Mars Institute

Last updated
The Mars Institute Moon-1 Humvee Rover in Cambridge Bay waiting for the 109th Airlift Squadron's C-130 to airlift it to Resolute Bay Airport Mars Institute Humvee.JPG
The Mars Institute Moon-1 Humvee Rover in Cambridge Bay waiting for the 109th Airlift Squadron's C-130 to airlift it to Resolute Bay Airport

The Mars Institute is an international non-governmental organization created with the goals of advancing the scientific study and exploration of Mars, conducting peer-reviewed research, and educating the public about Mars exploration. [1] It was incorporated as a non-profit corporation in both United States and Canada in 2002.

The Haughton-Mars Project is an interdisciplinary research project being carried out by the Mars Institute and SETI. The Haughton-Mars Project is dedicated to advancing planetary science and exploration. The Haughton-Mars Project is centered on the scientific study of the Haughton meteorite impact crater and surrounding terrain on Devon Island. [2] The institute also supports two other projects: the Mars Institute Mars-1 Humvee Rover and the Romance to Reality project. Donated by AM General, the Mars-1 Humvee is designed to accommodate crews of up to four researchers on Devon Island and to act as a test bed for future crewed rovers on the Moon and Mars. [3] The Romance to Reality: Moon & Mars mission plans project was first launched on August 28, 1996 by David S. F. Portree. This project is a project that documents and teaches about the many plans for space missions and programs that either never happened or took a long time to actually complete. The Romance to Reality project was written by David S. F. Portree until 2006. In 2001, he wrote a spin off to Romance to Reality that was called Humans to Mars. After both of these websites, David S. F. Portree created a blog titled Beyond Apollo that moved to WIRED in 2012. In 2015, David S. F. Portree then moved to another blog which is called DSFP's Spaceflight History Blog which is still currently running. [4]

Mars Institute-USA is based in the NASA Ames Research Park at Moffett Field, California. Mars Institute-Canada is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Related Research Articles

The Mars Society is a nonprofit organization that advocates for human Mars exploration and colonization, founded by Robert Zubrin in 1998. It is based on Zubrin's Mars Direct plan, which aims to make human mission to Mars as lightweight and feasible as possible. The Mars Society aims to garner support for the Mars program by lobby the United States and other governments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Planetary Society</span> International non-governmental nonprofit organization

The Planetary Society is an American internationally-active non-governmental nonprofit organization. It is involved in research, public outreach, and political space advocacy for engineering projects related to astronomy, planetary science, and space exploration. It was founded in 1980 by Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray, and Louis Friedman, and has about 60,000 members from more than 100 countries around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mars Desert Research Station</span>

The Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) is the largest and longest-running Mars surface research facility in the world and is one of two simulated Mars analog habitats owned and operated by the Mars Society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Squyres</span> Professor of Physical Sciences at Cornell University

Steven Weldon Squyres is an American astronomer and planetary scientist. He was the James A. Weeks Professor of Physical Sciences at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. His research area is in planetary sciences, with a focus on large solid bodies in the Solar System such as the terrestrial planets and the moons of the Jovian planets. Squyres was the principal investigator of the Mars Exploration Rover Mission (MER).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Devon Island</span> Large uninhabited island northern Canada

Devon Island is an island in Canada and the largest uninhabited island in the world. It is located in Baffin Bay, Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is one of the largest members of the Arctic Archipelago, the second-largest of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Canada's sixth-largest island, and the 27th-largest island in the world. It has an area of 55,247 km2 (21,331 sq mi). The bedrock is Precambrian gneiss and Paleozoic siltstones and shales. The highest point is the Devon Ice Cap at 1,920 m (6,300 ft) which is part of the Arctic Cordillera. Devon Island contains several small mountain ranges, such as the Treuter Mountains, Haddington Range and the Cunningham Mountains. The notable similarity of its surface to that of Mars has attracted interest from scientists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station</span> Simulated Mars habitat on Devon Island, Nunavut, Canada

The Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS) is the first of two simulated Mars habitats located on Devon Island, Nunavut, Canada, which is owned and operated by the Mars Society. The station is a member of the EU-INTERACT, circumarctic network of currently 89 terrestrial field bases located in northern Europe, Russia, US, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Scotland as well as stations in northern alpine areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pascal Lee</span> American planetary scientist

Pascal Lee is co-founder and chairman of the Mars Institute, a planetary scientist at the SETI Institute, and the Principal Investigator of the Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. He holds an ME in geology and geophysics from the University of Paris, and a PhD in astronomy and space sciences from Cornell University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haughton–Mars Project</span>

The Haughton–Mars Project (HMP) is an international interdisciplinary field research project being carried out near the Haughton impact crater on Canada's northern Devon Island. Human-centered computing (HCC) studies are aimed at determining how human explorers might live and work on other planetary objects, in particular on Mars. Conducted jointly by SETI and the Mars Institute, the project's goal is to utilize the Mars-like features of Devon Island and the impact crater to develop and test new technologies and field operating procedures, and to study the human dynamics which result from extended contact in close quarters. This knowledge will be used in planning missions by both humans and robots to other terrestrial bodies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of space exploration</span> Overview of and topical guide to space exploration

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to space exploration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Space Exploration Initiative</span> 1989-1993 program outlining NASAs long-term vision for crewed interplanetary missions

The Space Exploration Initiative was a 1989–1993 space public policy initiative of the George H. W. Bush administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human mission to Mars</span> Proposed concepts

The idea of sending humans to Mars has been the subject of aerospace engineering and scientific studies since the late 1940s as part of the broader exploration of Mars. Some have also considered exploring the Martian moons of Phobos and Deimos. Long-term proposals have included sending settlers and terraforming the planet. Proposals for human missions to Mars came from e.g. NASA, Russia, Boeing, and SpaceX. As of 2022, only robotic landers and rovers have been on Mars. The farthest humans have been beyond Earth is the Moon.

Human analog missions are activities undertaken on Earth in various environments to simulate aspects of human missions to other worlds, including the Moon, asteroids, and Mars. These remote field tests are performed in locations that are identified based on their physical similarities to the extreme space environments of a target mission. Such activities are undertaken to test hardware and operational concepts in relevant environments.

Terrestrial analogue sites are places on Earth with assumed past or present geological, environmental or biological conditions of a celestial body such as the Moon or Mars. Analogue sites are used in the frame of space exploration to either study geological or biological processes observed on other planets, or to prepare astronauts for surface extra-vehicular activity.

The (Japanese) Lunar Exploration Program (月探査計画) is a program of robotic and human missions to the Moon undertaken by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and its division, the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS). It is also one of the three major enterprises of the JAXA Space Exploration Center (JSPEC). The main goal of the program is "to elucidate the origin and evolution of the Moon and utilize the Moon in the future".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emily Lakdawalla</span> Planetary geologist and writer

Emily Stewart Lakdawalla is an American planetary geologist and former Senior Editor of The Planetary Society, contributing as both a science writer and a blogger. She has also worked as a teacher and as an environmental consultant. She has performed research work in geology, Mars topography, and science communication and education. Lakdawalla is a science advocate on various social media platforms, interacting with space professionals and enthusiasts on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter. She has appeared on such media outlets as NPR, BBC and BBC America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crewed Mars rover</span> Mars rovers transporting people

Crewed Mars rovers are Mars rovers for transporting people on the planet Mars, and have been conceptualized as part of human missions to that planet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northwest Passage Drive Expedition</span>

The Northwest Passage Drive Expedition (NWPDX) (2009–2011) was a multi-stage vehicular expedition from the North American mainland to Devon Island in the high Arctic, by way of the Northwest Passage. The expedition was led by planetary scientist Pascal Lee. Although the expedition was primarily logistical and was not intended to be a high fidelity simulation of a crewed pressurized rover traverse on the Moon or Mars, it was the first long-distance road trip dedicated to planetary exploration studies and provided important lessons for planning future long-range vehicular traverses off Earth. The expedition was also the first crossing of the Northwest Passage in a road vehicle. The first stage of the expedition, NWPDX-2009, established a record for the longest distance driven continuously on sea-ice in a road vehicle: 496 km (308 mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darlene Lim</span> NASA geobiologist

Darlene Sze Shien Lim is a NASA geobiologist and exobiologist who prepares astronauts for scientific exploration of the Moon, Deep Space and Mars. Her expertise involves Mars human analog missions, in which extreme landscapes like volcanoes and Arctic deserts serve as physical or operational substitutes for various planetary bodies. She has become a leading public figure for Mars exploration, having presented her missions publicly at academic institutions and public events around the world. She has also discussed her work for various media groups such as NPR, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.

References

  1. "Mars Institute". Mars Institute. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  2. "Haughton-Mars Project (HMP)". Mars Institute. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  3. "The Mars-1 Humvee Rover". Mars Institute. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  4. David S. F. Portree. "Farewell and Follow Me". WIRED. Retrieved 26 September 2022.