Free Republic

LE BOURGET, France (AFP) - The European Space Agency (ESA) on Tuesday called for applications for one of the most demanding human experiments in space history: a simulated trip to Mars in which six "astronauts" will spend 17 months in an isolation tank on Earth. Their spaceship will comprise a series of interlocked modules in an research institute in Moscow, and once the doors are closed tight, the volunteers will be cut off from all contact with the outside world except by a delayed radio link. They will face simulated emergencies, daily work routines and experiments, as well as boredom...

PIONEERS of the space race yesterday paid tribute to the crew of Columbia and called for their work to continue, as US President George W. Bush announced he would attend a NASA memorial service tomorrow in Houston, Texas, for the seven men and women who died. "It's a horrible thing to have happen, and our thoughts go out to the crew's family and friends," said former senator John Glenn, the first US astronaut to orbit the Earth in 1962. "It's important to remember we're not up there to just joyride around, we are up there to do things on Earth."...