Want to pretend to live on Mars? Apply now

レアジョブ英会話 Daily News Article Podcast

Want to find your inner Matt Damon and spend a year pretending you are isolated on Mars? NASA has a job for you. To prepare for eventually sending astronauts to Mars, NASA began taking applications Aug. 6 for four people to live for a year in Mars Dune Alpha. That’s a 158-square-meter Martian habitat, created by a 3D printer and housed inside a building at Johnson Space Center in Houston. The paid volunteers will take part in a simulated Mars exploration mission, complete with space-walks, limited communications back home, restricted food and resources and equipment failures. NASA is planning three of these experiments, with the first one starting in fall next year. Food will all be ready-to-eat space food and at the moment there are no windows planned. Some plants will be grown, but not potatoes like in the movie The Martian. Damon played stranded astronaut Mark Watney, who survived on spuds. The requirements are strict, including a master’s degree in a science, engineering or math field, or pilot experience. Only American citizens or permanent U.S. residents between 30 and 55 are eligible. (AP) This article was provided by The Japan Times Alpha.