MDRS Archive - 2013

The Mars Society's Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Utah.

Mars 160 Mission - Underway Now!Follow the latest on the Mars 160 Mission by visiting the Mars 160 Website.

Visitors please note: From September 24, 2016 to May 31, 2017, the Mars Desert Research Station is closed to visitors. This is our active MDRS field season and crews will be in residence throughout this period carrying out very important research and field exploration. While we appreciate your interest in our Mars station, it is important for our crews to be able to do their work without any interruption. You are welcome to take photos from a distance behind the signs near the main road, but please do not approach the station, even if you do not see any active signs of occupation or activity. We appreciate your cooperation in this matter and are working to schedule several visitor days during Spring 2017. Please check our MDRS Facebook page for those dates early in the new year. Thank you.

Crews - MDRS 2016-2017 Field Season

Congratulations to all the teams who have been selected as crew members at MDRS for the 2016-2017 field season!

Crew 171—Dec 17, 2016- Jan 1, 2017—SEDS

Crew 172—Dec 31, 2016- Jan 15, 2017—Mars Society Crew

Crew 173—Jan 14-29, 2017—Team Prima

Crew 174—Jan 28-Feb12, 2017— Planeteers

Crew 175—Feb 11-Mar 5, 2017—Supaero

Mars Analog Field Science Course— Mar 4-12, 2017—Instructors: Kathy Bywaters and Shannon Rupert

Crew 176—Mar 11-26, 2017—PolMars

Crew 177—Mar 25-Apr 9, 2017—Lonestar Highlanders

Crew 178—Apr 8-23, 2017—UCL to Mars

Crew 179—Apr 22-30, 2017—Wilderness Medical Society

Crew 180—Apr 29-May 14, 2017— Team LATAM 1

Crew 181—May 13-28, 2017—Mars Society Crew

MDRS 2016-2017 Field Season Applications Information

2016-2017 Application Form

2016-2017 Application Form Instructions

Preliminary Research Information Form (PRIF)

Public Visits to MDRS

We receive a lot of requests to visit the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Utah. In addition, a number of you stop by the facility (unannounced). We welcome each and every one of you, however, during the annual MDRS field season, which runs from September through May, please respect that our simulation-isolation facility is intended for research and testing to help further our understanding of human Mars exploration.

We kindly ask that you do not approach the MDRS station if you don’t see anyone in the area. During this time, the crew will be in full simulation, meaning they are either inside the habitat or out in the field carrying out important research, but they are definitely there and should not be disturbed or approached. If you are in the area, please stay on the main road for viewing.

If you happen to stop by on a day when there are people outside the MDRS station who are not in spacesuits, then you have arrived on a crew change-over day or during a crew work visit day, both of which means the crew is not in simulation. On these occasions, you can come up to the station and ask if it is possible to have a brief tour of the habitat. If convenient, we will be happy to show you around and talk a little about what we are doing.

For our MDRS crews, the habitat is their home “on Mars”. It is at their discretion whether or not you will be allowed to enter the facility or how much of the habitat you will get to see. Please don’t be offended if you are not invited inside the station. The work at MDRS is very important, as is sharing it with the general public. Please contact us if you have any questions. Thank you.