Being cooped up on a space mission can do funny things to you – even if it’s a make-believe mission. During an extended simulation of a voyage to Mars back in 1999, a bloody fistfight reportedly broke out between two ersatz astronauts, and one woman participant complained of sexual harassment. So it’ll be interesting to see what happens next year, when the Mars Society is due to stage a simulated four-month mission – not within the comfy confines of a laboratory, but amid the frozen wastes of the Canadian Arctic. The society’s president, Robert Zubrin, confirmed last week’s reports that his organization was forgoing its annual simulated mission on Devon Island this year, and concentrating instead on next year’s Arctic expedition. “Essentially we’re saving the money from this year so we can do something bigger next year,” Zubrin said.