How to Fake a Mission to Mars On Earth

The scoop: To simulate a mock mission on Mars, seven people recently holed up in a cylinder in the middle of the Canadian Arctic.

Melissa Battler, commander of the mission and astronaut hopeful, shares her thoughts of being stuck on a "fake" Martian landscape for 100 days.

Dave on Earth (10:26 AM): Hi Melissa -- Dave Mosher here.

LivingOnFakeMars (10:28 AM): Hi Dave, looks like it worked!

Dave on Earth (10:28 AM): Sure did! thanks for signing on to do this.

LivingOnFakeMars (10:28 AM): No prob.

Dave on Earth (10:30 AM): Most important questions first: Where are you sitting, and is the weather as miserable as where I'm at?

LivingOnFakeMars (10:31 AM): I'm in my office at the University of Western Ontario. It's a gorgeous sunny day, but chilly and icy.

Dave on Earth (10:32 AM): I'll take sunny and icy over damp and cold any day.
Anywho, you're at the University of Western Ontario. What are you doing there?

LivingOnFakeMars (10:33 AM): I'm a PhD student here, in the Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration, working on my degree in geology/planetary science.
I should add that this is the first (and only! and best!) planetary science graduate program in Canada, and it totally rocks. We have a really awesome group here.

Dave on Earth (10:35 AM): "Totally rocks" -- Pun intended? Though I suppose it wouldn't work for gaseous planets...

LivingOnFakeMars (10:37 AM): Haha! No, pun wasn't intended... good one though, eh? :)

Dave on Earth (10:37 AM): Indeed. Question: why study planetary science and geology?

LivingOnFakeMars (10:37 AM): When I started at the university, I knew that I wanted to explore other planets and hopefully, one day, become an astronaut...
I ended up switching majors about five times before I discovered geology, and I just really love it.
We get paid to play outside in the dirt and we get to travel a lot. And figure out how the Earth and other planets form. Pretty cool stuff.

Dave on Earth (10:38 AM): You said that you want to be an astronaut someday...
A little bird (aka Ryan Kobrick) told me that you sort of were one for awhile. Care to explain?

LivingOnFakeMars (10:41 AM): Yes, true, I would definitely love to be an astronaut someday, and explore the moon or Mars.
As Ryan may have mentioned: he, five others and I spent 4 months during the summer of 2007 living high in the Canadian Arctic.
For 100 days, our crew of seven scientists and engineers simulated a human Mars mission simulation at the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station on Devon Island.

Dave on Earth (10:43 AM): Wow. How big -- or should I say small -- was the place you lived in?

LivingOnFakeMars (10:44 AM): Think of two giant tuna cans stacked on top of each other.
Our habitat was about 8 meters (26 feet) in diameter, and about 8 meters tall.

Dave on Earth (10:45 AM): Did you ever go outside? Seems a bit cramped, even by comparison to the International Space Station.
I think by day two I would start saying "hey guys, this isn't fun anymore..."

LivingOnFakeMars (10:46 AM): We did spend a lot of time outside. We were simulating a Mars mission, however, so we had to wear simulated surface suits to leave the habitat.
During our expedition, we conducted 22 research projects, most of which involved gathering samples and data outside, including a few projects that required drilling into the permafrost.
And yes, it sounds pretty small --but luckily we had a really great crew, and everyone got along really well together. It was cozy!
We selected crew members who were up for the challenge, and who were adaptable enough to deal with tough situations.

Dave on Earth (10:46 AM): What "tough situations" did you bump into?

LivingOnFakeMars (10:46 AM): Tough situations...
Well, the weather provided some difficulties. Some days it was too foggy to safely go outside -- there are polar bears on Devon Island, and if you don't have a reasonable amount of visibility, it's just not safe.

Dave on Earth (10:47 AM): If I was a polar bear, I suppose a space-suited human would be like a shrink-wrapped ham. Or perhaps a turkey.

LivingOnFakeMars (10:47 AM): Right :) Then there were the seasonal changes in the Arctic. When we arrived on May 1, it was -40 degrees C, and snowy.
By mid June the snow was melting like crazy, and it was starting to get muddy. So we switched from snowmobiles to ATVs for transportation to our study sites, making transportation challenging and frustrating.
It was also the most important point in the summer to drill and collect data on permafrost melting rates, so... it was a bit of a tough time.

Dave on Earth (10:48 AM): Nothing like a muddy spacesuit.
To stab at a bigger idea: You and six others (all guys?) holed up in a cylinder for four months, dodged polar bears, drilled into the ground, and so on...
...Why?

LivingOnFakeMars (10:49 AM): Nope, not all guys -- the crew consisted of four males and three females, all from Canada and the United States.
Why did we conduct the simulation? To learn a few key lessons in preparing for the human exploration of the moon or Mars. By 2020, NASA and several other space agencies intend to send humans back to the moon.
But this time it won't be for "flags and footprints" missions like Apollo.
This time we'll be sending crews for roughly 6-month-long missions, and they'll need to carry out research, survive the harsh lunar environment and withstand the psychological challenges of being in isolation with a small team.

Dave on Earth (10:52 AM): Thanks. Now those cute and cuddly polar bears...
I'm guessing they were, um, a "unique" condition to Earth -- and not Mars?

LivingOnFakeMars (10:52 AM): It's true; we wouldn't expect to see polar bears on Mars!
But they were a good simulation of dangerous situations you might encounter on another world. Constantly being alert to danger was pretty accurate, even if the specific threat wasn't the same.
Oh, and we didn't actually see any polar bears. We did see fresh tracks, but the noise from our drill, ATV's, etc. probably scared them away.
That, or they were participating in the simulation and decided it would be more accurate if they didn't' show themselves ;)

Dave on Earth (10:52 AM): Thanks. To return to "tough situations," I share an apartment with a lady. She doesn't smell. I do.
Did you and the crew encounter any "difficulties" such as that -- stinky guys?
I would think -- aside from getting to Mars -- that the biggest challenge would be to keep a crew healthy, both mentally and physically.

LivingOnFakeMars (10:53 AM): Haha! Actually, one staple of our Mars simulation diet was "TVP." Are you familiar with the stuff? Textured vegetable protein. Soy. Not so easy to digest...

Dave on Earth (10:54 AM): I made "ants climbing tree" last night, and I replace the pork with tofu -- similar to TVP, I guess.
Today is a good example of why I might be kicked out of a Martian habitat...

LivingOnFakeMars (10:55 AM): So you know about it, then -- TVP led to a few unpleasant "situations," but nothing worse than a university dorm!
In any case, yes, you're absolutely right. Our number-one concern on the expedition was safety, including the physical and mental health of the crew. We had remote doctors on call 24/7, but luckily nothing more than tooth aches and bumps/scratches needed treatment.
Still, the nearest medical help was at least half a day away by Twin Otter (a bush plane) -- or a lot more, depending on weather.
So before embarking for Devon Island, the crew took did a three-day wilderness first aid course, and one crew member with paramedic training was deemed our "medical officer" -- but we certainly didn't have a surgeon with us!
Hence, we had very strict rules for safety and protocols for "extravehicular activity" (EVA) teams.

Dave on Earth (10:58 AM): Thanks for that. So there's physical health -- what about the crew's mental health?

LivingOnFakeMars (10:58 AM): We had a few psychologists and physiologists conducting studies on us, and touching base with us to make sure we were all feeling okay. Half the challenge is selecting a crew that is likely to be able to cope with challenges, but the other half of the challenge is to make sure that the crew maintains mental and physical health.

Dave on Earth (10:59 AM): I see. Are there any groups simulating moon or Mars missions in "tuna cans"?

LivingOnFakeMars (10:59 AM): The Canadian Space Agency supports several "analogue research sites" (areas similar to lunar and planetary surfaces) in the Arctic and British Columbia.
So far, our simulation in 2007 has been the only full-scale human mission simulation conducted. Hopefully we'll see more in the near future, as we still have plenty to learn!
FMARS could be viewed as a simulated moon mission in a lot of ways, though.

Dave on Earth (11:00 AM): How?