Simulated flight to the moon will take place in Moscow

The next stage of preparation for the colonization of the moonstarted this week in Moscow. The international experiment called SIRIUS-21 will last 240 days, during which a crew of 6 people in a completely isolated space will simulate the launch of a spacecraft, preparation for landing on the Moon from a circumlunar orbit, perform several 4-day “landings” on a model of the lunar surface and then it will "return" to Earth.

The international crew of the experimental"Flight" to the moon included three Russians (instructor of the Cosmonaut Training Center Oleg Blinov, surgeon at the Institute of Biological Problems Viktoria Kirichenko, ex-flight attendant of the Nordwind airline, and now a junior researcher at the Institute of Biological Problems Ekaterina Karjakina) and two Americans (Bachelor of Russian Language and Literature from the United States, William Brown and US Space Systems Command Representative Ashley Kowalski). The sixth participant in the conditional flight was a representative of the UAE, test cosmonaut Saleh Omar Al Ameri.

SIRIUS-21 participants will spend 240 days inisolated hangar simulating a spaceship. During the experiment, the "cosmonauts" will adhere to a strict schedule, including "start" and launching the spacecraft into orbit (one day), docking with a conventional space station (up to 3 days), "flight" to the Moon (up to 4 days). Astronauts will spend up to 60 days in a conventional orbit of the Moon. Then there will be three "landing" to the surface, each of which will last up to 4 days. The "flight" to Earth is scheduled for 237-240 days.

At any time, each SIRIUS-21 participant will be able toabandon the experiment and "return" to Earth. However, according to scientists, for 60 years of experiments at the Moscow complex, there has not yet been a voluntary refusal to participate in testing. In their free time, the crew members will help each other learn national languages ​​and engage in self-education. The next stage of preparation for the flight to the moon will be a one-year conditional flight, which will take place in 2022-2023.