The Austrian Space Forum has set up a pretend Martian base with the Israeli space agency at Makhtesh Ramon, a 500-metre (1,600-foot) deep, 40 kilometre (25 mile) wide crater.
nside a huge crater in Israel's sun-baked Negev desert, a team wearing space suits ventures forth on a mission to simulate conditions on Mars.
The Austrian Space Forum has set up a pretend Martian base with the Israeli space agency at Makhtesh Ramon, a 500-metre (1,600-foot) deep, 40 kilometre (25 mile) wide crater.
The six so-called "analogue astronauts" will live in isolation in the virtual station until the end of the month.
"It's a dream come true," Israeli Alon Tenzer, 36, told AFP. "It's something we've been working on for years."
The participants -- from Austria, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain -- all had to pass gruelling physical and psychological tests.
During their mission, they will conduct tests including on a drone prototype that functions without GPS, and on automated wind- and solar-powered mapping vehicles.
The mission will also aim to study human behaviour and the effect of isolation on the astronauts.
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