The final 4 participants, all male, were selected for the 105-day study/test mission to begin on 31 March 2009; their training begins on 26 January 2009. Two of the group will undergo the mission, while the other 2 are backups. Four Russian crew (as yet unnamed) will also participate in the mission. The 4 Europeans are: Cyrille Fournier (France), Arc’hanmael Gaillard (France), Oliver Knickel (Germany), Cedric Mabilotte (France).
- “ESA presents European participants in Mars-500 isolation study”, 5 December 2008
- “European Mars-500 participants announced”, 11 December 2008
The «Программа «Марс-500»» page at the IMBP site lists the crew (in Russian).
- Europeans (two are prime crew, the other two are backups):
- Cyrille Fournier (France)
- Arc’hanmael Gaillard (France)
- Oliver Knickel (Germany)
- Cedric Mabilotte (France)
- Russians (includes one woman):
- Oleg Germanovich Artem’ev, Артемьев Олег Германович
- Aleksei Viktorovich Baranov, Баранов Алексей Викторович
- Sergei Nikolaevich Ryazanskii, Рязанский Сергей Николаевич
- Sergei Alekseevich Spitsa, Спица Сергей Алексеевич
- Marina Petrovna Tugusheva, Тугушева Марина Петровна
- Aleksei Vasil’evich Shpakov, Шпаков Алексей Васильевич
“Russians Close In on Cause of Soyuz Landing Anomaly”, James Oberg, IEEE Spectrum, December 2008. Electromagnetic interference (EMI) from plasma flows over the surface of the ISS is thought to have damaged one of the pyrotechnic bolts that fire to separate the Soyuz segments, and thus initiated a ballistic landing, for Soyuz TMA-10 and -11.
“New space toilet has no door…yet”, MSNBC.com, 19/12. The new Russian-made toilet, installed in the Destiny Lab module, has no privacy screen but is otherwise functional. A second toilet will be much-needed, especially with the occasional breakdowns the original one has had! The design is generally reliable, though.
