While this will provide interesting insight into group dynamics on such a long trip, I don't think it will necessarily tell us how astronauts will feel and act on an actual Mars trip. On Earth, you could theoretically "get off" at any point, even if it is highly, highly discouraged. You would know, no matter what, that there is breathable air outside your simulated spacecraft. On a real Mars trip, there is no way to give up and stop the trip. I don't know whether this would be better or worse than the feeling in the simulation, but it would certainly be different.
If the question is, Can they meet the challenge?, I'd bet there's enough in the history of imprisonment to answer it. Some go nuts, some write great literature. I think they're trying to stack the odds in favor of the latter. An interesting literary experiment, and the first collaborative novel, they say, using Google Docs (woohoo! hopefully not also the first to use Google Translate).
> Each week, a renowned Russian Science Fiction writer like Sergey Lukyanenko [...]
Wow. That's the guy who wrote Night Watch, one of the best sci-fi/fantasy movies I've watched in the last 10 years:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0403358/
I guess Mars doesn't need women...
That sure gives a whole new dimension to streetview
That big juicy Go button made me expect some interactive applet. I am disappointed.
I am literally in awe.
Isn't weightlessness one of the major factors involved?
I think they're just studying the isolation and group dynamics
How much hard science can be done in this experiment?
My guess is that it would primarily focus on the mental health and social interaction - as that becomes a bigger concern for longer missions. So I guess it depends on your definition of 'hard science'.