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Six Astronauts Are Tested to the Limit 对 6 名宇航员的极限考验

Have you ever been on a long-haul flight? How did you pass the time? Perhaps you watched an in-flight movie or read a book.

Well it would have to be a very long book to keep you amused for 520 days. That's how long six men are going to be sealed away from humanity in a warehouse in the suburbs of Moscow from tomorrow.

No, this isn't another weird reality TV show, but an experiment from the European Space Agency and Russia's Institute of Biomedical Problems to test the psychological impact of a manned mission to Mars.

The six astronauts will live in conditions approximating a real space mission. A 550-cubic-metre mock-up within the warehouse includes an interplanetary spaceship, a Mars lander and a Martian landscape.

The group of six - which includes one Chinese astronaut, Wang Yue - will work, relax and sleep in eight-hour shifts, take two days off a week and shower once every ten days.

All communication with mission control will be subject to a twenty-minute delay to reproduce the effects of distance.

After 250 days, the astronauts will divide into two groups. Three will move to the Martian surface simulator for a month while the rest will remain 'in orbit'. Then the six will be reunited for a 240-day return journey to... well, the outside world.

Throughout, the organisers of the project will use cameras to monitor everything that happens 'on board'. They will gather new information about personal stress levels, emotional well-being and group dynamics.

Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, a scientist with the satellite manufacturer EADS Astrium, believes that the experiment will be extremely valuable. However, she points out that without the glory of being the first humans to visit the Red Planet, it could be hard for these pioneers to maintain motivation.

"It's far less likely this would be a problem if you really were going to Mars", she says. "But the danger is that because you know you're really in a hangar in Moscow, you start thinking: 'I can't be bothered'."

Glossary 词汇表

long-haul flight 长途飞行 

pass the time 打发时间，消磨时间 

sealed away from humanity 与人类隔离 

weird 奇怪的 

psychological impact 心理冲击 

manned 载人的 

approximating 接近 

mock-up 实物复制品 

interplanetary 行星之间的 

lander 着陆舱 

Martian 火星的 

shifts 轮班 

mission control 指挥中心 

be subject to 受限制 

simulator 模拟器 

in orbit 在轨道内 

emotional well-being 精神、情感健康 

group dynamics 团体动态 

pioneers 先驱者 

hangar 飞机棚