< http://www.spaceflight.esa.int/CallforCandidates >
ini ada lowongan pekerjaan sangat menarik :-)
yaitu untuk direkrut menjadi "astronot"
untuk misi "simulasi" eksplorasi Mars di
"masa depan" nanti.
gagasannya begini, salah satu masalah besar
untuk mengirim misi pesawat ruang angkasa
ke Mars, tentu saja adalah karena persoalan
jaraknya yang sangat jauh dari bumi.
waktu misi Apollo 11 tahun 1969 dulu, perjalan
ke Bulan sekali jalan hanya makan waktu 3-4
hari sejak peluncuran s/d mendarat di Bulan,
tak ubahnya seperti perjalanan "wisata" dengan
kapal dari Medan ke Ujung-Pandang saja.
tetapi untuk perjalanan ke Mars, seandainya
posisi planet ini sedang paling-dekat dengan
bumi pun adalah 56 juta km. Untuk itu diperkirakan
dibutuhkan perjalanan selama 240 hari ( > 8 bulan )
sekali jalan. Oleh kerena itu untuk perjalanan pp.
dan > 1 bulan "nginep" di Mars, dibutuhkan waktu
total 520 hari.
di luar persoalan-persoalan yang "praktis" seperti
masalah perbekalan oksigen yg. diperlukan dsb.,
yang juga perlu dipecahkan adalah bagaimana mengatasi
potensi masalah-masalah "kejiwaan", jika sejumlah
orang tinggal bersama di dalam sebuah ruang yang
relatif sempit, tertutup rapat, dan "terisolasi"
dari dunia ramai selama 520 hari, kira-kira 1.5 tahun!
yang menjadi wigati adalah bagaimana mengatasi
perasaan tertekan, kejenuhan, kebosanan, dan mungkin
potensi konflik dengan kolega sesama astronot ...
***
selama proyek simulasi misi ke Mars di atas, 6 orang
"astronot" akan di masuk-kan dalam suatu "container"
sebesar kira-kira 10 x 10 x 5 meter-kubik yang berada
di Bumi ( di Moscow ), dan "dipenjara", sama sekali
tidak boleh keluar atau "cuti" selama misi 1.5 tahun.
selama itu mereka akan mengerjalan kegiatan-kegiatan
riset seperti layaknya astronot pada misi-misi
angkasa luar lainnya, makan dengan "menu standar
astronot" ( mis. tidak boleh pesan Sate ato Mie-bakso
dari luar container ), dan hanya bisa berkomunikasi
dengan "stasiun di bumi" dan keluarga mereka melalui
sarana komunikasi standar ( misalnya video conference ).
honorarium yang diberikan adalah 120 euro/hari, ato
sekitar 3600 euro/bulan, artinya ya hampir sama dengan
gaji insinyur di negara-2 EU. Untuk lowongan 6 orang
astronot tsb. saat ini sudah 120 pelamar, hanya 19
orang di antaranya wanita,
so if you're woman, I think you'll have more chance
compated to man. Siapa tahu dalam hal uji ketahanan
untuk "bersabar" dan "tidak mudah bosan" semacam itu,
orang Indionesia punya kemampuan yang "unik" ... :-)
** catatan: untuk job ini ybs. harus sudah punya
paspor warga negara eropa
---( IM )-------------------------------
Tue Jun 19, 7:09 AM ET
---------------------------------------------------
Space pioneers wanted for 520-day Mars experiment
---------------------------------------------------
LE BOURGET, France (AFP) - The European Space Agency
(ESA) on Tuesday called for applications for one of
the most demanding human experiments in space history:
a simulated trip to Mars in which six "astronauts" will
spend 17 months in an isolation tank on Earth.
Their spaceship will comprise a series of interlocked
modules in an research institute in Moscow, and once
the doors are closed tight, the volunteers will be cut
off from all contact with the outside world except by
a delayed radio link.
They will face simulated emergencies, daily work
routines and experiments, as well as boredom and,
no doubt, personal friction from confinement in just
550 cubic metres (19,250 cubic feet), the equivalent
of nine truck containers.
Communications with the simulated mission control
and loved-ones will take up to 40 minutes, the time
that a radio signal takes to cross the void between
Earth and a spaceship on Mars. Food will comprise
mainly the packaged stuff of the kind eaten aboard
the International Space Station (ISS).
The goal is to gain experience about the psychological
challenges that a crew will face on a trip to Mars.
Four of the crew will be Russian, and two will come
from countries that are members of ESA, agency and
Russian officials said at the Paris Air Show in Le
Bourget.
In all, 12 European volunteers are needed.
A precursor 105-day study is scheduled to start by
mid-2008, possibly followed by another 105-day study,
before the full 520-day study begins in late 2008 or
early 2009.
Backup for the two volunteers taking part in each
of these simulations means that 12 Europeans are
needed.
"The selection procedure is similar to that of ESA
astronauts, although there will be more emphasis on
psychological factors and stress resistance than on
physical fitness," ESA said in a press release.
Men and women who think they have the right stuff
can download the application form on
<http://www.spaceflight.esa.int/CallforCandidates>
The terrestrial Mars-stronauts will not get much
glory for their confinement, nor will they get
particularly rich.
They will get paid 120 euros (158 dollars) a day,
said Marc Heppener of ESA's Science and Application
Division.
Viktor Baranov of Russia's Institute of Biomedical
Problems, where the experiment will take place, said
his organisation had received about 150 applications,
only 19 of which came from women.
"The problem is that it is very difficult to find
healthy people for this kind of experiment," he said.
Assuming that Mars and Earth are favourably aligned,
with their closest distance of 56 million kilometres
(35 million miles), it would take 250 days to get there,
30 days spent on site to conduct experiments and 240 days
for the return, said Baranov.
A trip to Mars is not an early prospect. The United States
has set plans to return to the Moon by 2018 and later head
to Mars, but without setting a date.
The trip is fraught with many technical challenges, many
of which are outranked by the question of keeping the crew
healthy and sane.
--- oOo ---
