This is absolutely stunning.  A multi-national crew locked themselves up in a mock space craft for over a year to determine the psychological effects it would have.  Who can imagine what that must have been like?

I always knew somehow that a Mars trip would be possible someday, but never did I think it would happen in my lifetime.  Isn’t it incredible to think that if something were to happen to Earth, our species might be able to live on.

Clothed in blue jumpsuits, the would-be astronauts from Europe, Russia and China grinned and waved as the heavy metal door was shut on their home of the last 17 months in a mock spaceship at a Moscow research institute.

Read the full article on Reuters.