![\"2015-08-25-145403\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/2015-08-25-145403-350x233.jpg\")
Currently scheduled for October-November 2015, the experiment will differ from the Mars-500 venture not just in duration but most notably in crew composition.<\/p>\nFollowing from their Mars-500 \u201clong duration\u201d simulation in 2011-2012, the Institute of Biomedical Problems in Moscow, Russia, has announced plans to perform an all-female simulated eight-day lunar circumnavigation mission by the end of 2015. The test and flight simulation project is called \u201c\u041b\u0443\u043d\u0430-2015\u201d (Moon-2015).<\/p>\n
\nA simulated lunar mission:<\/p>\n
In early July, the Institute of Biomedical Problems (IBMP) announced it would use the facilities created for the marathon \u201cMars-500\u201d simulation project in 2011\/12. The new mission, Moon-2015, will simulate an eight-day round trip to lunar orbit and return to Earth.<\/p>\n
Currently scheduled for October-November 2015, the experiment will differ from the Mars-500 venture not just in duration but most notably in crew composition.<\/p>\n
For Moon-2015, all the participants will be women, drawn from the staff at IBMP itself.<\/p>\n
In their July announcement, IBMP named the ten volunteers from whom the actual crew will be chosen.<\/p>\n
All have strong scientific, medical or research backgrounds and many have worked in the space or aviation medicine sphere, working closely with cosmonauts before or after visits to the International Space Station (ISS).<\/p>\n
IBMP was quick to emphasize that the project\u2019s use of an all female crew does not signal a plan by the Russian Federal Space Agency, commonly referred to as Roscosmos, to select female cosmonauts for future lunar missions \u2014 though the project does carry the support of Roscosmos itself.<\/p>\n
Space Technology (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n Nonetheless, IBMP will gather information on female responses to isolation, cohabitation, crew functionality, and other characteristics of spaceflight during the eight-day simulation.<\/p>\n The crew of six will notably include a medical officer \u2014 a position that would be vital on long-term space missions.<\/p>\n To help chose which six of the ten volunteers will ultimately participate in the eight-day simulation, a series of selection processes based upon the real cosmonaut selection regime will take place in September and October.<\/p>\n In order to maintain the simulation\u2019s value in terms of real-life application, the six volunteers selected for final participation will have similar medical, physical and physiological characteristics as a real space crew.<\/p>\n The potential crew:<\/p>\n Since the public announcement in July, several potential members of the simulation crew have discussed their qualifications and backgrounds for the mission with Tony Quine for NASASpaceflight.com.<\/p>\n A veteran of scientific research at IBMP, Kussmaul spent five years engaged in scientific research at IBMP before focusing on organizational and financial issues of scientific activity as well as implementation of scientific achievements in practice and international cooperation.<\/p>\n According to Kussmaul, \u201cI think my experience in similar projects as a manager will help better organise the co-ordination of interaction with the \u2018Earth\u2019 and the skills acquired during the activity to promote scientific advances.\u201d<\/p>\n At 34, Dr. Elena Luchitskaya has worked at IBMP since 2005 in the laboratory of the autonomic regulation of the cardio-respiratory system.<\/p>\n Among her many accomplishments, Luchitskaya has been responsible for scientific experiments on board the ISS as well as managing pre- and post-flight inspection of Russian crew members.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a physiologist, [it] will be interesting to involve myself and to help in carrying out any scientific experiments and tests,\u201d stated Luchitskaya.<\/p>\n Specifically, Luchitskaya\u2019s work with \u201con-board documentation, experience with hardware and equipment on the ISS, [and] carrying out experiments\u201d make her an excellent candidate for the simulated moon mission.<\/p>\n In fact, one of the younger members of the potential crew is Mariya Maximova, a 24 year old with a master\u2019s graduate degree in applied mathematics and physics.<\/p>\n Maximova, who is now an IBMP 1st year graduate student, is engaged in biophysics and cell biology, specifically the study of the role of the cortical cytoskeleton in cell mechano-reception and atrophic programs.<\/p>\n Asked about the most critical part of the Moon-2015 experiment, Maximova talked about the importance of preparations.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, the most critical part is the preparation, as with any experiment. If you prepare well and try to provide for the majority of emergency situations, everything else usually goes smoothly.\u201d<\/p>\n Komissarova took part in experiments related to the development of the heterotrophic part of biological life-support systems and defended her PhD dissertation in June 2015.<\/p>\n At present, Komissarova works as a senior research scientist in IBMP and talked enthusiastically about the potential of Moon-2015 and her own hopes.<\/p>\n \u201cAs my scientific work [is] connected to biological life-support systems of spaceflights, it will be very interesting for me to test all from within an enclosed space.<\/p>\n \u201cFirsthand experience could be helpful for me in further development of biological life-support systems,\u201d stated Komissarova.<\/p>\n \u201cAs for my input in the project, considering that I am a biologist, it will be much easier for me to both be a part of the crew and help in organization of biological research, included in the scientific program.\u201d<\/p>\n To Komissarova, \u201call parts of the project seem very important. Crew selection, the experiment itself, after-flight research are all equally significant.<\/p>\n \u201cThe main goal of the experiment is [the] imitation of [a] flight to the Moon. With such a goal, great responsibility rests on our crew.\u201d<\/p>\n Potential for acceptance to cosmonaut program:<\/p>\n While IBMP has clearly stated that their all-female experiment in no way indicates preference from Roscosmos to choose female cosmonauts in their next round of cosmonaut selection in early 2016, both Maximova and Komissarova expressed qualified interest.<\/p>\n As Maximova explained, \u201cOn the one hand, it would be desirable. On the other hand, in front of cosmonauts are so many important tasks that my studies of molecular biology, which I really love, would have [to wait]. So I\u2019d be at a crossroads.\u201d<\/p>\n Likewise, Komissarova stated that \u201cPreviously I hadn\u2019t thought of any possibility to become a cosmonaut. But medical selection in \u2018Moon-2015\u2019 is very strict; it is very close to the cosmonaut selection criteria.<\/p>\n Unlike Komissarova and Maximova, Kussmaul and Luchitskaya will both be over the age limit of 33 for 2016\u2019s cosmonaut selection round.<\/p>\n However, two other potential Moon-2015 participants took the chance to throw their hats firmly into the ring for cosmonaut selection in 2016.<\/p>\n Inna Nosikova, born in 1986 in the town of Kaluga region Medyn, stated \u201cOf course I want to be a cosmonaut, and I will definitely take part in the cosmonaut selection of 2016.\u201d<\/p>\n Nosikova was an ambulance paramedic in Moscow while studying full-time to become a biophysicist.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe that in orbit, my medical and scientific skills would be useful for the development and conducting of medical experiments in weightlessness,\u201d Nosikova went on to state.<\/p>\n Particularly, Nosikova has worked at IBMP since 2014 and is currently engaged in trans-cranial magnetic stimulation of the motor areas of the cerebral cortex, along with devices using MRI to study changes in the activity of the cerebral cortex in astronauts before and after flight.<\/p>\n Lysova stated that she has \u201calready passed the initial cosmonaut medical examination and [plans] to apply formally to the new selection in 2016.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve had the desire to become a cosmonaut since my first months of being at IBMP, working directly with cosmonauts, and being infected by their passion for spaceflight.\u201d<\/p>\n (Further updates on this mission will be provided in the dedicated update area).<\/p>\n (Images via IBMP \u2013 with thanks to Oleg Voshinin Press Officer at IBMP and also to the candidates who participated in the online interviews.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Following from their Mars-500 \u201clong duration\u201d simulation in 2011-2012, the Institute of Biomedical Problems in Moscow, Russia, has announced plans to perform an all-female simulated eight-day lunar circumnavigation mission by the end of 2015. The test and flight simulation project is called \u201c\u041b\u0443\u043d\u0430-2015\u201d (Moon-2015). A simulated lunar mission: In early July, the Institute of Biomedical Problems […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30163,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[625,7900],"class_list":["post-39263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-moon","tag-russian"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39263"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39263\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"2015-08-25-143443\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/2015-08-25-143443-350x285.jpg\")
Currently, Moon-2015 is planned to begin on 27 October, by which time the final group of six crewmembers will have been selected from the initial ten volunteers.<\/p>\n![\"2015-08-25-143334\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/2015-08-25-143334-350x248.jpg\")
One potential crew member is Anna Kussmaul, a 33 year-old geneticist whose PhD dissertation focused on aviation, space and sea medicine.<\/p>\nSee Also<\/h4>\n
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![\"2015-08-25-145447\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/2015-08-25-145447-350x237.jpg\")
But IBMP is not just looking at veteran employees for Moon-2015. Several younger candidates are also under consideration.<\/p>\n![\"2015-08-25-143258\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/2015-08-25-143258-350x315.jpg\")
Joining Maximova on the younger-side of potential candidates, Star Trek fan Daria Komissarova is 27 and an ecologist.<\/p>\n![\"2015-08-25-145550\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/2015-08-25-145550-350x206.jpg\")
\u201cTo try my a hand through this project is very interesting for me, and perhaps, if everything shapes up well, I will move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"2015-08-25-145929\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/2015-08-25-145929-350x316.jpg\")
In addition to Nosikova, 25 year-old Natalya Lysova, a specialist in Physical Culture and Sports, is currently engaged in the prevention of adverse effects of weightlessness on cosmonauts during spaceflight.<\/p>\n