Institute for Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences "flies" to the Moon with Lin Industrial

September 10, 2015

Long-term human spaceflight and life of explorers at lunar bases are impossible without deep understanding of how human body is functioning and how human psyche is changed during prolonged isolation. Information is notably little about the impact of spaceflight on female body.

So the Council of Young Scientists of the Institute for Biomedical Problems (IMBP) of the Russian Academy of Sciences proposed flight to the Moon simulation experiment.

Six young women volunteers will spend eight days in a spacecraft mockup.

"The schedule of experiments is very busy, we have already about 30 experiments. One of the objectives is trial and refining of a set of techniques and experiments, which may be conducted at ISS in the future, and testing and setup of equipment, which is to be delivered there soon", reports (rus) TASS news agency quoting Sergey Ponomaryov, IMBP senior research fellow and scientific manager of the project.

"We decided to create an all-female team, in order to understand which physiological changes occur in female body, and study the features of psychological interaction in a female team during isolation from the outside world", explains Ponomaryov, adding that such psychological research has not been conducted before.

The experiment, named Luna-2015 ("Moon-2015"), will start on October 28, 2015.

The Moon was chosen intentionally. Exploration of the Earth's closest neighbor is included in the Federal Space Program for 2016-2025.

To make the experiment as realistic as possible, the virtual journey to the Moon will include simulation of the following stages of flight:

  • transfer from the Earth to our natural satellite;
  • lunar orbit insertion;
  • remote control of lunar rover from the spacecraft by radio;
  • return of the crew back to the Earth.

Our company is proud to announce that IMBP has chosen Lin Industrial as his partner for implementation of this unique experiment. We have prepared and justified the flight profile for IMBP. For example, in order to keep the lunar rover in direct visibility for the spacecraft, so the rover could be controlled by radio, we proposed the spacecraft to enter a highly elliptical orbit around the Moon.

Jointly with Department of Mechanics and Mathematics of Moscow State University we prepared remote control for the virtual lunar rover. This remote control was developed as a part of Moon Sevenprogram - Lin Industrial proposals for the development of human spaceflight.

Today our company has officially approved the cooperation with IMBP by signing a contract.

Hopefully, the cooperation with IMBP will be long-lasting, and by joint efforts of the private venture and the state-owned enterprise we will refine crew habitation at Moon Seven base and its return to the Earth.

Progress of the project will be reported on our website.

As of today IMBP has selected 10 candidates for the virtual flight to the Moon - these are young women aged 25-34, employed by enterprises of the space industry. Following tests on a centrifuge, interpersonal compatibility-based selection and tests on spacecraft docking simulator, the scientists will announce the final crew.

Top (left to right): Darya Schastlivtseva, Marina Matveeva, Yelena Luchitskaya, Mariya Maksimova

Middle (left to right): Tatyana Shigueva, Polina Kuznetsova, Nataliya Lysova

Bottom (left to right): Inna Nosikova, Darya Komissarova, Anna Kussmaul