Russia to simulate Mars mission

Russia's Interfax news agency is reporting that the Russian Space Agency is preparing a Mars mission experiment, in an earthbound environment, to test human endurance for long space missions.

There was no indication of where the experiment would take place, except that a mock space station would be built for its purpose.

The report quoted a Russian Space Agency press release as saying that the experiment would begin in 2006 and last for 500 days, with a possibly multinational crew of six men.