WANTED: COUPLE FOR SPACE TRAVEL

I am intrigued by reports today that there are plans afoot for a  manned space  mission to Mars in 2018. Even more so by the fact that and in order to represent humanity it is hoped that a middle-aged couple can be identified to share a 15 square metre capsule  for the duration of the 500 day journey, accompanied by more than a tonne of dehydrated food and 28kg of toilet paper.

Has experience as a divorce lawyer turned me into an old cynic or is this not the perfect recipe for divorce? Cooped up together in such close proximity for more than 18 months, it is going to take a very special couple to survive that experience with their marriage intact.

Come to think of it will interplanetary space travel be the next big stress to cause a boom in divorces? How long in effect before the honeymoon on the moon receives an “up Uranus” ending?