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A team of enthusiastic scientists are dressing in
space suits and recreating life on Mars – but in a rocky red desert on
Earth. Researchers from the Mars Society live at a simulated Martian
base, built with the help of American space agency NASA.
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A team of scientists are recreating life on Mars
in a rocky red desert in Utah
A team of enthusiastic scientists are dressing in space suits and
recreating life on Mars – but in a rocky red desert on Earth. |
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Built with the help of NASA
Researchers from the Mars Society live at a simulated Martian base,
built with the help of American space agency NASA. |
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Gang of four
Every time the team of four men and two women leave the Mars Desert
Research Station (MDSF) they must pass through an air lock. They survive
on food rations, conduct research experiments, and shower just once
every three days. |
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40 miles from Hanksville
The cramped, two-storey hut is situated 40 miles (64 kilometres) from
Hanksville, in Utah, with the crew sleeping in small, coffin-like beds.
The surrounding area closely resembles geological and environmental
conditions on Mars, in that it is hot, windy, largely red, and rocky. |
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Inside the base
Contact with the outside world is strictly limited, with a very slow
internet connection restricted to allow just a few emails in and out
each day. Most communication is with 'mission control', who ask the crew
for reports on every aspect of their lives during their two-week shifts.
That includes details on their food intake, exercise, and psychological
status.
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Visitors travel
Visitors travel to the MDRS on a buggy, down an unmarked path littered
with boulders, at a speed of just 5mph (8 kph) .
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Two of the crew out in the field
Mission commander Lara Vimercati, 27, who works as a NASA biologist,
said: 'We have to go through an airlock procedure and suit up before we
have any contact with the outside. Everything we do each day must be as
if we were on another planet. I'd like to be the first person to set
foot on Mars but the first people up there will be engineers. You need
to be able to fix things as they break. But I am a trained biologist, so
maybe I'll be the first person to discover life on Mars.'
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Science backgrounds
The rest of the crew are all from science backgrounds, and realise two
weeks at the base does not guarantee them a space on the first flight.
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Great fun
One crew member said: 'In a way, it's great fun. 'You're miles from
anywhere and you get to put on space suits and pretend you're on a
different planet. Who wouldn't enjoy that? 'It's like a childhood dream
come true.' |
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Suits
The suits worn by the scientists come with their own air-conditioning,
radio units, heavy helmets, and boots.
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