What on earth possesses people to volunteer for two weeks of their precious vacation time for, as the ad on the Mars Society's Web page says, "Hard Work, No Pay, Eternal Glory" here at the Mars Desert Research Station?

There's no doubt we're having fun, but that's not why we came. (Okay, it's not the only reason.)

We really are working hard, and not only are we not getting paid for our work, but we all paid our own way here, some of us had to buy sleeping bags and other equipment, and all of us have donated supplies and equipment to the project.

None of us really believes we'll become "famous" as a result of our two weeks here. As Crew 24 Microbiologist and Geologist Celeste Gale told me today, "I don't need to be famous. However, I want the people around me to be comfortable with me and, when it's all said and done, to be happy that I've been around."

Celeste came to contribute. As a chemist in private industry in the U.S., she's not allowed to talk about much of her work. "This is my way of contributing creatively in a concrete fashion, doing something I can talk about and feel good about," she told me.

She has every right to feel good about what she's doing here. She came with only three weeks' notice, barely enough time to get the camping equipment she needed and nowhere near the time she would have liked to read up on microbiology and geology. She never even took a geology class in college and has been re-learning microbiology on the fly. And she has willingly, sleeves rolled up and surgical gloves snapped on, taken over the GreenHab maintenance.

Celeste's can-do attitude is what it takes to get along here. Idealism? She scoffs at the idea. "Everyone thinks they're idealistic!" Unspoken is the truth that high ideals don't get anyone anywhere without hard work.

I asked her slyly, "So, would you like to go to Mars?"

"Yes. It seems like a no-brainer," she said.

"So why come here? It's unlikely that any of us is going to go to the Red Planet in person," I asked.

"I hope that what we're doing increases people's awareness of the possibilities and helps them get excited about it," she said.

"I think we should at every turn encourage exploration. It's a healthy thing. It exists in even the simplest of organisms. It's part of survival."

Here's to exploration ... and survival!