Would you volunteer to be locked away for 18 months in a sealed container with no windows and have only e-mail contact with the outside world?

你是否自愿被锁在一个没有窗户、只能靠电子邮件与外部世界保持联系的封闭空间中长达18个月之久？

On their own: Communication with the outside world will be restricted

Six men - three Russians, two Europeans and a Chinese man - have agreed to do just that in a project that will try to simulate（模仿，假装） a mission to the Red Planet.

The Mars500 study begins on Thursday at a medical institute in Moscow.

Scientists say the experiment will help them understand how humans would cope on a long journey to another world.

The project has been designed to be as realistic（现实的，逼真的） as possible even though some elements - such as the weightless conditions of spaceflight - cannot be recreated here on Earth.

"They will have to cope with limited consumables, for example," said Dr Martin Zell from the European Space Agency, a key partner in the project.

"That means everything will be onboard at the start. There will be no re-load, re-supply whatsoever¹（无论什么） . It will be like a real mission."

The "spaceship" is based at Moscow's Institute of Biomedical Problems and comprises（包含，组成） a series of interconnected steel canisters（小罐，筒） . The total interior volume is about 550 cubic metres.

Four of the tubes provide the living and working environment on the "journey" to and from Mars. Their interior has been decorated with wood panelling to give the cylinders²（圆筒） a more homely³ feel.

A fifth module⁴ is a mock-up of the Red Planet itself, an enclosed room with a floor covered in rocks and sand.

About half-way through the mission, three of the crew will have to "land" on this "surface" and walk about on it while dressed in heavy space suits.

The "cosmonauts" will be commanded by 38-year-old marine⁵ engineer and astronaut trainer Alexey Sitev, who has only recently been married.

His compatriots（同胞） - Sukhrob Kamolov (32) and Alexander Smoleevskiy (33) - have medical backgrounds. The two Europeans in the group - Diego Urbina (27) and Romain Charles (31) - are engineers by training.

The Chinese citizen, Yue Wang, the youngest member of the crew at 26, has a "day job" training Chinese astronauts. Colombian-Italian Diego Urbina said his motivation came from his desire to work in space research.

"I'm also very interested in being a part of the story of getting humans to Mars," he told BBC News. "When the very first human steps on Mars, I will be able to say, 'yeah, I helped do that'. That will make me feel very proud."

Scientific investigations⁶ during the experiment will assess the effect that isolation⁷ has on various psychological（心里的） and physiological⁸（生理的） aspects such as stress, hormone⁹ levels, sleep quality, mood and the benefits of dietary supplements.

Dr Berna van Baars, from the Free University Medical Center, Amsterdam, Holland, is a principal investigator¹⁰ on Mars500.

"We expect Mars500 to have Earth applications, in understanding group dynamics¹¹ connected to isolation and loneliness, for example," she said.

"I hope it will also help us understand better some groups, such as those elderly people who are isolated¹² in their homes. It should tell us about coping behaviours."

The spaceship itself will come under scrutiny¹³（监视，审查） , also, as the crew monitor their surroundings to see which types of bacteria take hold and thrive in the enclosed space.