NASA Astronauts Prepare For Mission To Mars By Spending Year Living In Simulated Colony On Venus – The Onion

GOEPPERT-MAYER CRATER, VENUSSaying the team would return with invaluable knowledge about whats needed to survive in a hostile environment, NASA astronauts reportedly began preparing for a mission to Mars by spending a year living in a simulated colony on Venus. While it may not exactly mimic the planetary conditions astronauts might eventually face, Venuss 820 degrees Celsius days and unbreathable atmosphere of sulfur actually reasonably represent what they might encounter on a real-life mission to Mars, said NASA administrator Bill Nelson of the training mission before admitting that the experience of living 110 million miles away from their families on Venus could never match the psychological strain of being 138 million away on an actual Martian mission. Despite just being a simulation, its actually quite intense. Weve already seen one participant have to leave the mission due to the physical strain of having his skull crushed by gravity 90 times Earths surface. Thatand the challenges of growing their own food on a planet thats in a continual molten state without immediately catching fire themselvesmake this a small step on the path to taking another giant leap forward for mankind. NASA added that this simulation came after a training mission to Proxima Centauri 4.24 light years away failed to produce interesting results and the participants simply returned home.

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NASA Astronauts Prepare For Mission To Mars By Spending Year Living In Simulated Colony On Venus - The Onion