

Men emerge from Mars experiment - theklub
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8150385.stm

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Femur
I wonder why no women were involved in the experiment. Will we not be sending
women on the first mission to mars? Also, I would imagine that regular sexual
activity would make for a more placid social environment.

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scott_s
You would need to have couples in a long-term committed relationship, and
everyone would need a partner. I think anything less than that would lead to
problems.

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dc2k08
One of the sexes would need to be made infertile also.

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marcusbooster
I'd guess the answer to the isolation problem is increased reliance on virtual
worlds and online interaction. Though the lag might be dreadful when
communicating with the Earthlings.

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tokenadult
_the lag might be dreadful when communicating with the Earthlings_

That was an interesting aspect of the experiment. It's hard to phone a friend
when each exchange of the conversation takes twenty minutes each way

<http://athena.cornell.edu/kids/bn_special_report.html>

to travel to the other end of the conversation.

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TrevorJ
Asimov proposed that this problem be solved but both parties not waiting for a
response before continuing to talk. I can't remember what the name of the
short story this was a part of though, ring any bells with anyone?

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s3graham
I've worked with many people who talked this way.

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goodgoblin
500 days? Thats almost 2 years of your life given over to essentially a
useless experiment. What are they going to learn? People don't like cramped
conditions, but they can deal with it. Give them movies and books to read and
don't be a d*ck when you have to share some cramped space with people.

Are they going to cancel the mission to mars if it turns out people would
become extra-irritable?

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rbanffy
"Are they going to cancel the mission"

Unlikely, but they may consider postponing until a bigger spaceship is
available or trying other crew formulations.

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keltecp11
Or if they can put you into a 'sleep like' state...

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arundelo
Hats off to the volunteers. That's a lot to do and not even get to go to Mars.

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miguelpais
I don't see a reason for these useless and throwing life away experiences if
the purpose is just making the astronauts used to isolation. I kind of get it
if it's to study something psychological, but we have so many prisoners in
almost the same conditions...

After the moon, everything is just too far away to travel. We can study Mars
very well with the robot approach. We're just throwing astronauts life away
for our stupid need of putting Men in Mars, which I dare say is utterly
pointless.

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coderdude
Pointless? For all we know we will be the first species (anywhere in
existence) to go to another planet. The prospect of stepping foot on an
foreign planet blows my mind away. Before I get carried away, I'll just assume
you're flamebaiting.

