Anthonares

This is the complete log (both personal and official) of my time as crewmember of the Mars Society’s FMARS-10 crew. This is a massive post! I’ve included a table of contents to help navigate all of the material here. So, feel free to browse the contents, there’s a lot of writing there, I know. The personal entries are as written while I was there, so they are a bit raw, I would of course moderate them a bit for public consumption but that takes some of the color off.

During July and August 2005 I had the pleasure and honor to serve as part of the 10th crew to man the Mars Society’s Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS). For those unfamiliar with the Mars Society’s space exploration simulation efforts, the FMARS and a sister station in Utah, the Mars Desert Research Station, provide a base for scientists, engineers, and general space enthusiasts to simulate real space exploration. FMARS and MDRS serve as home during crew rotations, are designed to resemble a true Mars lander and habitat. The stations are operated to mimic protocols that Marsnauts would follow, and suits are worn during all science and exploration extra-vehicular activities (EVAs).

First, let me introduce you to the crew with this picture, from left to right:
Judd Reed- our commander and a fellow engineer, a veteran of FMARS-9
Myself- an aspiring hydrogeologist and raw recruit
Andy Wegner- a retired analytical chemist, and an MDRS veteran
Tiffany Vora- our crew XO (second in command), health and safety officer (HSO), and an aspiring molecular biologist, a veteran of two MDRS rotations
Stacy Sklar- an aspiring geologist, and a veteran of two MDRS rotations
Tiziana Trabucchi- an aspiring paleontologist, and a veteran of the “Mona Lisa” MDRS crew

I am going to discuss both the purpose and value, as I see it, of simulated exploration in a future post, but I wanted first to publish my personal account of my trip to FMARS as a crewmember of FMARS-10. I served as both the Crew Engineer and as its Hydrologist. Below is a timeline the trip with major events indicated and links to my personal journal entries as well as reports that I filed to our Mission Control. The reports I filed come in four types: 1) EVA report- this describes the EVA that was conducted during that day in very general terms, 2) Crew Narrative- a reflection on the events and simulation in general by a crew member, and 3) Science Report- these are the detailed write-ups that I did back at the station (which we called the Hab) about the science conducted during EVA, and 4) Engineering narrative- occasionally I wanted to write down some engineering work as well. Also, I’ve linked over to some photo highlights of the mission at Flickr.
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I wrote an article that was published today for The Space Review about the capability of human planetary explorers relative to robotic rovers. I based my article on my experiences up on Devon Island, and some research I’d done as part of a 1-credit seminar class I participated in last Spring about the Mars Exploration Rovers’ science.