The first full-scale simulated manned Mars exploration experiment has been officially launched

Xinhua Moscow, June 3 At 13:50 Moscow time on the 3rd, as the last door of the "Mars-500" test module slowly closed, six volunteers from China, Russia, France and Italy officially embarked on a 520-day "journey to Mars", opening the curtain of mankind's first comprehensive simulation of manned Mars exploration test.

The MarS-500 experiment, jointly conducted by the Russian Federal Space Agency, the Russian Academy of Sciences and the European Space Agency, aims to understand the possible psychological and physiological states of astronauts during future trips to Mars and accumulate experience for manned Mars exploration. The test is the third phase of the MarS-500 simulation test, which will last 520 days, given that it takes nearly 500 days for the spacecraft to launch, fly to Mars, land on Mars and return to Earth. During this period, the six volunteers will eat and live in space, and experience the whole process of flying to Mars, landing on Mars and returning to Earth.

Before the entry ceremony, the Russian Space Agency announced the crew list, in addition to the Chinese volunteer, China astronaut Research and training Center astronaut instructor Wang Yue, The other five volunteers were Alexei Sichev (commander) of Russia, Sukhlob Komorov, Alexander Smolyevsky, Romain Charles of France, and Diego Urbina of Italy. Wang Yue is a load specialist on the crew.