Deep inside a mountain cave in Dachstein, Austria, on 28 April, an international team of researchers sought to answer this question, showing off a new suit that simulates the challenges that await human visitors to Mars. Most Mars simulations have taken place in rocky deserts or Antarctica to mimic the planet's cold, arid surface. But martian life could also exist in caves that formed long ago through volcanic activity. "[Caves] provide excellent shielding from cosmic radiation," says Gernot Gromer, Austrian Space Forum (ASF) president and head of the design team, and they also allow for a higher atmospheric water content and a more stable temperature regime.
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