OREANDA-NEWS  In Moscow, on the basis of the Institute of Biomedical Problems (IMBP) The SIRIUS-23 annual isolation experiment to simulate a long-term expedition to the Moon has been completed by the Russian Academy of Sciences, an Interfax correspondent reports.

The experiment ended at 13:00 Moscow time - the crew left the "spacecraft" after 366 days spent in isolation. It consists of commander Yuri Chebotarev, flight engineer Angelika Parfenova, doctor Ksenia Orlova, as well as researchers Ksenia Shishenina, Rustam Zaripov (all - Russia) and Olga Mastitskaya (Belarus).

According to the institute, the experiment reproduced the conditions of flight beyond low Earth orbit, including prolonged isolation, separation from habitual living conditions, performing scientific and professional activities of an astronaut, including work "on the surface of the Moon."

"The program for simulating a long-term lunar mission included tasks for remote control of robotic vehicles on the surface of the satellite (including with a time delay), circumnavigation of the Moon with the search for a landing site and conducting planetary operations as part of a group of four people," the IMBP RAS reported.

The institute added that the program of scientific and operational-technical research has been completed in full, the crew has conducted more than 70 scientific studies in various areas.

"The experimental data obtained will allow us to identify an individual strategy for adapting the body to the conditions of long-term space flight and scientifically substantiate methods for preventing the negative effects of man-made habitat," the institute said.

On November 14, 2023, an international experiment to simulate the SIRIUS-23 interplanetary space flight lasting 365 days began on the basis of the IMBP RAS. According to Oleg Orlov, Director of the IMBP RAS, the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus is the basic partner of the project, international organizations and scientists from India, the USA, Turkey, Canada and other countries also took part in the experiment.

As part of the SIRIUS (Scientific International Research In Unique terrestrial Station) project, space flights are being simulated on the basis of the Ground-based Experimental Complex of the IMBeP RAS.

The objective of the project is to ensure the possibility of space exploration beyond low Earth orbit, which will reduce risks to human health and performance through a targeted program of fundamental, applied and operational research.

The first experiment within the framework of the project was conducted in November 2017 and lasted 17 days, from March to July 2019, a four-month study was already conducted.

The eight-month SIRIUS-21 experiment to simulate a flight to the Moon took place from November 2021 to July 2022. It was attended by testers from Russia, the USA and the UAE.