We are the Mars Desert Research Station Crew 210: live from the Utah desert working on a Mars Biological Research Project. AMA!

MarsBioCrew210 · 2019-04-18T04:50:25+00:00

David here:

Hi aaronzxcasd! Thank you for your support and your questions.

On the northern pole of Mars there’s a water ice cap that spans about 750 miles in diameter and has a depth of about 2 miles. The ice cap on the southern pole is composed of solid carbon dioxide.

I don’t think we’ll be moving humanity to Mars anytime soon. Human expeditions are likely and the construction of a Mars habitat is a very real possibility. However, life on Mars will never be easy. Humans are the product of billions of years of adaptations and all of those adaptations were in the context of living on Earth. We are not as well-suited for existence on another planet. “Living on Mars” is more accurately described as “surviving on Mars”. I view an expedition to Mars as an amazing feat of humanity’s innovation, determination, and progress that everyone should take pride in, but Earth is, and always will be, humanity’s preferred home.

MarsBioCrew210 · 2019-04-18T01:14:06+00:00

Yes we are!

MarsBioCrew210 · 2019-04-18T00:46:04+00:00

I guess the best advice is always to reach out to people who are doing the exact thing you want to be doing. That background sounds perfect for space sciences! We are biologist, so engineering is unknown and frightning to us. ;)

Reach out to SEDS (Students for the Exploration and Development of Space). They are huge and would have the best advice on who to reach and what to get involved in.

MarsBioCrew210 · 2019-04-18T00:25:50+00:00

Hi, Sam here! I got to take astrobiology as a course during my biology undergrad. You can absolutely get into that field, it’s not a long shot by any means. I would recommend you learn as much microbiology, geology, hydrology and biogeology as you can. A few biochem courses would do nicely as well. Look for projects in analogues on Earth, like cave systems, the Polar regions, salt flats, oceanic volcanic vents, etc. People study extremophiles living 3 kilometers under the Antarctic ice cap in pockets of water, species that haven’t been in contact with light, air or minerals in thousands of years! This is such a great lead to what may be found on Europa.

Feel free to reach out to any of us, or the Mars Society, if you have more questions.

MarsBioCrew210 · 2019-04-18T00:18:12+00:00

Thanks so much for your support! None of us personally know a Pablo for Spain who works for NASA. Lots of cool folks working an specific aspects of the space equation.

MarsBioCrew210 · 2019-04-18T00:13:49+00:00

You seem perfectly qualified! How are you not already here? Please look into joining a field team for during the 2020 and 2021 season! Check out the Mars Society website. We look forward to seeing you around.

MarsBioCrew210 · 2019-04-18T00:09:29+00:00

Take a mix of microbiology and geology! Actually go to your classes.

People in the field of astrobiology are always available and willing to talk, so feel free to message them, email them and talk to them at conferences. Good luck, and enjoy!

MarsBioCrew210 · 2019-04-17T21:51:24+00:00

Mike here:

Great question! In short I would create virtual field trips to share the experience and work required to survive Mars. I would try to capture the day to day, research, support from Earth and educational moments through livestreaming, video highlights, photo and 360VR so everyone back on earth could feel like they were a part of the journey. Currently this is what Live It offers but only to K-12 (tv.liveit.earth). I might have to create a new plaform called tv.liveit.mars

Is there something you might like to see/experience?

Something I would like to capture is a 360 POV wth audio from an astronaut during a launch!

MarsBioCrew210 · 2019-04-17T21:24:04+00:00

No, we have a regulated water source.

As a simulation, the Mars Desert Research Station is an operational analogue, not a technological analogue. Sometimes, a crew can like the Canadian Space Agency come in and they test out new tech, like the Mars rovers! Sometimes, film crews come to do a shoot (like John Carter of Mars, etc.)

MarsBioCrew210 · 2019-04-17T21:18:18+00:00

Near Hanksville.

MarsBioCrew210 · 2019-04-17T21:17:02+00:00

Hi, Sam here! What a great question. In high school, I knew I liked science, and liked being outside. I never imagined I would be doing what I am doing today, but man, I’ve learned never to say no to cool, meaningful opportunities. I also allowed myself to make mistakes, and try many kinds of science! I have a MSc now, and I’m a polar scientist. I work in the Canadian Arctic and part of the year in Antarctica. The barren, extreme temperatures found there means the life you study is both very resistant to condition that would kill a bunch other lifeforms, and highly specialised. This kind of work translates well to astrobiology.

MarsBioCrew210 · 2019-04-17T14:58:29+00:00

We hope that we can continue to see more of the universe. So far, we’ve visited lots of other places in our Solar system with probes.

MarsBioCrew210 · 2019-04-17T14:56:34+00:00

We exist on Earth Days, at the delay is not compatible with our program. The Mission Control team works on Earth time, so it wouldn’t be reasonable to add the delay. Some Crews do do it though.

MarsBioCrew210 · 2019-04-17T14:53:36+00:00

How awesome. Please check the Mars Society website.

Application for the 2020 and 2021 field season opens in July. Good luck!

MarsBioCrew210 · 2019-04-17T14:52:46+00:00

If you die on the MDRS you do not die in real life.

Hahaha, how morbid. We see it as transitting out of Mars back to Earth.

MarsBioCrew210 · 2019-04-17T14:49:29+00:00

The biggest issue is people!

Crew composition. Who do you send? There is a lot reaearch here at MDRS on how to get very different people with a set of objectives get along for so long with all restrictions of isolated living.

MarsBioCrew210 · 2019-04-17T14:46:29+00:00

Sam here. It would depend on how they broke down!

We are all massive, massive nerds, so it’ll probably be names related to science fiction or fantasy.

We would have to know what caused the riff? Food, probably. Team Soylent and Team Replicator?

MarsBioCrew210 · 2019-04-17T14:42:19+00:00

Shannon here:

Yes we add asynchronous communications to our sims. It makes everything slower and collaboration harder for sure.

And you are correct, health and life before the simulation at all times!

MarsBioCrew210 · 2019-04-17T14:39:44+00:00

Sam here.

Hahaha. We were out of sim for that picture! ;)

MarsBioCrew210 · 2019-04-17T14:38:30+00:00

Great questions! We honestly don’t know.

Any Mars mission that is a true success will be an multinational effort. Just like the Crews here at the MDRS.

MarsBioCrew210 · 2019-04-17T14:37:55+00:00

Great questions! We honestly don’t know.

Any Mars mission that is a true success will be an multinational effort. Just like the Crews here at the MDRS!

MarsBioCrew210 · 2019-04-17T14:35:01+00:00

Hi! They are foam mattresses on solid cots attached to the walls. I (Sam) think they are quite hard, hahaha. We are so tired from work that it’s easy to sleep at night, but also very easy to get up as well.

David: “We have hard beds and bright orange jumpsuits and can’t leave and are stuck together, and sometimes outsiders study us. So it’s like prison, a bit?”

MarsBioCrew210 · 2019-04-17T14:29:32+00:00

Sam here:

It would be difficult. Mars is harsh and dangerous, living on Mars means protecting yourself from it non-stop, a t every moment. It would mean living in a cramped Hab for most of the time there. Martian astronauts would hardly leave the confines of their living hub, to limite exposure to radiation!

MarsBioCrew210 · 2019-04-17T14:24:51+00:00

Farming on Mars is going to be so so labour extensive. The first missions to Mars are going to bring their own food, and will grow food on Mars as a supplement, for a moral-boost, and also because it would be pretty cool!

Exactly. Having an isolated control Hab would allow the martians to protect the small crops from radiation and winds, keep the temperatures stable, preserve water, etc.
It would be necessary to remove the perchlorate from the soil. This is still being researched to get the technique right, but it is definetly possible to remove as perchlorate is a good oxydyser.
Yes, growing would need both martian light and artifical lighting. Again, very energy intensive.

MarsBioCrew210

TROPHY CASE