Russia's "astronauts" are back from their mission, not to Mars, but to a shed, in a carpark. The men who spent 18 months together simulating the long-distance trip to Mars, are still friends and returned with their sense of humour intact.
Wang Yue, one of the astronauts, told Guardian.co.uk: "We are very good friends, even family members now."
He told their website that he kept busy by practicing Chinese calligraphy, learning to play guitar and reading books.
Sukhrov Kamolov, one of the Russian astronauts, told the Guardian."There were no conflicts,"
"If people are together for a long time, this can happen, but we understood in space it can become serious."
"We had a sign up that said: 'a fly can grow into an elephant'" – a Russian saying akin to "don't make a mountain out of a molehill".
Romain Charles, the French crew member, told the Telegraph that the mission was a success. "We can go forward in our plan to go to Mars and move confidently - humans can go there," he said.
The state of wine during the study was lamentable, the French astronaut told The Guardian. He said: "It was powdered wine. As a Frenchman, I can say, it was not wine."
Rustamovich Sukhrob, a Russian crew member, told the Telegraph: "Probably (the most important thing) was our international group, six people - all different nationalities, all from different countries, even in terms of character we were all very different people - we did this, we lived through 520 days together, we should we could live in peace and agreement , even in such a small space, that was also very important to me," he said.
The six astronauts — three Russians, two Europeans and a Chinese man — endured a 520-day simulated Mars mission.
The scientific data gathered during the project, which was completed last Friday, will be released next April and used to inform plans to travel to Mars.