A year in a confined space: an experiment to simulate interplanetary flight has started

The emotions of the project participants will be monitored around the clock

A crew of six volunteers launched “to the Moon” from Moscow.

Five Russians and one representative of Belarus went on an annual mission an expedition under the long-term isolation program SIRIUS-2023, equivalent to a flight to the earth’s satellite or Mars. The flight, however, will take place at the ground-based experimental complex (GEC) of the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences on Khoroshevskoye Highway. The MK correspondent saw off the crew.

Crew of the annual experiment SIRIUS-23 Photo: Natalya Vedeneeva

For 365 days they will not be able to hug their loved ones, enjoy the Sun, or listen to the rustling of leaves. Only the residential cabins of the “spaceship” Yes, cold «space» overboard.

Spatial and social isolation lasting 365 days – this is what IBMP scientists have been striving for since 2017, the year the multi-stage SIRIUS project was launched.

Then, six years ago, there was a test 17-day flight, then, in 2019 – 4 months, in 2021 – 8 months and finally, – annual.

The goal, as in all previous ones, – test volunteers, two absolutely healthy guys and four girls, in an environment with constant, ideal temperature, humidity, lighting, and in constant company. That is, in an atmosphere very reminiscent of life on a space station. Of course, there will be no overloads during takeoff. and “landing”, there will be no weightlessness, but everything else, including an emergency on board, rest assured, the organizers will provide them with it. After all, the main goal of the “interplanetary expedition” is is to study the mechanisms of adaptation of the human body to the conditions of annual isolation in a hermetic facility with an artificial habitat that simulates a manned space flight.

The team, which passed a special selection system, included: a production automation specialist, an employee of the Cosmonaut Training Center named after. Yu.A. Gagarin Yuri Chebotarev (crew commander), Khabarovsk Airlines pilot Anzhelika Parfenova, allergist Ksenia Orlova (she is also a representative of the “space” state of Asgardia), junior researcher at the Institute of Physical-Organic Chemistry of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus Olga Mastitskaya (she became the first representative of Belarus in similar experiments), junior researcher at IBMP Ksenia Shishenina and doctor from IBMP Rustam Zaripov. 

Before entering the NEK< /span>Photo: Natalia Vedeneeva

How did it happen that there were more representatives of the fair sex in the crew? “Not on purpose, – testers shared with us, – These are just the results of the selection.” The girls promised not to “pressure” most men and cope with all the tasks assigned to them. 

According to the scenario, the crew will have to fly to the Moon, dock with the lunar orbital station, work in lunar orbit, five landings of crew members to carry out operations on the surface of the satellite and return to Earth.

But in between the active actions of the «earthlings» waiting for long monotonous months of staying in a closed hermetic volume, away from relatives. Add to this also limited resources: food, water, clothing, technical consumables, designed strictly for 365 days. That is, sitting in front of the refrigerator at night and feeling homesick will not work… In addition, for the first time, everyone will be “monitored” day and night. the eye of «Big Brother», that is, the psychologists of the experiment. No, personal cabins and a bathroom are free from surveillance, but in all other places video cameras will vigilantly peer into the faces of the experiment participants. 

– We have observed the emotions of testers before, – says «MK» one of the leaders of the experiment, a specialist in the field of extreme physiology and space medicine, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Viktor Baranov. – But these were separate sessions. Now we will film the guys constantly, and the data from modern cameras will go to the computer and be processed using a neural network. A slightly furrowed brow or a facial wrinkle around the mouth caused by a barely noticeable smile can no longer be hidden from artificial intelligence.

In general, among the 52 experiments of the year-long expedition, psychological ones occupy the majority –  There are 18 of them. In addition to personal and intergroup relationships, psychological stability when performing important types of work, IBMP specialists were the first to introduce an experiment called “Cosmonaut Interview”. 

Crew commander Yuri Chebotarev before entering the “spaceship.” Photo: Natalya Vedeneeva

According to Academician Baranov, in the future it is planned to be carried out with the help of artificial intelligence — during a long flight he will always be ready to have a heart-to-heart chat with a crew member, and select music according to his mood. Now, during the flight “to the Moon”, crew members will be interviewed individually using a special program, which includes questions in advance. 

 – For the first time in the experiment, a robotic manipulator will appear to work on surface of the Moon, – Executive director and chairman of the organizing committee of the experiment, Sergei Ponomarev, told me. – It is important for us how isolation affects the camera abilities of people in orbit and on the surface of the Moon.

Before the team members stepped through the hermetic environment hatch, the Belarusian participant “arrived” souvenir – one of the journalists, apparently one of her compatriots, gave her the talisman – a small doll in national costume. Let's hope that it will bring good luck to the whole team.