World News for Students of English

17-04-2023 15:00

NASA plans to send astronauts to Mars; however, before the take-off, the space agency will observe the effects of a four-person crew staying in a simulated Mars habitat for about a year.

The crew will be in isolation and confinement, and experts will try to understand how that will be associated with their health and performance. The crew will have a limited amount of water to drink and will need to grow their own leafy greens and vegetables inside the 3D-printed habitat. Their mental health and social dynamics will also be evaluated. Besides the isolation and the sheer distance, getting along in a small habitat can wear on the astronauts over time. Some various experiments and analogs have been for shorter durations, and there have been a few that will go over a year.

NASA plans to announce the four crew members this summer, and the mission is slated to be sometime in the 2030s.

Difficult words: confinement (being kept in a place that you can’t leave), sheer (very great), slate (to schedule or plan).

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