[imagesource: NASA]

Anyone who has lived with roommates that they didn’t choose can probably attest to the problems that arise when sharing a small space with relative strangers.

Now, imagine that leaving the house wasn’t an option.

Okay, sorry, that’s a little close to home right now, when most of us can’t leave the house except to shop and exercise for a measly three hours a day.

Anyway, the long and short of it is that human beings trapped in a very small space together are likely to butt heads at some point.

This was my first thought when coming across NASA’s latest experiment in preparation for an eventual trip to Mars, per BGR.

It’ll be a long trip, and one of the big question marks is just how well humans will deal with being locked in a cramped spacecraft for months on end.

To that end, NASA wants to hire a handful of suitable humans to spend a whopping eight months cooped up in a tiny mock spacecraft.

Crew members will be expected to stay inside the tiny spacecraft for eight months so that scientists can study the effects of extended confinement on the human body.

If you’re asking yourself why they didn’t just contact the folks on the International Space Station to find out what it’s like, they have their reasons.

The International Space Station is probably larger than you think.

With several modules and areas for recreation, downtime, and of course science, there’s plenty to do when you’re sent to the ISS. The first travelers that venture to Mars will experience something entirely different. They won’t be locked in their seats for eight months but they most certainly won’t have the kind of freedom that ISS astronauts enjoy.

If you have American citizenship, then you’re one step closer to participating in the study. Apart from that, here are the requirements:

[Participants should be] 30-55 years old and proficient in both Russian and English languages. Requirements are: M.S., PhD., M.D. or completion of military officer training. Participants with a Bachelor’s degree and other certain qualifications (e.g., relevant additional education, military, or professional experience) may be acceptable candidates as well.

That should weed out the chancers.

If you don’t qualify (most of us don’t), console yourself by trying your hand at docking a SpaceX rocket.

NASA hasn’t released exactly what the participants will be paid yet, but it seems to differ depending on whether or not you work for them.

This isn’t the first time that a small group of people have been locked in a Mars simulation. In 2015, VICE reported on an experiment in Moscow where six test subjects were locked in a module for 520 days to test the effects of isolation on small group dynamics and individual psychology.

What did they do to pass the time? They mostly watched movies, played video games, read, and generally tried to keep their spirits up.

Surprisingly, the group came out of it okay.

It also sounds a lot like daily life in lockdown.

Maybe we’re all inadvertently training for a mission to Mars.

[source:vice&bgr]