Michael Hainsworth

The introduction of civilians adds to the realism — and the stress. Here’s a short video of both the player and the game.

Right click to Download.

As six astronauts end a simulated 105 day space trip to Mars, HAINSWORTH.COM looks to the past to get a glimpse into our future travel plans.

105 days in isolation and you give these guys DAISIES? (Click to embiggen)

After 105 days in a human-sized hamster Habitrail, four Russians, a Frenchman and a German (walk into a bar) announced it was no big deal to be cooped up for so long without access to updates on Paris Hilton. Heck, these guys might not even know yet that The King of Pop has died.

While they were monitored constantly to help us better understand the impact the cramped conditions had on them, they were also kept very busy.

A monotonous regime was applied to us, every minute was full of work. There were some periods in which we could relax, but you cannot really relax, you think about being far from your loved ones, far from your family.
– Dr. Alexei Baranov

The delay in communications for actual astronauts meant the volunteers also had to problem solve for themselves and make decisions without the help of ground control. And because they knew how important the mission was, they didn’t fall apart bickering with each other. It’s not like the Russian space program pulled five guys off a bus and told ‘em to stick it out for 3 months, either.

One significant stress absent from the simulated ride to Mars, however? The crew knew they could leave if there was an emergency.

This unfortunately wasn’t the case for the Apollo 1 astronauts working on putting a man on the Moon. Article continues…

Our Editor in Chief breaks through Steve Jobs’ Reality Distortion Field to point out some serious flaws with the world’s fastest selling mobile phone.

Before I snagged a black 32GB iPhone 3GS (thanks, Craig, Keith, Mary — and Wifey!) I poured over articles posted on the Internet, including a great tweet from a HAINSWORTH.COM reader on tips for typing on the touch screen keyboard. What I did not find, however, were the warnings about some of iPhone’s most significant shortcomings. Here they are. Article continues…

The late King of Pop to join his monkey Bubbles in the plastic afterworld, claims Daily Mail.

Michael Jackson’s apparent attempts at cheating death have failed: he missed the deadline to be cryogenically frozen. The British newspaper The Daily Mail is reporting German doctor Gunther Von Hagens, the man behind the process known as “plastination” has an agreement in place to do what he’s already done to Bubbles the Chimp: pump polyurethane into the veins of Michael Jackson and dip him in a plastic coating.

Apparently this has been “plan-b” for months. Article continues…