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When you first think of the ideal candidates to make it through a gruelling 500+ day, 112 million km round trip to Mars, you don’t exactly picture an old and crotchety married couple, but apparently that’s just what’s needed. The Mars Project wants a “tested” couple that could stand being so damn close to each other for over a year in a tiny box; I can kind of see their point.
The strength of the couples’ bond will be severely tested, and the selection process will be quite gruelling, but the perfect couple will also be at least middle-aged. That’s primarily to do with the fact that they’re going to be bombarded with cosmic radiation, which will have less effect on the aged than the young and nubile.
The Mars500 project is looking to blast off in January 2018, because of the combined orbits of Mars and Earth put us in close-ish proximity at that point, although the round trip will still take over a year and a half. So, if you happen to be in your 40s or 50s and you and your better half fancy going to see Mars, maybe you should apply. Me, I’m happy with my feet firmly on Planet Earth until someone’s proven you’re not going to mutate into The Thing bathed in deep-space radiation. [BBC]
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Surely the fact this will be a one-way trip has something to do with them requiring an elderly couple… I would hope they choose at least one scientist too, otherwise there’s not much point to the whole thing IMHO.
It’s because being in space for that long without adequate protection from radiation will increase your likelihood of getting cancer later in your life.
This means that the older you are the less of an effect this will have up until a point where there is no effect at all.
Who said it was a one way trip?
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1302/27tito/
This one’s not being billed as a one-way trip as they won’t actually land on Mars.
Even if they did land the chances are they’d not come back, given the available windows for leaving Mars to return to Earth*
*based on something I half remember seeing on a Brian Cox documentary
I spoke to my wife about going for this but she’s not up for it
Were you planning on going with her or not?
I suggested with her
This is a genius excuse to bring the British average age back down. Stick itv3 on in a spaceship, and off they go.
“Mummy, where’s Nan?”
“She went off to a better place darling. …Mars.”
Guess this will take the mile high cluib to a whole new level…
club*
What if one of them goes crazy and kills their partner! HOPEFULLY that shouldn’t happen but you never know, one of them might go cuckoo crazy in space!