San Diego Space Society

Crew Lands at FMARS

Posted by Chris Radcliff in Mars Society, News on July 7, 2009

Last week, the 2009 crew of the Mars Society’s Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS) landed on Devon Island and started settling into the hab.

In addition to performing repairs on the hab, ATVs and other equipment, the crew is also active with the spill-containment site construction, the garbage incinerator setup and testing, space suit repairs, gun safety training, bear training and setting up and testing our scientific equipment.

The Mars Society operates FMARS in order to “develop key knowledge needed to prepare for human Mars exploration, and to inspire the public by making real the vision of human exploration of Mars.”

The FMARS 2009 research projects on Devon Island include the aerial and ground geological surveys along with Seismic and Time-domain Electromagnetic Surveys that will be conducted on mineralized structures found around the Haughton Meteor crater wall. This will be coupled with field testing various GPS instruments, cameras, MIT Mission Planner software and the Omega Envoy prototype lunar rover. Other activities include testing Class IV Laser Therapy.

The previous crew, sent in Summer 2007, stayed for an extended four-month mission. The current crew of seven will stay for the month of July, then present their findings to the 12th International Mars Society Convention at the University of Maryland.

[via The Mars Society San Diego]