ESA - ROSCOSMOS Mars500 Mission patch.
25.02.2011
On Feb 22, two of the so-called Marsonauts taking part in a 500-day Mars flight simulation experiment in Moscow have returned to their landing craft after spacewalking the conventional Martian surface for less than an hour to collect rock samples.
First Mars500 Marswalk raw video
The first 'Marswalk' by Diego Urbina and Alexandr Smoleevskiy on 14 February started at 13:00 Moscow time and lasted one hour and 12 minutes.
Alexander Smoleyevsky of Russia and Diego Urbina of Italy rehearsed an emergency situation, The Voice of Russia reports. Urbina stumbled over and dropped the bag with the samples.
Mars500 complex situation
A launch module carrying three members of the Mars-500 experiment who recently “landed” on the Red Planet has successfully docked with the interplanetary expedition complex, The Voice of Russia.
Upon their return from the simulated Martian terrain, volunteers Alexander Smoleyevsky, Diego Urbina and Wang Yue will stay in quarantine for the next few days.
Fist "Marswalk"
Carried out at the Moscow Institute for Medical and Biological Problems (IMBP) and due to end by November 2011, the virtual flight includes three stages. These are: a 250-day “flight” from Earth to Mars, a 30- day “stay” on the Red Planet, and a 240-day “flight” home. On February 27, the crew will set out on the return journey.
Launched last June at the Moscow Institute of Medico-Biological Problems, the Mars 500 experiment will provide data needed to prepare a real-life interplanetary flight.
Images, Video, Text, Credits: ROSCOSMOS / ESA.
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