The Arctic Astronauts

The Mars Analogue Research Station (MARS) Programme is an international effort spearheaded by The Mars Society to establish a network of prototype research centres where scientists and engineers can live and work as if they were on Mars, to develop the protocols and procedures that will be required for human operations on Mars, and to test equipment that may be carried and used by human mission to the Red Planet.

In order to achieve these goals, operations at the Habitat Units are performed under "Mars simulation" conditions. This means that once a crew is in a unit, barring a serious medical event or emergency, they live and work as astronauts would on Mars:

• They cannot leave the unit without donning a simulated space suit
• They cannot communicate directly with anyone outside of the unit without a built-in time delay in the communication - the distance between Earth and Mars makes direct conversation impossible
• They can only use the equipment, tools and food available to them inside the habitat.

Each crew spends between 2 weeks and a month living in a habitat unit, performing the kind of work astronauts will be expected to carry out on Mars: collecting rock samples from the surface and examining them back in the habitat; conducting life science experiments; studying the local geology and geomorphology, and so on.

They have even modified their schedules to live by “Mars time,” which is 39 minutes longer than a normal 24-hour Earth day.

At 75° north latitude, Devon Island is the largest uninhabited island on Earth, and it is also notable for the presence of the Haughton impact crater, created some 39 million years ago when a meteorite about 2 km (1.2 mi) in diameter crashed into what were then forests. Haughton retains many geological features that lower-latitude craters lose to erosion. For this reason Haughton and its environs have been dubbed by scientists working there as "Mars on Earth".

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Mars Desert Research Station

The Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) is the second such research station to be built, after the completion of the Station on Devon Island in the Arctic in 2000. While much warmer than Mars, the desert location is optimal because of its Mars-like terrain and appearance.

Last summer, photographer Nadav Neuhaus took some amazing pictures of the astronauts at the desert that I would like to share with you: have a look at this awesome gallery.

More info and sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

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