How can the Russian Experiment Work?

The Russians have committed to sending men and women into a 'closed system' space travel simulator in order to test the psychological effects of a trip to Mars and back, including time spent on the planet.

In the light of one man's longest ever voyage by sea, and literature about such feats, this would seem unnecessary.

What governs people's behaviour on long voyages is probably not the surroundings or length of voyage, but in fact the psychology of the people travelling.

I would like to see more effort spent on creating a dome ecosystem in a mars-like environment, something attempted in the States a few years back ('biosphere 2').  Doing something like this again, and then taking the Materials to Mars for re-creting the experiment, could be very interesting.

Getting to Mars, 18th Jun 2010