Our second day in the Mars Desert Research Station was excellent. We had a long briefing session this morning to discuss the different EVA expeditions that are planned for this week. We also decided to go for what Nancy called the Spanish schedule, that is, delaying all our external EVA activities until after four o’clock to avoid the burning afternoon sun. Actually, the temperature differences in the desert are quite marked: the highest temperature was 32 deg. C at 12:38 pm and 4 deg. C at 5:20 am. The task for the first EVA of this rotation was to set-up the station greenhouse and to plant the various seeds that we want to observe. We have four kinds of seeds: radishes, Alfa Alfa sprouts, arugella salad and tatsoe cabbage.
April 7th, 2002
Postcards from Mars (Day 1) European Space Agency (ESA)
This is our first day at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS in short). It is a fantastic place in unbelievable surroundings. The rest of the crew at the base is great. But let me start from the beginning. Arriving here was much easier than last year in the Arctic. It only took 24 hours, door-to-door. Having left Amsterdam Saturday morning, I arrived in Atlanta 9 hours later. In Atlanta I had a two-hour wait for the connection to Salt Lake City. I was picked out at random by security for a strip search (even my shoes were examined). Another 4 hours and I was at Salt Lake City where I met the rest of crew. Bill Clancey, with whom I spent one week at the Mars Station in Devon last year and who will be our Commander for these two weeks. Andrea Fori, planetary geologist from California, was with Bill to greet me at the airport. The rest of the crew was doing the last bit of shopping for the next two weeks. Nancy Wood, a biologist from Chicago, David Real, a journalist from Dallas, and Jan Osburg, an aerospace engineer from Stuttgart, Germany. Jan was actually involved in the student competition to propose alternative redesign of the ISS at the Concurrent Design Facility in ESTEC in February this year.
April 3rd, 2002
Mars Society Calls for Papers, 5th Annual Convention
The Mars Society was founded to further the exploration and settlement of the Red Planet. The International Mars Society convention presents a unique opportunity for those interested in Mars to come together and discuss the technology, science, social implications, philosophy and a multitude of other aspects of Mars exploration. Highlights of the convention will include the report from the third field season of the Devon Island Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station and the first season of the Mars Desert Research Station, status reports from the Translife Mission and Analog Rover teams, panels and debates concerning key issues bearing on Mars exploration and settlement, and keynote addresses from many prominent leaders of the effort to get humans to Mars. Presentations for the convention are invited dealing with all matters (science, engineering, politics, economics, public policy, etc.) associated with the exploration and settlement of Mars. Abstracts of no more than 300 words should be sent by May 31st, 2002.
April 1st, 2002
Mars Desert Research Station crew invites questions from the public
On Tuesday, April 2, from 10am to 7pm MST, the MDRS crew welcomes questions from the public sent straight to the Mars Habitat via email at mdrs@nw.net. Questions are welcome for the whole crew or to individual members of the crew currently at the station. Crew #4 is involved with conceptual testing of a Pressurized Exploration Vehicle (PEV), has completed the first full simulation nocturnal EVA, and is engaged in ongoing biological, psychological and geological research. Please send your questions and expect a brief delay due to the extreme distance of the crew being located on the planet Mars. See the Crew #4 bios page for more information about the background and work of the individual members of the crew. Shannon Rupert, Andrew Hoppin, Jennifer Knowles, Joel McKinnon, Alex Kazerooni, and Judith Lapierre (Commander).
March 27th, 2002
Mars Society Research Blossoms In Desert
A humans to Mars mission is closer to reality, thanks to teams of dedicated volunteers – all hungry to hasten the day of the first footfalls on the red planet. But learning how best to live and work on Mars demands lots of “ground truth” here on Earth. And for the moment, the next best thing to being there is hunkering down in a habitat planted in Southern Utah. Operation of the Mars Society’s Desert Research Station is in full swing. Plans are jelling to set up additional habitats elsewhere, perhaps in Iceland, as well as Australia. Each spot offers unique “Mars-like” conditions, said Robert Zubrin, president of the Mars Society.
March 27th, 2002
Serious Pretending
It’s as close as she and her five-person crew may ever make it to the red planet, but for now, it’s close enough. Their Mars Society Desert Research Station, a squat two-story pod about 25 feet in diameter, is plunked down in the red craggy terrain of the Utah badlands; they’re trekking around in awkward, bulky spacesuits; and they’re pretending
March 25th, 2002
Lord Camrose Makes Major Donation To Mars Society
Lord Camrose, a Peer of the English Realm, has made a donation of
March 25th, 2002
Huge Press Coverage Of Mars Desert Research Station Continues
Over the past week, huge press coverage of the Mars Society’s Mars Desert Research Station has continued worldwide, with broadcasts on the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, Der Spiegel TV in Germany, and the BBC Worldwide Radio. Major stories in the New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and German Focus TV are expected shortly. Through these and other outlets, we have been able to reach hundreds of millions of people with the vision of human exploration and settlement of space, more than all other space advocacy groups have done collectively in their history.
March 23rd, 2002
Life Inside Tall Tin Can in Utah Is All Mars The New York Times
In the red-rock desert west of this lonely little town, six seriously smart people are living in something that looks like a sawed-off corn silo and smells of unwashed socks. They go outside in white canvas space suits trimmed in duct tape. Their helmets are made from plastic light fixtures and white bullet-shaped trash-can lids. In their habitation module (the thing that looks like a silo), they sit with their laptops late into the cold desert night, typing up reports of simulated Mars disasters. The not-so-deadly pretense of living on the Red Planet while hanging out in a tall tin can in southern Utah is the latest wrinkle in a private plan to persuade the federal government to send humans to Mars sooner and for less money than envisioned by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Mars Society — a group of about 5,000 dues-paying Mars enthusiasts from 29 countries, many of whom are space scientists and some of whom work in senior positions at NASA — wants to send men and women to Mars within the next decade, at a cost of $10 billion, far below previous space agency estimates.
March 23rd, 2002
Martians colonize Utah The Philadelphia Inquirer
Fear not. They’re earthlings setting up a mock base to live and learn and dream how life would be on the Red Planet. No one ever said it would be easy to set up a manned Mars base, and it hasn’t been. “Everything always takes longer than it is supposed to,” says an undaunted Robert Zubrin, overseeing it all from mission control. “There’s a million and one details that need to be taken care of.” Critical supplies have to be brought in from vast distances. High winds sometimes scour the construction site. And intense cold has been forcing the crew to drive into town and get a motel room for the night. But the red, green and blue Martian flag has been firmly planted in the unearthly soil of Wayne County, Utah. The first team of astronauts, a heartening blend of nationalities, has struggled into space suits, pushed back the heavy door on the air lock, and ventured forth into a new world. It’s not quite Mars, but it sure looks like it.