NASA have a team of six recruits into an isolation dome for a year to simulate life on Mars.

The training exercise will take place in Hawaii near a barren volcano, and commenced  at 1 A.M. GMT last night.

Experts say that a mission to Mars could take anywhere from one to three years to complete, hence the year-long time frame for the experiment.

The team of volunteers undergoing the study consists of a French astrobiologist, a German physicist and four Americans - a pilot, a journalist, a soil scientist, and an architect.

The volunteers won't be afforded much in the way of luxuries, with the menu consisting of packaged foods such as tuna and powdered cheese. They also won't be able to find much time for themselves, as the dome is only 36 feet in diameter, although they will each be afforded their own rooms with a sleeping cot and a desk. 

If they plan on leaving the structure, they must first put on an entire spacesuit, which in the heat of Hawaii doesn't like too much fun.

Let's just hope that they all get on, and that it'll be more like a wacky sitcom than a living hell where you are forced to endure the annoying habits of others for an entire year.
 

Via Metro