MDRS Crew 46
The FLAME Crew
March 12-18, 2006

Name	Speciality
Veronica A. Zabala-Aliberto	Commander, Mars Geologist
Angelina Amanda Zabala	First Officer, HSO
Madeline Marie Zabala	Science Officer
Gino Vincenzo Zabala	Security Officer, HVAC Specialist
Stacy Sklar	Exopaleontologist
Menkes van den Briel	Chief Engineer
Todd Romberger	Engineer

Veronica A. Zabala-Aliberto	Commander Veronica Ann Zabala-Aliberto served as Crew Geologist on the first all-female crew to a Mars analogue station in March 2005. Serving on the Red Flyer Team Phase II, Zabala-Aliberto found concretion-bearing layers analogous to those found at the Opportunity and Spirit landing sites on Mars. A rock she found and named "Comet Tail Rock" near the MDRS shares similar geologic features as those observed by the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER), which are know as "Comet Tails". These features form either by aeolian or fluvial dynamics. She also commanded the "First Family on Mars" expedition at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in which she took her three children to the habitat not only to carry out geological/astrobiological field investigations at MDRS but to research human factors. Commander Zabala-Aliberto is currently a senior undergraduate student within the Department of Geological Sciences. She is the Educational Outreach Coordinator for the Arizona State University NASA Space Photography Laboratory and caters to educators, students and members of the general public providing educational outreach pertaining to human and robotic space exploration. She currently is analyzing data from the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission and that of the European Space Agency's (ESA) mission, Mars Express focusing her research on data retrieved from the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) in hopes of determining any Mars change detection of aeolian features on the surface of Mars. Zabala-Aliberto has presented at invited talks and gives lectures to schools and space related events. She enjoys hiking, camping, wants to learn SCUBA and aviation and loves Dirk Pitt©. Commander Zabala-Aliberto is very active in the space exploration sector and currently is affiliated with numerous organizations such as: The Mars Society of Phoenix (Chapter Founder, President and now, Educaitonal Outreach Coordinator), The National Space Society of Phoenix (Chapter Founder and President), The Planetary Society (Global Volunteer), Jet Propulsion Laboratory Solar System Ambassador, and the Astronaut Hopefuls of Arizona (Chapter Founder and President). Commander Zabala-Aliberto is a veteran to the Mars Desert Research Station serving on Crew 36, commanding a private F.L.A.M.E. mission in June 2005, commanding Crew 46, and commanding another F.L.A.M.E. mission in June 2006.
Angelina Amanda Zabala	Angelina Amanda Zabala served as HSO on F.L.A.M.E.'s first rotation to the Mars Desert Research Station in June 2005. Angelina is an alumnus of the NASA Summer Mars Academy for 2004 and 2005 working closely with Mission Specialists in the Academy to further understand martian planetary geology and engineering concepts related to a mission to Mars. Angelina's first rotation at the MDRS consisted of duties related to "Hab Communications Officer" and "HSO". She participated in four EVAs in search of concretion-bearing layers at/near MDRS in order to contribute to an ongoing study to determine the size distribution and frequency of concretions analogous to those found by the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER). Currently a 7th grader, Angelina focuses her studies towards math, science and history. Angelina participates in space-related events and will conduct educational outreach activities with educators and the general public when she takes up residence at MDRS again in March 2006 and June 2006. In her spare time Angelina focuses her attention on Egyptology, the moon Europa; drawing, playing her flute, and listening to classical music.
Madeline Marie Zabala	Madeline Marie Zabala's first duties at MDRS were that of journalist and "Hab Engineer". Madeline kept a daily log of activities that transpired and kept a photo journal of EVAs and daily life on Mars. She also maintained spacesuits for EVAs and ensured that communication devices were operational. Madeline assisted in measurement counts of concretions found at/near MDRS as well as taking samples from within the host rock and those that had weathered out. Madeline plans on attending the NASA Summer Mars Academy in 2006 and hopes to understand the fundamentals of engineering. In her spare time Madeline participates in her school's choir and enjoys listening to music. As a 5th grader she looks forward to middle school in the upcoming year in hopes of joining the school's drum line band and the Cultural Club.
Gino Vincenzo Zabala	Gino Vincenzo Zabala was born and raised in Arizona. Gino's prior experience at MDRS involved the tasks of Security Officer, Photographer and Sample Collector on EVAs. During future expeditions his tasks will include Security Officer, Crew Engineer and HVAC. These responsibilities will increase with increased experience in the field. Future challenges will include experimentation of habitat design with minimized dependency from Mission Support as well as meeting requirements of maintaining a crew of 4-6 for extended periods of time without re-supply. Systems engineering will be the main focus of Gino's research while taking up residence within analogue stations. Currently a 3rd grader, Gino enjoys video games and plays soccer and has hopes of becoming an F-16 Fighter Pilot or Navy Seal.
Stacy Sklar	Stacy Sklar is currently attending Northern Arizona University studying Geology with an emphasis in Paleontology. Stacy has been an active member of the Mars Society since the second convention in Denver (1999). She was apart of the scouting group looking for Mars analog sites for MDRS in the American Southwest. Stacy scouted locations in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah in 2000/2001. She has served as a MDRS crew member on the shakedown crew during the Christmas break 2001, Crew 3, and 36. She also served as an FMARS 10 crew member last summer. Stacy served as a backroom geologist for Expedition One Feb/March 2003 and Expedition Alpha Dec 2004. Stacy also served as the RST Geologist for various crews over the last two years including Crew 21, 25, Crew 29 and 38 (NASA Mobile Agents). Stacy's other interest include archeology, rock climbing, hiking, and spending time with her family and friends. Stacy is also a Star Trek and Harry Potter fan and in her spare time enjoys reading, writing, listening to music, watching movies, and is learning to play the guitar.
Menkes van den Briel	Menkes van den Briel earned an MS in econometrics with a major in operations research from the University of Maastricht. He conducted research for his MS at the Dutch National Aerospace Laboratory, an independent technological institute that carries out applied research on behalf of the aviation and space sectors. Currently, Menkes is a PhD candidate within the Department of Industrial Engineering at Arizona State University. He is researching techniques to improve artificial intelligence planning and hopes that his work will one day help automate the planning process of planetary rovers. Menkes volunteers in several educational outreach events in which the Mars Society Phoenix Chapter is involved in. In his spare time Menkes enjoys exploring the outdoors of the American Southwest, running, and playing board games.
Todd Romberger	At 21 years old, Todd Romberger is currently a senior at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, majoring in Aerospace Engineering. Todd has been active in the UCF chapter of SEDS (Students for the Exploration and Development of Space) since it was revived three years ago. During that time he has held various officer positions and currently serves as President of SEDS-UCF and Vice Chair of SEDS-USA. Todd also serves as President of the UCF chapter of Sigma Gamma Tau, the National Honor Society in Aerospace Engineering. Todd holds memberships in the National Engineering Honor Society Tau Beta Pi, the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. In the summer of 2005 Todd worked as an intern for the Zero Gravity Corporation where he completed training as a crew member for ZERO-G weightless flights and has since experienced over 50 zero-gravity parabolas as a ZERO-G coach. He was a delegate in the 2005 Space Generation Congress in Fukuoka, Japan where he began work on a worldwide space outreach program called "DoSpace." Currently he is leading the SEDS-UCF Microgravity Research Team to perform a soldering experiment in microgravity. In is free time, Todd enjoys surfing, sailing, amateur astronomy, and playing guitar. Upon graduation, Todd looks forward to pursuing a career in the space tourism and commercial spaceflight industry.