Female-only Russian crew starts Luna-2015 simulated trip to moon

Six Russian women in a sealed room and it may get hot – no this isn’t a scene from a movie, but a scientific experiment dubbed ‘Luna-2015’. For eight whole days these female scientists will learn how to survive in conditions imitating flight to the moon.

The purpose of this ‘girls-only’ flight is to see how females will respond to conditions in space mentally and what physical adaptations they will have to endure.

The whole imitation experiment takes place in the Institute of Medical-Biological problems near Moscow and it will last eight days – three to ‘reach’ the Moon, two for ‘orbiting’ the Earth’s satellite and three more days to ‘return’. During these days, six women will learn how to interact with each other and live in a confined space.

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In August, the institute chose 10 female candidates, for two months each has undergone numerous tests, both psychological and physical to prove that she is suitable for the ‘job’. On Tuesday, the project leaders announced six lucky stars, who are now sealed off in the Luna-2015 capsule.

“It’s a scientific project. We have over 30 experiments during these studies. We have a lot of things to do inside,” Daria Komissarova, a crew member, told RT.

RT correspondent William Whiteman visited the facility ahead of the experiment's start. The premises look like a common apartment – a small cozy kitchen with pretty flowers on the table, gym and several rooms. But the women will have to experience the same conditions in terms of comfort as space travelers at the ISS.

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Cameras will be recording the women’s every move. All of them will carry out experiments to analyze how they bodies would react during the ‘space’ trip. They will also test their stress levels during the simulation.

“This method is used to understand how threshold of pain sensitivity alters during flight,” another ‘moon traveler’, Tatiana Shigueva, explained pointing at one of the devices on the table. “It will be used during our experiment.”

According to the project leader Sergey Ponomarev, such experiments with females-only crew haven’t been carried out yet. Any technical fault or an emergency situation may lead to serious consequences, says the institute’s website.