He saidA private group is working its way toward sending two people on a mission to fly around Mars in 2018. The journey there and back will take about 500 days, and the plan is to have two travellers take the trip in a small living space that allows for very limited personal space.They are looking for volunteers, and while I don't plan on putting my name forward, I am curious by the prospect of such seclusion for so long. It would take an extremely special person to come back to Earth once they eventually do come back. I like to think I am that special person. I can handle a little alone time in a place where, as I learned from the Alien film franchise, nobody can hear you scream. I have some experience with prolonged time in a small capsule with one person. By prolonged, I mean 16 to 18 hours instead of 500 days, but how different can that be? It was a drive down to Myrtle Beach and after that first trip down, we had to drive all the way back about three days later. Thirty-five hours in a car with one person over four days could be a problem, but I came out the other end in flying colours. I've also spent three months travelling with one person. Sure we met other people and moved around, which was really all we did, but seeing the same person everyday, knowing that tomorrow you'd be sitting across from each other on a train once again for six hours, it can be a little agitating. Again, I had no problems, and got through barely thinking about what would happen if I just turned around in the busy street and walked away, completing the trip myself. Both of those examples pale in comparison to this proposed trip to the Red Planet. It would definitely take a special kind of someone, but I think I have the building blocks. She saidNo. Definitely not. Not in a million years. Nuh uh. Hard pass.If someone walked up to me on the streets and said, "You look perfect for the year-and-a-half-long mission to Mars I'm planning. Are you interested?" I would initially laugh, and then decline the invitation when I realized they were serious.First, spending 500 days away from home sounds horrible. I can't imagine not seeing the people I love for that long. Plus, that's a long time to check out from normal life. A lot changes in the world in 500 days. Thinking about 500 days ago from right now, a lot of significant things have changed.I would also be super bored in space. What is there to do? It's not like I can take a giant library with me for things to read. I guess I could update my library, but after awhile, I think I'd get tired of reading. And of writing. And watching TV. And going online.Being confined to a small space for that long would be incredibly limiting. I would be so stir crazy from being locked up. And it's not like you can take a stroll outside the aircraft to stretch your legs. You're in space. Anything outside your little spaceship will kill you.There's also that whole issue of spending 500 days with one person. I won't lie, I am not always pleasant to be around. If I were stuck with another girl, after our initial bonding, we'd probably get super frustrated with each other. Then we'd get catty. Then we'd cry. It would suck. With a guy, I'd be super awkward (always) and I wouldn't know what to talk about, and it's not like I could avoid him.So no, I wouldn't survive a 500-day mission to Mars. It's dangerous, lengthy and I'd be brutal company. The aircraft won't even touch down on the Red Planet anyway, which would be insanely painful. I imagine that would be like flying to Hawaii, circling around over the islands, and returning home. Just the trip would be longer. Gross.
