MDRS Crew 41
The Double-X Crew - January 1 - 14, 2006

Name	Speciality
Shannon Rupert	Commander/Ecologist, Logistics Lead
Penny Boston	Geologist, Science Lead
Maggie Zubrin	GreenHab Specialist/HSO, Health & Habitability Lead, On-Site Crew Journalist
Artemis	Engineer, Engineering Lead
Barbara Sprungman	Remote Journalist, Public Relations Lead
Pooky Bear Boston	Chief Photography Scale Officer, Liaison Officer to K-12 Outreach

Shannon Rupert	Shannon Rupert holds the record for time spent at MDRS, having served both as biologist and/or commander on crews 4, 14 (Expedition One), 21, 36 and now 41. She has also been to FMARS (FMARS 9) and MARS-OZ (Expedition Two), making her one of only two people who have done research at all three stations. Here main research interests are in the development of a worldwide Mars Analog Microbial Observatory and in remote science. Shannon is Coordinator of the Mars Society’s Remote Science Team and for two years was the Remote Science Team Lead for the NASA Mobile Agents Project. She is a founding member of the San Diego Chapter of the Mars Society, serves on both the Mars Society Steering Committee and the Board of Directors for the Mars Expedition Research Council and is a member of the Association of Mars Explorers. While it does indeed seem like her world revolves around Mars analog research, she still manages to find time to spend with her two children, three horses, two dogs and three cats.
Penny Boston	Dr. Penelope Boston is Director of the Cave and Karst Studies Program and Associate Professor in the Earth & Environmental Sciences Dept. at New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology, in Socorro, NM. She is also Chief Academic Advisor to the National Cave and Karst Research Institute in Carlsbad, NM. Boston’s research areas include geomicrobiology and astrobiology in extreme environments (caves, hot and cold deserts, high latitudes and altitudes); human life support issues in space and planetary environments; and use of robotics to assist exploration and science in extreme Earth and extraterrestrial environments. She is author of over 100 technical and popular publications, editor of 4 volumes, and author of two upcoming books. Her work has been featured over 150 times in print and broadcast media over the past decade. Boston is a Fellow of the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts. As a student at the University of Colorado in the late 1970s/early 1980s, she co-founded the Case for Mars project and series of conferences.
Maggie Zubrin	Maggie Zubrin was born in San Francisco and spent her early years in the Bay Area. She attended the University of California at Berkeley in 1968-69, majoring in Oriental Languages. After spending a few years at Lake Tahoe, she moved to Colorado in 1978. In her past life, she had a career in the Insurance Industry, as a Group Health Underwriter for Great West Life. During this time, she attended Metropolitan State College in Denver, majoring in Marketing. She met Robert Zubrin in 1990 and they were married in 1991. During the late 90’s and early 0’s, she attended the University of Colorado at Denver, focusing on Creative Writing. In 1996, along with Dr. Zubrin, she founded Pioneer Astronautics where she currently functions as Vice President in charge of finance and administration. In 1998, Robert and Maggie founded The Mars Society. Ms. Zubrin currently holds the post of Executive Director. Robert and Maggie have three children, the youngest of whom, Rachel, lives at home with them in Indian Hills, Colorado. Along with her various professional responsibilities, Maggie enjoys her organic garden, her horse, Avi, and traveling with her family. This is Maggie first crew rotation.
Artemis	Artemis: I have a masters degree in History from Leyden University. Ancient History, Islam and International Relations is what I studied for the degree and numerous other fields 'just for fun'. I have been working for the Mars Society in the Netherlands since 2000 in the capacity of PR & Communications manager and recently also as president. When I joined the board of the Mars Society Nederland, I took it upon me to 'put MS-NL on the Media map', which by now is quite true. I am an extremely practical person (and so very much a citizen of Rotterdam) and intend to bring a lot of planning and scheduling to the MDRS. I am a single mother of two daughters of 14 and 10 years. I live with them in a large and comfortable house that I for a large part have designed and build with my own two hands (and the hands of my brother, truth be told). I have often entertained groups of fellow Martians at my house for European meetings and very much enjoy doing so. In short I am a Jac(queline) of all trades. Either out of necessity or curiosity. I like to laugh, it makes life so much more enjoyable. As you can read I live my life to the full.
Barbara Sprungman	Barbara Sprungman is a space science, astronomy and Earth sciences education specialist. A credentialed teacher, she is also a journalist, curriculum writer, and an education and public outreach consultant. Barb earned her teaching credential from the University of California at Santa Cruz. She lives near Boulder, Colorado. Over the last two decades, she has authored space-related curriculum units and worked on projects funded by the National Science Foundation, IMAX, National Science Teachers Association, NASA, The Discovery Channel and USA Today. She recently worked with Gus Frederick on education and outreach for Penny Boston's NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) contract about living and working in caves on Mars. Barb was inspired to pursue a career in space and astronomy education by viewing the stars and planets through a telescope for the first time in the 1980s, and by the influence of her husband Leonard David, senior space writer for SPACE.com. She had hoped to be the fifth Double X crew member, but because of the current needs of her 97-year-old Dad, she wasn't able to leave Earth to spend two weeks on Mars. She is serving as a remote crew member, helping with media coverage and crew support.
Pooky Bear Boston	Pooky Bear Boston was born in the High Arctic over the winter of 1983/1984. She was orphaned at an early age and was rescued by a toy store in San Francisco, CA. Adopted by Dr. Penelope Boston in December of 1984 during an American Geophysical Union Conference, Pooky has spent the intervening years going to many field sites in extreme environments. She assists crews by serving as a size scale, holding tools, and performing educational and public outreach duties when Dr. Boston talks to school kids about their work. Pooky's favorite foods are tofu jerky, cookies of any kind, and eucalyptus leaf tea. Her hobbies include knitting, thinking Deep Thoughts, doing mathematical puzzles, and writing to her pen pal.