Mission to Mars: How Space Agencies are Preparing

Landing on Mars is the easy part—what's hard is spending the better part of a year getting there. Josh Dzieza on the grueling 256-day simulation astronauts are enduring.

Published Feb. 12 2011 4:11PM EST

articles/2011/02/12/mission-to-mars-how-space-agencies-are-preparing/dzieza-astronauts_159589_fhgskw — Members of the Mars500 crew wave before being locked inside the Mars500 isolation facility in Moscow on June 3, 2010. (Credit: Oleg Voloshin / IBMP)

On Monday, six men will emerge from a small metal tube, frail and exhausted, having become the first humans ever to endure the grueling, sanity-testing, seemingly endless journey to Mars.

But for all their trouble, they'll reap none of the glory most astronauts get.

Josh Dzieza

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Mission to Mars: How Space Agencies are Preparing

Landing on Mars is the easy part—what's hard is spending the better part of a year getting there. Josh Dzieza on the grueling 256-day simulation astronauts are enduring.

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Josh Dzieza