--It's funny where life takes you. One minute, you're 20 years old and scrambling to get that first post-collegiate job. The next, you're poring over mind-boggling astrophysics equations in hopes of sending a human being into outer space. Such was the start of Bob Blanchard's ongoing space odyssey. The South Scranton native has spent 49 of his 70 years as a research engineer for NASA, a career that began just as the U.S....