Mars500: 520-day simulated mission to Mars ends

A 520-day simulated mission to Mars ends with six volunteer astronauts being released from a capsule roughly the size of a bus.

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June 3, 2010

Members of the Mars500 crew, Alexey Sitev of Russia, front center; Romain Charles of France, back right; Sukhrob Kamolov of Russia, back center; Diego Urbina of Italy, front right; Alexander Smoleevskiy of Russia, back left; and Wang Yue of China, front left, smile for the press before being locked into the Mars500 isolation facility in Moscow.

Alexander Nemenov / AFP/Getty Images

June 3, 2010

An unidentified official poses after closing the hatch of the Mars500 isolation facility in Moscow.

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Oct. 25, 2011

Blue lights in the Mars500 cabin helped the crew prepare their eyes for seeing real daylight. The mission was an unprecedented experiment with six volunteers, aged between 26 and 38. The "marsonauts" spent 520 days in isolation to test how humans respond to the pressures of a there-and-back voyage to Mars.

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July 24, 2011

Members of the crew relax into the Mars500 modules in Moscow.

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June 3, 2011

France's Romain Charles prepared chocolate biscuits in the Mars500 modules in Moscow.

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July 4, 2011

Italy's Diego Urbina poses with a "special radar" in the Mars500 modules in Moscow.

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June 3, 2011

"Martian pizzas" are shown on a table inside the Mars500 mission capsule.

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Feb. 21, 2011

Italy's Diego Urbina uses tools on a "Marswalk." The tools were originally designed for the Russian manned lunar missions in 1960s and 1970s during the Mars500 simulated mission in Moscow. The missions were canceled, but much of the hardware iremained.

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Feb. 21, 2011

Italy's Diego Urbina tumbles over during the "Marswalk.”

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Nov. 4, 2011

Russia's Sukhrob Kamolov emerges from the Mars500 isolation facility in Moscow.

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Nov. 4, 2011

Russia's Sukhrob Kamolov speaks after emerging from the Mars500 isolation facility in Moscow.

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Nov. 4, 2011

China's Wang Yue speaks next to Russia's Sukhrob Kamolov after they emerged from the Mars500 isolation facility.

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Nov. 4, 2011

Italy's Diego Urbina speaks to the press after emerging from the Mars500 isolation facility.

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Nov. 4, 2011

France's Romain Charles, one of the volunteers of the Mars500 crew, speaks to the press.

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Nov. 4, 2011

Russia's Alexey Sitev speaks after emerging from the Mars500 isolation facility.

/ AFP/Getty Images

Nov. 4, 2011

All six members of the Mars500 crew pose for pictures after they emerge from the Mars500 capsule.

/ AFP/Getty Images

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