In 2003, I was selected by the
Mars Society to spend four weeks at
the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS), a Mars-base analog simulation facility located in one of the
most Mars-like areas of the planet: Devon Island in the Canadian High Arctic, only 900
miles from the North Pole. In addition to doing my own research on human integration
issues, I also had the functions of Safety/Security Officer, Navigator and Communications Engineer.
Here are some pictures of that exciting expedition. Links to more
information can be found at the
bottom of this
page. Don't forget to check out the MDRS
Crew 5,
Crew 37 and
Crew 47 pages, which
cover my adventures at a similar station in Utah.
The Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station on Devon
Island, Canada (75° N, 89° W)
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| FMARS habitation module (or
"Hab") |
FMARS 2003 crew (from left):
Tinsley, Childress, Carlsson, McDaniel, Lee, Tarvin, Osburg |
Taking soil samples and
searching for extremophile microbes was one of our main tasks |
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| Exploration range was greatly
enhanced by ATV-type unpressurized rovers |
Life is scarce but beautiful
near the North Pole |
EVA crew approaching Devon
Island's memorial to the crew of STS-107 |
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| Our main exploration objective
was to reach the northern coast of Devon Island - we did it! |
Me
taking tourist pictures
while watching for polar bears... |
On the map, this lake looked
like the side view of a man with a big belly - hence we named it "Santa Claus
Lake" |
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| Proper preparation prevented
poor performance - especially with respect to EVA navigation |
This map plots our four major
long-range EVAs that more than doubled the range of previous crews |
Satellite navigation is a
necessity in the trackless arctic desert |
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| Jody
Tinsley and me near the top of Devo
Rock, an outcropping three kilometers east of the hab |
Enhancing
crew mobility was a major engineering
objective of our mission - here I demonstrate EVA suit compatibility with
the Dülfer rappelling technique |
We even manufactured
suit-compatible mountaineering equipment from supplies at hand, and I got to
try them out |
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| An EVA suit compatible
stretcher was another item designed, built and tested during our mission |
Each EVA offered plenty
of breath-taking vistas for the crew to enjoy |
Computer work dominated our
activities inside the hab |
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| The sun never set during our
rotation. This view out the northwest window was taken at midnight. |
FMARS 2003 was an unforgettable
experience - we achieved a lot and had even more fun! |
FMARS 2003 mission patch |
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On to Mars!
More information:
This
paper has been published at a 2004 space flight conference
"Postcards
from the Arctic" that I wrote for the Columbus, GA newspaper (also
available as
RTF document)
MSNBC.com articles by
crewmate April Childress
FMARS
Website (on Mars Society website)
The
FMARS 2003 waypoint database as
Google Earth KMZ file
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