By Alimat Aliyeva

NASA has announced the successful completion of an experimental mission to prepare for a human flight to Mars, Azernews reports.

Four volunteers selected from more than 10 thousand candidates left the experimental complex - the "Martian Block" - which simulates some of the living conditions of future colonists on the Red Planet. They lived in complete isolation from the outside world for more than a year.

NASA primarily studied the psychological aspects of astronauts' lives after landing in a 160-square-meter block with extremely limited resources. The crew's ability to seek help and advice was also limited: one of the main problems that were solved during the experiment was the delay in communication with Earth. Therefore, I had to solve the problems on my own.

The astronauts ate canned food from Earth all year round and tried to grow vegetables in a small greenhouse. At that time, the priority was the economical use of resources, especially water.

In addition, the entire experimental block and the surroundings of the "planet" were printed on a 3D printer. Scientists do not exclude that this special technology will allow building Martian colonies using the abundant sand of the Red Planet.