TBU press conference on 30th March 2009, Prague, on cooperation with the QED Group a.s. on the Czech participation in the Mars-500 project. From the left: Tomáš Srb, Jaroslav Sýkora, Pavel Toufar, Vladimír Mrkvička and Jan Malý.
(Photo - Roman Všetečka, iDNES)

Mars-500/105 crew on 31st March 2009 before the launch of the experiment. From the left: Artem’ev, Fournier, above him Baranov, next Shpakov, Knickel and above him the expedition commander Ryazanskii before entering the EU-250 module.
(Photo - credits: ESA - S. Corvaja)

Mars-500/105 crew on 31st March 2009 before the launch of the experiment. From the left: Ryazanskii, Baranov, Shpakov, Fournier, Knickel and Artem’ev in front of the EU-50 module.
(Photo - credits: ESA - S. Corvaja)

31st March 2009: The international six-member crew started their 105-day isolation. According to the ESA report: two ESA representatives (French and German) and four Russians entered the NEK experimental complex simulating an interplanetary spaceship today at 2pm Moscow time. The hatch into the EU-250 model was sealed for 105 days.

The crew consists of the commercial pilot Cyrille Fournier (40) from France, the army engineer Oliver Knickel (28) from Germany, and from Russia the astronauts Sergei Ryazanskii (34) and Oleg Artem’ev (37), the sports physiologist Aleksei Shpakov (25) and the physician Aleksei Baranov (33). The programme of the stay and research simulates the conditions of a long-term isolation during an interplanetary flight. For example, a delay is built into the radio communication with the control centre. The crew will be using the spaces of the habitable module EU-150, work module EU-250 and the medical and scientific module EU-100. At this stage the landing module EU-50 will not be used, nor the model of the Martian surface, which are prepared for the next crew of six, who will take part in the main 520-day experiment, which is planned to start in December 2009. The main emphasis of the scientific research is on various psychological and physiological aspects of long-term isolation, for example on the stress, hormonal balance and regulation, immunity, quality of sleep, and the influence of nutritional supplements.

"The crew of the simulated flight to Mars will face enormous challenges, including dealing with limited space, in which the crewmembers will see the same faces in the course of one and half year,” explains Martin Zell, the Head of the ESA ISS Utilisation Department, who also said that “it is very important to study and get to understand the psychological and physiological effects of long-term isolation in order to enable the preparation of the future space crews and to obtain the necessary information for designing the future interplanetary spaceship."

It is also desirable to find the mechanisms to support the psychological comfort of the crew by optimal nutrition, to ensure the appropriate conditions for a long-term influence of artificial lightning, and it is also necessary to prepare suitable medical measures and to test the cooperation with the control centre.

The current initial 105-day experiment is an important prelude to the complete simulation of the flight to Mars which will take 520 days. The ESA managerial stuff responsible for human spaceflights consider the whole Mars-500 experiment a significant part of the prepared human spaceflights not only to Mars, but also to the Moon. It is expected that the experience gained will be also used in near future, when the full operational use of the International Space Station (ISS) is planned, by manning it with a six-member crew so that the financial resources necessary for the considered prolonging of the station’s longevity can be optimized and minimized.

The results of the Mars-500 experiment should also contribute to intensifying the activities leading to the preparation of new human spaceflights within the framework of the considered global strategy for ESA’s cooperation with other world space agencies.

It is possible to follow regular updates of the ESA crewmembers’ diaries on website: http://www.esa.int/mars500

Especially for journalists there is a possibility to obtain more information at:

Jennifer Ngo-Anh
ESA Mars500 Programme Manager
Phone: +31 71 565 8609
E-mail: Mars500@esa.int

Markus Bauer Markus Bauer
ESA Communication Officer for the Directorate of Human Spaceflight
Communications and Knowledge Departmentí
Phone: + 31 71 565 6799
E-mail: Markus.Bauer@esa.int

30th March 2009: Tomas Bata University in Zlín prepared in the Josef hotel in Prague a press-conference on the eve of the launch of the first stage of the Mars-500 experiment to introduce the Czech participation in the project. The speakers at the press-conference were Ing. Vladimír Mrkvička, PhD., Vice-Dean of the TBU Faculty of Technology, PhDr. Jaroslav Sýkora, full member of the International Astronautic Federation and the main coordinator of the Czech scientific participation representing TBU, Mgr. Tomáš Srb, the project manager from the company QED GROUP a.s. based in Prague, and Mgr. Jan Malý from the TBU press department. The guest at the press-conference was the astronaut Ing. Oldřich Pelčák.

23rd March 2009: The ESA website published the notes form the diaries of Olivera Knickela and Cyrilla Fourniera, the European members of the Mars 500/105 crew, from the last days before the launch of the experiment.

19th March 2009: Testing of the connection between the Mars-500 complex (NEK) and the control centre was carried out.

5th March 2009: ESA Agency informed that the 105-day experiment of the Mars-500 project will be launched on 31st March 2009. On 30th and 31st March 2009, the crewmembers will be ready to answer journalists’ questions, alongside experts conducting the experiment on behalf of IMBP and ESA. The ESA Agency also informed about the possibility of accreditation that can be applied for by 10th March 2009 on a special application form available from ESA Headquarters Media Relations Office at this address.

1st March 2009: of the Czech team, Mgr. Tomáš Srb and Bc. Cyril Höschl (see 22. 2. 2009) from the QED GROUP company, which is the author and owner of the method of Socio-mapping used in the Czech part of the experiment of Tomas Bata University in Zlín, returned from Moscow, where they introduced the Mars-500/105 crew to the work on the Czech experiment.

26th February 2009: The crew for the initial 105-day experiment of the Mars 500 programme was appointed (Roskosmos, 26. 2. 2009). From Russia: the astronaut Oleg Artem’ev, the astronaut Sergei Ryazanskii, the physician Aleksei Baranov and the sports physiologist Aleksei Shpakov. From ESA: the commercial pilot Cyrille Fournier (France) and the army engineer Oliver Knickel (Germany). According to the IBMP speaker, Mark Belakovski, each of the experiment participants will receive 15,500 Euro (20,000 USD).
http://www.federalspace.ru/NewsDoSele.asp?NEWSID=5529
http://www.imbp.ru/WebPages/WIN1251/News/News_st03.html

22nd February 2009: Two members of the Czech scientific team left for IMBP in Moscow: the psychologist Mgr. Tomáš Srb (Principal Investigator), who is in charge of the Czech part of the project of Tomas Bata University in Zlín (TBU) and its research part, and Bc. Cyril Höschl (SW developer), who ensures the full technical solution of the Czech part of the project. Their mission was to train the crew for of the initial 105-day experiment in working with the Czech device and to familiarize them with the methodology of the research work. Both Czech experts are from the company QED GROUP, which ensures the expertise in the TBU project and is the author and owner of the method of socio-mapping, used in the Czech experiment.