We are headed about 450 miles above the Arctic Circle to Devon Island, in the Canadian province of Nunavut. It is the world’s largest uninhabited island and is certainly a semi-finalist in the contest for “most bleak.” Postcards from this muddy rock pile would look a lot like Pathfinder images (just add sepia) and, as it turns out, the similarities to Mars run more than rock deep. It is cold, dry and seemingly lifeless — about as close to the fourth rock from the sun as you’ll find on the third. There are actually two camps sharing the putty-colored tundra. On the edge of a huge asteroid impact crater sits a mock spaceship that serves as home base for the Mars Analog Research Station (MARS). Staged by the Mars Society, the project focuses on how future martian explorers might live and work in such harsh surroundings. For example, before crew members leave the “ship”, they don bulky spacesuits.