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Putting WOMAN on the moon: Russia to send six female scientists on mock-up voyage to the lunar surface to see how their minds and bodies react

Ten women have been shortlisted for October's Moon 2015 mission
Final six scientists will spend eight days in a cramped fake spacecraft
Experiment is designed to study how the female mind and body reacts
It comes as Moscow space chiefs plan to make their first visit to the earth's satellite and in order to set up a lunar base

Published: 06:18 EST, 6 July 2015 | Updated: 09:27 EST, 6 July 2015

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Russia will send six women scientists on a mock up flight to the moon and back to study how the female mind and body reacts.

The eight day experiment comes as Moscow space chiefs plan to make their first visit to the earth's satellite and in order to set up a lunar base.

A total of 10 women have been selected, of whom six will make the 'voyage,' locked in a cramped fake spacecraft for the time it takes to fly to the moon, orbit once, and return.

Russia will send six women scientists on a mock up flight to the moon and back to study how the female mind and body reacts. A total of 10 women (pictured) have been selected, of whom six will make the 'voyage,' locked in a cramped fake spacecraft for the time it takes to fly to the moon, orbit once, and return

Russia has previously shut away an entirely male group on a pretend voyage to 'Mars' and back lasting 519 days - and was criticised at the time for failing to select any women for the research in case it provoked sexual tension.

Now they have done a u-turn, but unlike the male volunteers in the Mars experiment, the women will not be paid, undergoing the tests because of a sense of patriotism.

A logo criticised as be ‘racy’ has been designed for the Moon 2015 mission, which is due to start on 27 October.

Russia has previously shut away an entirely male group on a pretend voyage to Mars and back lasting 519 days - and was criticised at the time for failing to select any women for the research in case it provoked sexual tension. This is the 'racy' logo for the female mission

‘We are going to get to the Moon and to stay there for a long time, so experts find it useful to train not only men for such flights but also women.’ the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper explained.

THE MOON 2015 MISSION

What: Six female scientists will make a mock-up voyage to the moon, locked in a cramped fake space craft.

Aim: To study how the female mind and body reacts in a confined spacecraft.

Who: Ten women have been shortlisted who are experts in the fields of physiology, psychology, cardiology, ecology, biological physics and genetics.

When: Due to start October 27.

How long: Eight days, which is the time it takes to fly to the moon, orbit once and fly back.

Sergei Ponomaryov, chairman of the Young Scientists and Experts Council of the Medical and Biological Problems Institute, said: ‘Within the last ten years scientists have been focused on studying the influence of long isolation on the human body.

‘Now we need to gather more information about early adaptation of the human body, and especially of the woman's body, to conditions inside an isolated space.’

He said: ‘For the first time we will study the psychological nature of the women's group.

‘We will register its pluses and minuses comparing to the men's group.

‘Our girls for the first time will try short radius centrifuge. It is one of the newest achievements in space biology, it is a mean of preventing the negative impact of micro-gravity.'

The research explores how artificial gravity might be used as a countermeasure against the effects of prolonged weak gravity on the human body.

Instead of seeking volunteers as with the Mars 500 project, scientists already employed by the institute, which is closely involved with the Russian space programme, were chosen. They include Elena Luchitskaya, who is seen in a low gravity atmosphere aboard ESA's 'vomit comet'

The women are experts in the fields of physiology, psychology, cardiology, ecology, biological physics, and genetics. Two of the 10, Anna Kussmaul (left) and Marina Makeeva (right) are pictured

THE MARS 500 EXPERIMENT

It's not the first time people have undertaken fake space voyages.

Russia, China and the European Space Agency (ESA) shut away an entirely male group on a pretend voyage to 'Mars' and back lasting 519 days - and was criticised at the time for failing to select any women for the research in case it provoked sexual tension.

Between 2007 and 2011, three different crews and volunteers lived and worked in the mock-up craft and the long stint was done by six men, half of whom were Russian.

The mock-up facility at the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Biomedical Problems (IBMP) in Moscow, simulated the Earth-Mars shuttle spacecraft, the ascent-descent craft, and the martian surface.

The crew had experience in fields such as engineering, medicine, biology, and human spaceflight.

On the Mars 500 experiment, thousands of women applied but deputy director Mark Belakovsky said: ‘The girls just did not pass the tests’.

Only the men ‘were good enough,’ he said, while another source stated: ‘We did not want to jeopardise the experiment with tension between the sexes’.

Mr Ponomaryov added: ‘We have not tried this thing in the isolation and we do not know how women will cope with it, only men tried it so far.’

Instead of seeking volunteers as with the Mars 500 project, scientists already employed by the institute, which is closely involved with the Russian space programme, were chosen.

They are experts in the fields of physiology, psychology, cardiology, ecology, biological physics, and genetics.

But only six will be chosen to enter the mock space craft, used earlier for the Mars experiment.

Natalia Lysova, 25, said: ‘This project is my chance to try and feel what isolation really means.

‘I have already passed medical tests - my heart, kidneys and stomach were checked. I was told I can be a cosmonaut.

‘Maybe everyone wants to go beyond our Earth, it is a new experience, and cosmonauts infect us with their emotional attitude to space.’

She would also like to become a cosmonaut.

‘I'd be happy to go to both the Moon and Mars,’ she said.

Physiologist Elena Luchitskaya said she is too old for cosmonaut training because she is older than 33.

‘It is very useful for me to try myself at least something of what cosmonauts experience in real flight,’ she said.

On the Mars 500 experiment, thousands of women applied but deputy director Mark Belakovsky said ‘the girls just did not pass the tests’. Daria, Komissarova, one of the final 10, is shown above

Natalia Lysova, 25, (pictured left) said: ‘This project is my chance to try and feel what isolation really means. I have already passed medical tests - my heart, kidneys and stomach were checked. I was told I can be a cosmonaut'. But physiologist Elena Luchitskaya (right) said she is too old for cosmonaut training

‘Traditionally in our Institute men are taking part in the majority of the tests. I always thought it was unfair,’ she said.

‘I used to say - take us, women, to try this or that, spin us around, let us go in the immersion tank. This is why I was so glad to take part in this contest.’

On the Mars 500 experiment, thousands of women applied but deputy director Mark Belakovsky said: ‘The girls just did not pass the tests’.

Only the men ‘were good enough,’ he said, while another source stated: ‘We did not want to jeopardise the experiment with tension between the sexes’.

All male Mars 500 experiment crew enter capsule for 500 days