fbpx
Mars Society Creates MDRS-FMARS Alumni Group on Linkedin

The Mars Society recently established the MDRS-FMARS Alumni Group on LinkedIn to serve as a place of contact for former crew members who served at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Utah or the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS) in Canada. The new LinkedIn platform will allow former crew members to network professionally, discuss career progress and opportunities, post research and presentations about analog work and related studies, add articles about and photos from past crew missions, and… READ MORE >

Presentation on (Non-Crew) Biology Research at MDRS during the Mars Society Convention

The Mars Society is pleased to announce that a special one-hour virtual presentation entitled “Is There Life Out There: Current Biological Research at the Mars Desert Research Station” (MDRS) in Utah will be held during the 24th Annual International Mars Society Convention on Friday, October 15th from 7:30-8:30 pm PT. A group of four experts led by MDRS Director Dr. Shannon Rupert will highlight several long-term research projects that are being conducted at the MDRS facility, including new research looking… READ MORE >

Join our Red Planet Live Talk with MDRS Crew 245

The Mars Society invites you to join us this Thursday (July 15th) at 6pm PST / 9pm EST for the next episode of our Red Planet Live video podcast with an amazing discussion with Crew 245 about their recent two-week simulation at the Mars Desert Research Station in southern Utah. Participating in the show with our host, Ron Craig, will be the full team – Dylan Dickstein, Commander, Shayna Hume, Executive Officer (XO), Julio Hernandez, Crew Botanist, Shravan Hariharan, Crew… READ MORE >

Three Volunteer Internship Opportunities for 2021-22 MDRS Field Season

The Mars Society is pleased to announce that there are three volunteer internship opportunities available for the upcoming 2021-22 field season at the Mars Desert Research Station in southern Utah. Two are student positions which require a minimum month-long commitment on-site, and should be done in collaboration with the student’s academic institution as part of an independent study program. The first opportunity is designed for biology majors and requires the student to be on-site in December 2021 to do field… READ MORE >

Final MDRS Mission Summary – Crew 235

Crew 235, Mars Desert Research Station The following is the final summary report of Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) Crew 235.  At the start of our mission, nine strangers came together with different hopes and expectations, all with the same end goal – come together with other like-minded individuals within the education community and emerge with new skills or ideas. Amazingly, every step of our journey together built the outcome that would meet and exceed everyone’s expectations. Many of the crew interactions… READ MORE >

Can Signs of Life on Mars Indicate the Reopening of Earth? (Sim with MDRS Crew 245)

For over a year, the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) has been nearly as quiet as Mars itself. Normally MDRS is a revolving door for teams of scientists, engineers, physicians, journalists, etc. to research, record, and reflect at one of the leading Martian simulations in the world. MDRS prides itself in being safety first and administration took quick and appropriate action to protect its simulation participants and staff from what the world soon came to know as a global health… READ MORE >

Update: 2020-21 MDRS Field Season

Due to the current surge in COVID-19 cases around the world and, in particular, in the United States and Utah, a decision has been made to delay the beginning of the Mars Society’s Mars Desert Research Station field season until February 2021. According to experts, the next three months are expected to be the hardest of the pandemic, and MDRS management, led by Dr. Shannon Rupert, wants to ensure that all crew members stay safe and well throughout that time…. READ MORE >

MDRS Patch/T-Shirt Design Winners Announced

The Mars Society announced the winners of its international dual design contest for creating a special logo for a patch and t-shirt to be used by crew members at the Utah-based Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS), the largest and longest-running Mars analog program in the world. The winner of the competition to create an official MDRS crew patch is Ognian Ivanov of Bulgaria, while the winner of the contest to design a logo for an official MDRS crew t-shirt is… READ MORE >

MDRS Director Shannon Rupert to Discuss Simulating Life on Mars at 2020 Virtual Convention

Dr. Shannon Rupert, long-time Director of the Mars Society’s Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Utah, will give a virtual address entitled “Once a Martian, Always a Martian: Demographics and Stories of the People who have Crewed MDRS” during the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 15-18.  She will be sharing an analysis of the demographics of the researchers who have served as crew at the station over the last twenty years and providing some stories about… READ MORE >

Why We Do It (@MDRS)

An excellent report by Clément Plagne, journalist for Crew 223 (Supaero II) currently stationed at the Mars Society’s Mars Desert Research Station in Utah, explaining why he and his team participate in the MDRS analog program. If you’re reading this, it probably means that you’re either a family member or friend of ours, interested in science and the exploration of Mars or both. From your point of view, being out in the desert and being like astronauts for some time… READ MORE >

NASA Funded Opportunity for Teachers at MDRS – Sign Up Today

ATTENTION EDUCATORS! NASA Funded Opportunity for Teachers in Utah: Spaceward Bound Utah crew to be held at MDRS (Dec. 9-13, 2019) Spaceward Bound is a program to train K-12 teachers in how to engage their students in activities that will inspire careers in the space sciences by taking teachers into the field with scientists who are working on space-related research in a given location. First instituted by scientists and researchers at NASA Ames, today researchers involved in that early project… READ MORE >

2019-20 MDRS Field Season Arrives

The Mars Society’s Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) program, led by Dr. Shannon Rupert, is pleased to welcome our new crews to the Utah campus for the 2019-20 field season. During the course of the year, these dedicated crew members will be participating in important Mars analog research to help prepare human explorers for the challenges of visiting the Red Planet in the not too distant future. The following is the MDRS program itinerary for the coming year: Crew 214… READ MORE >

Crew Application for MDRS 2020-21 Now Open

Those interested in serving as a crew member at the Mars Society’s Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS), the largest and longest-running Mars simulation program in the world, located in southern Utah, can now apply for the 2020-21 field season, which runs from October 2020 thru May 2021. The MDRS Crew Application Form and the MDRS Application Instructions & Information are available on the Mars Society / MDRS web site, located at: http://mdrs.marssociety.org/apply-to-field-season, for downloading. Individuals can apply for the MDRS simulation, as… READ MORE >

Volunteers Needed @MDRS

Good at carpentry? Love assembling IKEA furniture? Consider volunteering at the Mars Society’s Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in southern Utah this fall to help install new upgrades to the facility’s Hab and Science Dome. Participate in our IKEA work crew from October 22 – 25. If you commit to helping out during the entire session, you’ll be able to stay overnight (3 nights) at MDRS in the crew quarters. Round-trip transportation will be provided from Grand Junction, Colorado to… READ MORE >

MDRS Makes the Los Angeles Times

Life on Mars gets a test run in the Utah desert By David Kelly, Los Angeles Times, June 23, 2019 Hang a right a few miles past the Dirty Devil River, bump down Cow Dung Road, and the barren, red landscape beyond morphs from mere desert into something, well, otherworldly. Men and women in spacesuits and oxygen tanks pick their way around boulders. One collects soil samples. Another launches a drone. The aircraft hovers then drops. Whirring blades thwack the… READ MORE >

A New Star Rising at MDRS

By Dr. Peter Detterline Director, MDRS Observatory   There is a new star rising at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) that allows crew and professional astronomers, as well as college and high school students, the ability to incorporate cutting edge technology to explore the wonders of the universe. The MDRS Robotic Observatory works in a similar manner as today’s modern facilities, and indeed as an observatory would work on the Red Planet someday in the future.  No one physically… READ MORE >

Apply as Crew Member for MDRS 2019-20 Season

There’s still time to apply as a crew member for the 2019-20 field season at the Mars Society’s Mars Desert Research Station in southern Utah.   Owned and managed by the Mars Society, MDRS is the largest and longest-running Mars analog facility on our planet supporting research in pursuit of the technology, operations and science required for human space exploration.   To sign up, please visit: http://mdrs.marssociety.org/apply-to-field-season. The deadline for crew registration is Monday, November 5th (5:00pm MST). For any… READ MORE >

Jump the Line & Become a MDRS Crew Member

For the first time ever, the Mars Society is offering a very unique opportunity to the general public – to serve as an actual crew member during a simulation at its Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in southern Utah. Crew members are typically recruited by the Mars Society from a large pool of interested researchers, educators and students, requiring all potential candidates to go through a standardized process similar to a college or job application. The Mars Society is currently raising… READ MORE >