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Mars Desert Research Station Simulates Mars Base

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the simulate-having-internet-access dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Placing humans on Mars will be an extraordinary feat in itself, not to mention even living in such a harsh environment. To help train future astronauts to sustain life on Mars, the Mars Society has created the Mars Desert Research Station. The Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) is one of four planned simulated Mars habitats (or Mars Analogue Research Station Programme) maintained by the Mars Society. Crews sign up for two week shifts during the winter months (it's too hot in the summer for pleasant simulation). Crews are not paid during their time at the station, but do get valuable experience."

4 of 122 comments (clear)

  1. Exactly the same by thered2001 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Except you can breath the outside atmosphere, the gravity is Earth-normal, and emergency help is much closer. Otherwise, a great simulation of life on Mars. (An Antarctic simulation lab would be a bit closer to the mark.)

    --

    If your only tool is a hammer, every problem becomes a nail.

  2. Participant Point of View by realperseus · · Score: 3, Interesting
    My daughter had the privledge of participating in the MDRS back in the Fall of 2006. She described it as "Fun and awesome!" Their mission was to refit the "Hab" as best as they could within their limited budget. She described living conditions as "cramped, much like a typical Mars mission. You need to work as a team to get things done". Here is another link to MDRS project for those who wish more information:

    The Mars Society - Mars Desert Research Station

    --
    "Trusting every aspect of our lives to a giant computer was the smartest thing we ever did.." Homer Simpson
  3. Re:how about a submarine then? by Kugala · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Weight. One of the largest issues getting anything into even orbit, much less Mars, is weight.

    A Delta IV Heavy rocket could get about 14 tons to high orbit. A Virginia class submarine weighs about 8,000 tons. This would take around 570 launches to lift.

    Even considering you don't need half the features, there's probably more you do need, so the final product might wind up weighing more.

  4. Re:This is idiotic by ShooterNeo · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Except that no-one at NASA is even TRYING to build a cheaper rocket. And they also have no concrete plans for a Mars mission, either. Meaning the engines you would need to even get the Mars are not even in the design stage.

    So if you don't even have a guess as to how much stuff you could bring to Mars, then playing with habitats is pointless.

    Best case scenario, we build a super-efficient laser launch system and a nuclear powered VASIMIR rocket to get to mars real fast. In that case, we could just cram the spaceship with a bunch of MREs and life support components right off of a nuclear submarine.

    Worst case, it is still super-expensive to go to Mars, and NASA has to custom build every last part, min-maxing for mass.