Participants in the Mars-500 simulation of a manned mission to the Red Planet will perform on Saturday "a landing" on the surface of the planet, the organizers of the experiment said.
"The simulated landing has been scheduled for noon Moscow time [15.00 GMT]," a spokesman for the Moscow Institute of Medical and Biological Problems said on Friday.
The institute started the 520-day experiment on June 3 last year. The project simulates almost all aspects of a journey to the Red Planet, with a 250-day outward trip, a 30-day "stay" on its surface, and a 240-day return flight.
The "spacecraft's" crew, led by 38-year-old engineer Alexei Sitev, also includes Russian surgeon Sukhrob Kamolov, 32, and Russian general practitioner Alexander Smolevsky, 33. Foreign participants in the project are Italian Diego Urbina, 27, China's Wang Yue, 27, and 31-year-old Roman Charles from France.
Smolevsky, Urbina and Wang Yue will land to reconnoiter the surface and perform three exploratory walks primarily in search for water. They will also practice actions in emergency situations, including a sand storm and a meteor shower.
Sitev, Kamolov and Charles will monitor the operations from the "orbit."
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MOSCOW, February 12 (RIA Novosti)
