A year ago, I embarked on my mission to Mars. It all started with a call for proposals from the Mars Society of Canada that read:

The Mars Society of Canada (MSC) is now accepting applications for ExDelta and ExEpsilon – two-week training and research missions to the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Utah. The purpose of ExDelta and ExEpsilon is to certify new recruits for participation in future large-scale research expeditions, to expose researchers to the facilities and environment typically available in a Mars analog setting, and to cross-train participants in several areas including geology, biology, technology and operations as they pertain to human Mars exploration.

I have always had an interest in space and space exploration, so I applied. Even though I thought I had a one in a million chance, I was contacted for an interview very quickly, and was offered the position as Crew Biologist for ExDelta in February 2008. Crew 66 was an All-Canadian crew which consisted of our commander from Alberta, our executive officer from Ontario, our chief engineer from Ontario, two other engineers from Quebec, a biologist from PEI, a geologist from British Columbia and another researcher from British Columbia. (More detailed bios are available.)  The crew met via Skype for a number of pre-expedition planning meetings but met in person February first.

These expeditions are designed to help develop key knowledge needed to prepare for human Mars exploration, and to inspire the public, the Mars Society has initiated the Mars Analog Research Station (MARS) project. As participants in these Mars-like environments, we launched a program of geology and biology field exploration operations conducted in the same style and under many of the same constraints as they would on the Red Planet. By doing so, we will start the process of learning how to explore on Mars.
Don Foutz was the local contact for crews arriving in Hanksville. His reputation preceded him via others who had been on previous missions. He knew everything about keeping the station going. He was responsible for delivering our shipments from mission control, our water, the fuel, for our back up generators, and our packages of supplies. We met “The Don” at Whispering Sands in Hanksville, Utah. He took us out to the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS). I had visited the website and viewed pictures of MDRS but none of this research prepared me for how far removed we were from everything. Hanksville is very rural but even from there, getting to the station required a trek down the road, through a cattle field, and around some interesting rock formations before arrival at the habitat or “Hab” as we all called it. Our first night was one of the best viewing nights–we picked out Mars, and some key constellations. The previous crew, Crew 65, even had an astronomer who took us to the observatory. We viewed Mars, the Orion Nebula, Andromeda Galaxy, and Saturn. I had taken a university course in Astronomy but did not realize the light pollution in Charlottetown, PEI, until I was in the middle of the Utah desert where there was so much less light. What an amazing way to start the expedition!

Back in the Hab, we had tea and hot chocolate. I got a quick tour of the laboratory facilities from the scientists in Crew 65. Crew 66 all camped out on the main floor the first night as Crew 65 were all still in their bunks. There’s nothing like close quarters to get to know everyone quickly! The next morning, we did the crew handover, where the old crew hands over the keys to the new crew. After the handover, Crew 66 had our first breakfast of freeze-dried food. I chose scrambled eggs with bacon. The first day I enjoyed it. However, it did get old quickly! Eventually, even the good food begins to taste similar, since all we did was add water to eat it. I am sure by the end of the expedition if I did not eat salt or cholesterol for ages, I would still be well above recommended levels. We chose to add some salads and plants from the GreenHab to our diet. Two weeks of freeze-dried food gave me a new appreciation for vegetables!

I loved the Hab. Downstairs, we had the airlock to outside, the airlock to the GreenHab, the washroom, the shower room, and the lab. Upstairs was the living area. We had six “staterooms.” Basically the room consisted of the bottom or top of a bunk, enough room to walk in, and a small desk. The view from the Hab porthole really made us believe that we were actually on Mars.

We spent the first day training and getting ready for our simulation to begin. We learned how to drive the ATVs, read the maps, use the GPS, maintain the GreenHab, and many other things. We loved the freedom of the ATVs; however, we did need to learn to navigate before donning space suits with limited visibility and mobility. Out in the field, John and I, the two biologists, gave a brief lesson in field sampling. Rock climbing was our next lesson, as we wanted to get up and investigate the different layers in the rock, at the top of the plateau.  Another interesting thing we found at the top were piles of fossilized sea shells from the age when the entire area was covered by water. Each night, one of the crew members did a presentation of their work or project to the rest of us, therefore helping cross train all individuals in the crew.

Our first Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) was amazing. All of us were anxious to get into the simulated space suits. However, because there was such a large crew, two members had to go on the practice EVA without suits. They became the designated photographers and guides on the journey up radio ridge. Getting into the simulated space suits took some time (although by the end of the week, it was second nature). There were many comments like, “What is this for?” and “How do you get this on?”, but with help from the experienced members of the crew, we eventually found ourselves  in the space suits ready to enter the airlock for the first time. Our first EVA was a climb to the top of radio ridge above the Hab.  It seemed really easy, until we realized how the suits impair mobility. The counter balance of climbing with a pack, even the relatively light one in the simulated suits, took some getting used to. Most days we had at least two EVAs, usually one science EVA and one other. Throughout the course of the expedition, I realized that feeling the wind on my face is one of the joys I experience from being outdoors, and it was this feeling that I missed the most while in full simulation. I hated always being in the suit outdoors on beautiful days. Since we were still Earth-based, none of us experienced weightlessness. We chose to spend a couple of minutes in the airlock on the way out and the way back in from EVA to simulate decompression and recompression that astronauts must wait through.

The scenery around the Hab was amazing: we really felt like we were on  Mars.  Looking out the porthole at the front of the Hab we had a view of a flat plateau of red soil and in the distance hills with multiple alternating layers of various soil types.  The window by my room door looked out past the observatory and up radio ridge.  The rock lined path to the observatory was white dust up to the edge of a cliff.  Radio ridge was the hill that we climbed on the first day.  It also had the alternating layers of sandy soil.  I remember climbing it in the suit that first time it felt so high but then when we looked down it really was not that bad.  By the end of the expedition, we had climbed to much higher heights.
The entire expedition taught me so many new skills, such as how to field sample in space suits with awkward gloves (flaming our tools was interesting. I only burned one set of gloves), how to get lost in the desert missing the rendezvous with our commander, how to climb and hike in a full spacesuit, and how to drive an ATV without any peripheral vision because it was blocked by the helmet. A renewed appreciation for our many daily extravagances at home was another benefit.  Warm showers, reliable power supply, and reliable communications will never again be assumed.

Each of the scientists had their own research project. Kerry Cupit was working on analyzing the gas in the soil. His project aimed to locate in-situ resources of water and methane close to the surface around the MDRS area with the idea that future astronauts could use these techniques for locating drinking water and fuel soon after landing on Mars. My project involved whole effluent toxicity (WET) testing of GreenHab water. I exposed small water fleas to effluent (water from different stages of the water purification system in the GreenHab). I had planned to collect water from snow and ice pockets found while on EVA. However, I experienced delays in my shipment of materials. From these results it appears that the water after the trickle tanks is more toxic than that taken after the UV filter. It has been noted that ability extract and use water sources available on Mars would be a key asset in a proposed mission. Arthur Guest, our open ended researcher, was field-testing a container which tracked supplies.  Due to the relatively small amount of supplies required for a two week MDRS mission it was probably unnecessary, however, the containers could provide time-savings on longer duration missions.  John Thalar, our commander, worked with us on extremophile collections.  We collected samples from areas of salt deposits we found while on EVA.  Collaborators, back on Earth, will analyze the samples collected looking for salt-loving bacteria, called halophiles.  Our amazing engineers, Anna Grinberg, Perry Edmundson, Michele Faragalli and Nasim Kevah  kept everything running around MDRS.

On top of all of the daily chores and research, we had visitors!  Author Mary Roach was doing research for her new book and appeared genuinely interested in what we were doing.  Mic Faragalli and I took her out on and EVA to collect samples. I loved her stories, especially regarding the application process to become a participant in an isolation study by the European Space Agency and Russian scientists. The crew had a lively discussion with Mary on the realistic timeframe until a mission to Mars, who would lead it, and whether you would go if given the opportunity. A Japanese film crew came to tape a documentary about men and women working together. It was supposed to air on the network comparable to the CBC in Japan. They seemed to be really pressed for time, but very genuine. We got some wonderful parting gifts as a small thank you from the crew.  I loved the experience but do not think that I would want to be a film star.

The time in full simulation flew by: It seemed that we had only started, when we were breaking simulation. In the final days of the mission, we completed our final report and compiled a video documentary of our experience.

It was a wonderful couple of weeks spent with a crew of like-minded individuals. We came together and became a team so quickly and efficiently that by the end of our mission, I felt like they were all my old friends. The Hab seemed to shrink as the expedition advanced. Crew 66 became a family and as such were very close. I cannot image the experience had I been on a team that was not so amicable.

Spending two weeks isolated from society with only sporadic electronic contact made me appreciate many things: my family, consistent power supply, running water that did not freeze when pumped too early in the day or too late at night, hot water showers, and fresh food. Minor inconveniences aside, the expedition became a time of personal growth filled with new knowledge and wonderful discussions. A simulation experience like the one at the Mars Desert Research Station takes the dream of space exploration and makes it a reality.

Photos courtesy of Cheryl Wartman

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