It took 17 hours and 5 different airplanes, but I finally got to Mars—or the next best thing. I had arrived at NASA’s Haughton Mars Project on Devon Island. At its northernmost tip, the island is less than 500 miles from the North Pole.
The cold, dusty land on Devon Island is similar to that of Mars. That’s why scientists from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have traveled to the faraway island every summer since 1996. Some 15 to 20 scientists at a time take advantage of the Arctic’s similarities to Mars. They go there to conduct research and to test equipment that might one day be used to allow astronauts to explore the Red Planet.