Astronauts Start 520-Day Mars Test

[illiterate]

Makes me wonder which gender will be able to put up with each other for longer. A group of men in a confined space, or a group of women?

That's actually not a bad idea. Given a supply of birth control pills (to smooth out the hormones, obviously), women might do better in a test like this. Women have spikier aggression cycles than men, but they don't happen as often. Men have the aggro all the time.

I hope they're taking some video games. This could be the best LAN party EVAR!!

Online gaming isn't an option because of lag, but I assume data xmit rates aren't terrible? I'm wondering if the actual mars mission will be able to get new entertainment software, movies, music, etc? Entertainment is a reasonable hedge against ennui.

Or they could just bring the Bard's Tale series. That will take 500 days.


[edit: Has anyone thought of making a reality show of this? Discovery seems to be having no problems finding viewers for "Deadliest Lobster Wars" or whatnot]

 

[The Cheezy One]

I find nothing sexist about this, at all. That's a year and a half worth of tampons they'd have to load up on the ship, and quite frankly that space could be used for more important things. Like porno mags for the guys.

i thought you were actually eing serious for a second there, until you said about the mags. that much hi-tech equipment, im sure they could get some videos on there
until they press the wrong button and their weekly status response is two girls, one cup

 

[SilentHunter7]

The experiment has come under criticism however, for its male-only crew: "The absence of women in Mars-500 Project yet again proves the presence of old-fashioned earthly gender stereotypes," said Mikhail Salkin of the Moscow Human Rights Protection Centre, who accused the experiment of being unfairly biased towards men.

I'm pretty sure any trips to Mars would have crews of a single gender, for pretty obvious reasons.

 

[oppp7]

I doubt I'd make a week. Good luck to them.

 

[Badazzninja]

Dude, of COURSE they didn't add any women! How long do you think it would take for everyone to lose their shit and start passing her around like a communal fleshlight?

But then again, that's sexist... they may end up doing that for the smallest guy in the group anyways.

 

[KaiusCormere]

It's already a year and a half of hoping no one goes insane, yes? Why add sexual tension to the mix as well? I assure you, it would be a harder to deal with situation with a mixed gender crew.

 

[linwolf]

The experiment has come under criticism however, for its male-only crew: "The absence of women in Mars-500 Project yet again proves the presence on old-fashioned earthly gender stereotypes," said Mikhail Salkin of the Moscow Human Rights Protection Centre, who accused the experiment of being unfairly biased towards men.

First of all, The Daily Mail? Shame on you, Nil...

Secondly...There's a very good reasons why its a male only crew. Men and women in the same space for a year and a half? Most marriages don't last that long.

Right, because it's impossible to think people who've trained for that long could, you know, act like professional adults for a whole year and a half.

You've got to remember though, that even if they'd all trained solidly for 30 years, they'd be fighting millions of years of evolution. People may whine a bit now that women get left out of the tests, but can you imagine both the political outcry and personal devestation if they put a token woman in and she got raped? Why risk it?

One would hope they would put the subjects through a serious battery of pyschological testing first. I don't care how horny the average man gets, he's simply not going to rape someone.

It has already been a problem on spacestations around earth. And it's not rape that is the problem it's romance and breakups.

 

[Quaxar]

520 days? Hah, what is that, like one game of Dungeons and Dragons?

 

[Alar]

As silly as this might sound, I think having the crew stick to one sex is probably a good idea.

Why? Because after a year or so with no sexual contact, you're going to start wanting it more and more. Like I said, silly, but base physical urges are powerful things. What if you're distracted by staring at another crew member's ass when you should be entering precise flight coordinates?

 

[Susan Arendt]

The experiment has come under criticism however, for its male-only crew: "The absence of women in Mars-500 Project yet again proves the presence on old-fashioned earthly gender stereotypes," said Mikhail Salkin of the Moscow Human Rights Protection Centre, who accused the experiment of being unfairly biased towards men.

First of all, The Daily Mail? Shame on you, Nil...

Secondly...There's a very good reasons why its a male only crew. Men and women in the same space for a year and a half? Most marriages don't last that long.

Right, because it's impossible to think people who've trained for that long could, you know, act like professional adults for a whole year and a half.

You've got to remember though, that even if they'd all trained solidly for 30 years, they'd be fighting millions of years of evolution. People may whine a bit now that women get left out of the tests, but can you imagine both the political outcry and personal devestation if they put a token woman in and she got raped? Why risk it?

One would hope they would put the subjects through a serious battery of pyschological testing first. I don't care how horny the average man gets, he's simply not going to rape someone.

It has already been a problem on spacestations around earth. And it's not rape that is the problem it's romance and breakups.

Yes, I understand that. I was responding specifically to someone who suggested that rape was inevitable.

 

[Captain Pirate]

Yaay Mars! Humanity's getting closer to colonising my favorite planet..

 

[Abedeus]

520 days? Hah, what is that, like one game of Dungeons and Dragons?

Wow. That's a great idea. Too bad it would be very hard to play in zero G settings, what with inability to throw dice at all... Guess a computer could do that for them.

Also, they will probably redo the experiment in the future, if there are no problems with people NOW.

 

[crimson5pheonix]

The only mistake here, they're cosmonauts, not astronauts. But good luck to 'em. Give them some vodka.

 

[Loonerinoes]

Really...it'd make more sense to have the crew female-only than male-only due to simple biological impulses. It's not about professionalism winning the day so much as it is simple min/maxing equations. Of course there is a problem with the fact that, even though certainly capable of it, I think not many women go out to become astronauts in the first place...so the test was also set up with potential logistical issues in mind when it came to the personnel available.

Still...we'll see how this goes...my prediction is that it'll have to be aborted, but...well, here's to hoping there are certain measures they took to minimize the odds of that happening.

 

[tavelkyosoba]

I already watched too many documentaries regarding long-term space flights to Mars. Also I know a male only regiment in one space shuttle or whatsoever is NOT a healthy thing to do.

It's preferable that one man can choose one woman they like or in the least their wives [ I don't know if it's feasible or not, but one love couple MARRIED shortly before a space flight and had a terrific time in space ] to ensure it's a smooth experience.

Either way, I suppose this is better than actually attempting a real space flight. But 502 days, goddamn. I already saw it on the news, their faces were somewhat excited and 'depressed'. But I bet they volunteered for it. Nevertheless, good luck!

That's exactly what I was thinking. I can't imagine spending more than a week with anyone but my wife...and I could easily spend 2 years locked up in our apartment with her.

I think these experiments go poorly because they take singles and hope for the best (OMG endless romantic drama) or take married people and separate them from their spouses (not AS bad, but still unnecessarily stressful and depressing.)

And as for an all women crew...worst idea ever. Women cannot stand other women. Can you imagine all the bitchy passive-aggressiveness that would ensue? It hurts my head.

 

[Loonerinoes]

And as for an all women crew...worst idea ever. Women cannot stand other women. Can you imagine all the bitchy passive-aggressiveness that would ensue? It hurts my head.

Fair enough, I guess that could happen also. Still...I'd say that's more prefferable than just full-out aggression.

How about all-out female lesbian astrOUCH!! *gets slapped* aight....I'll stop having my 'bright' ideas.

 

[Silk_Sk]

I, for one, am totally in favor of doing this experiment with an all women crew. 520 days with a man can would suck.

 

[samsonguy920]

Okay, now this may come across as sexist, but it's a possibility: If they DO take a woman on board, or multiple women, being locked up for over 500 days, there's always a chance they'll throw regulations out the window and, well..... being pregnant several million kilometres from the nearest hospital can never end well for anyone. Besides, this is just an early-stage experiment - adding members of the other gender can cause more tension than a monogendered crew would experience, let's see if being isolated for 520 days is at all possible before complicating the situation any further.

Well it's not like we see this whiner volunteering to be locked up in a space for 520 days with a woman.

god speed cosmonauts!

man that last statement irks me something fierce. >.<

Which part? I like cosmonaut. It's techy and yet fanciful.