NASA and the U.S. Navy are wrapping up the ninth in a series of tests at sea. They're verifying and validating procedures and hardware that will be used to recover the Orion spacecraft after it splashes down in the Pacific Ocean following deep space exploration missions.

A major new space telescope searching for 'Earth 2.0'—to Succeed Hubble and the soon-to-be-launched James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)—is one step closer to reality.

The Large Ultraviolet Optical Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR) is a leading mission concept to meet the recommendations of the long-awaited Astro2020 Decadal Survey, which identifies three 'priority scientific areas' for investment in astronomy and astrophysics in the U.S. over the next 10 years and beyond.

Martin Barstow, Professor of Astrophysics and Space Science at the University of Leicester, was appointed by the UK Space Agency as an external observer to the LUVOIR study team, and is co-author of the report backing the proposal. He is also chair of the Space Telescope Institute Council, which provides oversight to the body operates Hubble and will operate JWST.

Professor Barstow says that "Earth-like planets orbiting other stars are enormously difficult to find and detecting them is beyond the capabilities of our current planned space missions, but we are developing the technologies to carry out this search and are close to having the tools ready to fly in space.

Elton John famously sang that Mars "ain't the kind of place to raise your kids", but one day space agencies across the globe hope to prove him wrong by seeing the first human set foot on the Red Planet, and potentially colonizing it or any other moon or planet.

However, those who make the journey will not only have to survive on a freezing planet with no breathable atmosphere, but live in isolation unlike any other explorers in human history.

At its closest proximity, Mars is still almost 55m km away from Earth, making communication delays and supply issues between the two worlds unavoidable. This requires crew members to effectively cope with stressful conditions by themselves, with limited autonomous resources available on board.

With little chance of conducting a trial run in space, scientists have resorted to terrestrial experiments to see how astronauts cope with such challenges. A previous isolation experiment called Mars-500 revealed a psychological detachment from mission control among those who took part, raising fears that it could lead to resistance from future crews in deep space to any commands.

As the airplane tilted steeply upward, Mona Minkara experienced gravity like never before.

"It feels like a huge pressure is on you, and the skin of your face is being pulled over the bones of your skull," she says.