Mars seeking applications

Want to feel like you're going to Mars? Live in Europe? Well, have I got a deal for you. On Tuesday, the European Space Agency announced that it is seeking applications for you to spend 17 months in an isolation tank, and this will simulate you going to Mars. (Yup, not kidding -- AFP)

Their spaceship will comprise a series of interlocked modules in an research institute in Moscow, and once the doors are closed tight, the volunteers will be cut off from all contact with the outside world except by a delayed radio link.

They will face simulated emergencies, daily work routines and experiments, as well as boredom and, no doubt, personal friction from confinement in just 550 cubic metres (19,250 cubic feet), the equivalent of nine truck containers.

Are you excited yet? Where do you sign up? Well, the application form can be downloaded from their website. When you download the application form, it's really weird. Here is just a sample of their questions:

Mac or PC?

Have you ever seen 2001: A Space Odyssey?

What's your opinion of John Gray? How about Lisa Nowak?

Are you a member of the mile-high club?

What did you think of The Soprano's final episode? Genius or fraud?

Do you think Rosie should be the new host of the Price is Right?

Then, after the initial screening is completed, the website says that there will be a Survivor-type elimination round that will be broadcast on European television where viewers will vote on who is in and who is out....

Ok, enough of that silliness. Is this thing real? It looks kind of like that tv show big brother, but for 17 months. What will probably happen is that this will end up being a hoax like that kidney donation tv show was. But, we'll see.