FMARS 2003
In 2003, I was selected by the Mars Society to spend four weeks at the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS), a Mars base 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 was the Safety/Security Officer, Navigator and Communications Engineer.
Here are some pictures of that exciting expedition; many more are in my Google Photos album. 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 the Mars Desert Research Station, a similar station in Utah.
Please contact me if you want full-resolution versions or if you plan to use any of these pictures.
The Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station on Devon Island, NT, Canada (75.431319N 89.823403W)
FMARS habitation module (or "Hab")
FMARS 2003 crew
Exploration range was greatly enhanced by ATV-type unpressurized rovers.
Taking soil samples and searching for extremophile microbes was one of our main tasks.
Life is scarce but beautiful near the North Pole.
What if the first astronauts on Mars found an artifact like this one?
Computer work dominated our activities inside the hab.
The sun never set during our rotation. This view out the northwest window was taken at midnight.
On to Mars!
More Information
Paper on the FMARS 2003 crew experience, published at a 2004 space flight conference
Paper on cognitive testing at FMARS 2003, published at a 2004 space flight conference
"Postcards from the Arctic" that I wrote for the "Columbus Ledger-Enquirer" newspaper
MSNBC.com article series written by crewmate April Childress
FMARS Crew 8 mission information and daily dispatches (via archive.org)
The FMARS 2003 waypoint database as a Google Earth KMZ file