The dream of living on Mars is still largely out of our reach. However, if you ever wanted to experience the feeling of living on the Red Planet, you very well can by shelling out 10,000 Euros or approximately Rs 8,00,000.
What's more, you wouldn't have to risk space travel or leave terra firma altogether.
Astroland Agency
An agency by the name of Astroland has created an adventurous expedition that would simulate what life in a human colony on Mars would feel like.?
Located in the Canatabrian mountains in northern Spain, the entire expedition lasts for three days and nights in a 'colony' that has been set up in the cave. The colony is called the Ares station which actually is a scientific space centre that simulates the difficult conditions of the red planet. The participants actually conduct experiments, of sorts like growing food using hydroponic methods (without soil) and test how humans would survive on Mars.
However, the entire expedition starts before that. Participants have to undergo a 3-week remote training program, post which the participants have to go through a physical and psychological training. These sessions also train the participants the basics of space walking, among other activities to make them ready for the simulated experience.
The participants will stay away from sunlight for the three days of their expedition and sleep in pressurised pods or capsules. They'll even be using bio-degradable nappies.?
Astroland Agency
While NASA feels human life on Mars is too good to be true as the current conditions are not habitable for humans. The only way humans can survive on Mars is by always being in life-support environments. Moreover, the atmosphere is too cold to handle water, without which we'll perish.?
Astroland CEO, David Ceballos, despite the hurdles, holds a positive perspective with its expeditions. He told the Telegraph, "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." He further added, "These Cantabrian caves are the perfect location for similar conditions for these trials."