Given our current familiarity with the effects of quarantine, this new job ad from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) might actually sound intriguing: the agency is looking to hire "highly motivated U.S. citizens" willing "to live together with a small crew in isolation for eight months in Moscow, Russia."
The participants will be involved in a simulation study "that will help NASA learn about the physiological and psychological effects of isolation and confinement on humans in preparation" for upcoming missions to the Moon and to Mars. We already feel qualified.
Here are the requirements: you must be between 30 and 55 years of age, speak fluent Russian and English, have an M.S., a PhD., an M.D. or a certificate of completion of military officer training. If you've only got a Bachelor's degree and "other certain qualifications" (including professional experience in the field) don't despair: you're also an eligible candidate.
As for what to expect when actually chosen: you'll be living in conditions similar to the ones that crews endure when flying off to space.
"A small international crew will live together in isolation [...] conducting scientific research, using virtual reality and performing robotic operations among a number of other tasks during the lunar mission," reads the official job description, which also calls out the 2019 four-month-long study that this new project will be based on. "The research will be conducted to study the effects of isolation and confinement as participants work to successfully complete their simulated space mission."
Needless to say, chosen candidates will have to quarantine for two weeks before the start of the study, whether they feel any COVID-19 symptoms or not. What's an additional two weeks given the overall length of the study, after all?
The space agency hasn't divulged how many "crew" members it is looking to study or how much candidates will be paid. What we do know is that the compensation will depend on participants' previous association with NASA as an employee, contractor or none of the above.
Dare we say this is one of the coolest jobs we've heard about in the past few months? To apply and read more about it, click here. Good luck, future semi-astronauts!
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