How a married couple could survive a round trip to Mars

Last night on the programme we looked ahead to an announcement about a trip to Mars being planned by an American multi-millionaire Dennis Tito. As we anticipated, when the announcement came, it did suggest that a married man and woman would be the best passengers on a flight that would take 501 days in very cramped conditions.

We wondered what marriage could survive that?

And suddenly we thought of a couple we interviewed a while back on iPM - the programme that starts with its listeners. Bill and Laurel Cooper travelled the world on a small yacht for 35 years. They're still married after SIXTY-ONE years and still talking to each other.

We phoned them to sound them out on the idea of going to Mars, and getting their advice based on their sailing experiences.