SCIENTISTS are preparing the ultimate Big Brother experiment - a simulated mission to Mars lasting 18 months.
Six volunteers will be locked in a cramped mock spaceship for 500 days.
They will face "all kinds of scenarios" including touchdown and walking on the surface. Talking to "ground control" will take between 20 and 40 minutes.
It will take place at a facility in Moscow.
The
European Space Agency, which will start recruiting in June, wants to see what kinds of stresses astronauts would face on a real mission.
ESA's Marc Heppener said the concept could be compared to reality shows such as Big Brother: "It is fair to look at it that way.
"But we will do a serious experiment. It is the only way we can prepare for a really long flight."
Mirror
