Institute for Medical and Biological Problems
These astronauts' mission to Mars took place in a parking lot.
A simulated Mars exploration mission located in a Moscow parking lot has garnered a British DAFTA award for one of the most daft news items of 2011.
Taking home the prize in the Weird Science category, the Mars-500 simulation exercise was organized by the Moscow-based Institute for Medical and Biological Problems in co-operation with the European Space Agency.
Standing in for the Mars spacecraft — a bus-sized shipping container lined with wood panelling. Six volunteer astronauts were paid about $100,000 apiece for spending 18 months inside the container, where they ate space food, played video games such as Counter-Strike and conducted experiments.
Long-distance communication with Earth was simulated by deliberately delaying messages from the home planet as they approached Mars.
The astronauts emerged on to the parking lot only once during the mission, wearing spacesuits and picking their way across a strategic coating of red sand designed to simulate a Mars landing.
