While NASA has announced in June that it is opening the International Space Station to tourists from 2020, wannabe astronauts may have to wait a while to visit Mars. One company, however, is making it possible for adventurers to experience life on the Red Planet now – without leaving Earth’s atmosphere.
The Astroland agency is offering thrill-seekers an underground expedition, located deep in a cave in the Canatabrian mountains in northern Spain, designed to simulate what it’s like to live in a human colony on the Red Planet.
The adventure involves spending three days and nights in the cave at the Ares Station, a “scientific Space Center that mirrors the harsh conditions” of Mars. But the experience starts even before that — with a three-week remote training program, and another three days of physical and psychological training, where participants learn how to carry out spacewalks and take part in natural buoyancy tests.
Inside the cave, the adventurers conduct “experiments” and test what human life would be like on Mars.
“The Martian environment is very hostile with low temperatures, strong winds and high levels of solar radiation, which means the most suitable way of maintaining human life is… under the Martian surface,” Astroland CEO, David Ceballos, told the Telegraph. “These Cantabrian caves are the perfect location for similar conditions for these trials.”
The 164-feet high, 3,900-feet long Ares Station is equipped with research laboratories, made-to-measure astronaut suits, technical clothing for various missions, life capsules, hydroponics lab, autonomous power and water production systems, 3D printers, kitchen, leisure areas, gym, survival kits, food supplies specifically adapted for each crew member, robot explorer, meters, and sensors.
It has “everything necessary to test all the technologies and human performance capabilities needed for 10 people to live on Mars,” according to Astroland’s website.
Interested Mars explorers can book the experience through TripAdvisor, and the experience costs around $6,800. The first expedition has already taken place by a test “crew,” but Astroland has four expeditions to be held through November.
“Stepping outside your comfort zone is one of the most exciting parts of travel, and for even the most adventurous, Astroland truly delivers,” Laurel Greatrix of TripAdvisor said, as reported by the Daily Mail.
According to TripAdvisor, participants will also have online access to aerospace experts and psychologists, such as Gabriel González de la Torre, doctor of Neuropsychology at the University of Cádiz and one of the few leading astronaut psychologists from Spain, and Iñigo Muñoz Elorza, instructor of astronauts in the European Astronaut Center, part of the European Space Agency.
In the meantime, NASA is continuing work on its new, as-yet unnamed Mars rover, scheduled to launch in July 2020 and land on the Red Planet in February 2021. In July, NASA scientists and engineers descended on the Lambahraun lava field at the foot of Iceland’s second biggest glacier, Langjokull, to test a rover prototype. Experts say the terrain of the Lambahraun lava field is reminiscent of the surface of Mars.
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