SocraticGadfly: The Russians are landing on Mars!

January 23, 2011

The Russians are landing on Mars!

Well,. it's not all Russians, and it's a simulation, but, a six-man crew will complete a 520-day "mission" Feb. 12. Darwin Day, as well as Lincoln's birthday. Nice timing.

Just a few problems with this, though.

While the story says communications were occasionally delayed to mimic actual spaceflight, it doesn't say how long. When Mars and Earth are in opposition, there's a 20-minute delay, one way.

And, this doesn't, because it ethically can't, test the effect of cosmic rays on humans. Or zero-gravity induced osteoporosis. Or many other things. At the minimum, before we send humans to Mars, we have to send test mammals of some sort into interplanetary space.

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