NASA looking for people to spend a year pretending they live on Mars
NASA is looking for applicants to spend a year pretending they are isolated on Mars.
The space agency wants people to apply so that it can prepare for eventually sending astronauts to the red planet.
Applications opened on Friday for four people to live for a year in Mars Dune Alpha.
An image taken by China’s Zhurong rover
The 1,700-square-foot Martian habitat, created by a 3D-printer, is based inside a building at Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas.
There will be no windows, and the applicants will consume ready-to-eat space food.
The paid volunteers work a simulated Martian exploration mission which includes spacewalks, limited communications back home, restricted food and resources and equipment failures.
Three of these experiments are being planned by NASA, with the first one starting in the autumn in 2022.
Lead scientist Grace Douglas said: “We want to understand how humans perform in them. We are looking at Mars realistic situations.”
Applicants have to hold a master’s degree in science, engineering or maths, or have pilot experience.
The agency also says only American citizens or permanent US residents are eligible for the experiment, which echoes 2015 film The Martian, starring Matt Damon.
They have to be aged between 30 and 55 and in good physical health, with no dietary issues and not prone to motion sickness.
Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield says it shows NASA is looking for people who are close to astronauts, which would make it a better experiment if the participants are more similar to the people who will really go to the planet.
He said previous Russian efforts at a pretend mission called Mars 500 did not end well, partly because the people were too much like everyday people.
Mr Hadfield spent five months in orbit in 2013 at the International Space Station, where he played guitar and sang a cover video of David Bowie’s hit Space Oddity.
He said: “Just think how much you’re going to be able to catch up on Netflix. If they have a musical instrument there, you could go into there knowing nothing and come out a concert musician, if you want.”
The experience could involve “incredible freedom” in a “year away from the demands of your normal life”, he added.
Meanwhile, NASA’s newest Mars rover, called Perseverance, failed in its first attempt to pick up a rock sample to eventually be brought back to Earth.
The machine drilled into the floor of the planet’s Jezero Crater to extract a finger-sized sample from slabs of flat rocks.
Although the drill seemed to work as intended, no rock appeared to have ended up in the sample tube.
Vladimir Putin told Donald Trump he “will not back down” from Russia’s goals in Ukraine during a phone call today, the Kremlin has said.
The Russian president spoke to his US counterpart for almost an hour, and Mr Trump “again raised the issue of an early end to military action” in Ukraine, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
In response, Mr Putin said “Russia will not back down” from its aims there, which include “the elimination of the well-known root causes that led to the current state of affairs,” Mr Ushakov said.
The phrase “root causes” is shorthand for Moscow’s argument that it was compelled to invade Ukraine in order to prevent the country from joining NATO.
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Trump and Putin’s latest call on Ukraine
Ukraine and its European allies say this is a pretext to justify what they call an imperial-style war, but Mr Trump has previously shown sympathy with Russia.
At the same time, Mr Putin told the US president that Russia is ready to continue negotiating, the aide said.
The Russian president said any prospective peace deal must see Ukraine give up its NATO bid and recognise his country’s territorial gains.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, seen with Mr Trump in June, is pushing for Ukraine to join NATO. Pic: Reuters
He also briefed Mr Trump on agreements made last month, which saw Russia and Ukraine exchange prisoners of war and dead soldiers.
Specific dates for the third round of peace talks in Istanbul were not discussed – nor was the US decision to halt some shipments of critical weapons to Ukraine.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump’s call came after the Pentagon confirmed some weapons due to be sent to Ukraine have been held as it reviews military stockpiles.
The paused shipments include air defence missiles and precision-guided artillery, two people familiar with the situation have said.
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The decision led to Ukraine calling in the acting US envoy to Kyiv on Wednesday to underline the importance of military aid from Washington.
Kyiv also cautioned that the move would weaken Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against intensifying Russian airstrikes and battlefield advances.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump’s phone call was the sixth they have publicly disclosed since the US president returned to the White House in January.
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