The human race has finally set foot on the Red Planet. Kind of.
In a unique 520-day experiment to simulate a mission to Mars, a six-man international team of researchers completed the first leg of the journey this month. Broadcast live on a giant screen at the real space mission control centre outside Moscow, two crewmen, Russian Alexander Smoleevsky and Italian Diego Urbina, emerged in space suits after eight months of isolation to stage a “landing”.
“Today, as I see this Red Planet surface I can already feel how inspiring it will be to do it through the eyes of the first human to step on Mars. I salute the explorers of tomorrow,” Mr Urbina said in a radio link-up with officials, cosmonauts and media at the control centre.