So the ESA Mars500 project finished today, with six astronauts having endured 520 days of isolation, spaceship-like conditions and (judging by this pic) an interminable game of Rock Band. Dante could not have made this up.
The idea behind the project was simple: to examine how our species reacts to the kind of environment on Mars and during the lengthy return trip. Things look good so far.
Should humans go to Mars? A lot of smart people don't think so - most notably Stephen Weinberg: It'd cost zillions, is extremely risky, and it's likely robots could do just as good a job.
I love meaningless endeavour because, most likely, it's all we have. Let's hope people get there some day.
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