Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station
The Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS) is the first of two simulated habitats in which scientists can simulate and train human life on Mars. The station is founded and operated by the Mars Society . Completed in summer 2000, it is the first research station of its kind.
backgrounds
The station is located on Devon Island , a Mars-like environment and polar desert, approximately 165 kilometers northeast of the village of Resolute in Nunavut , Canada . The station is located on the ridge of Haynes, overlooking Haughton Crater , a 23 km diameter crater that was formed by a meteorite impact approximately 39 million years ago . The location is approximately 1,609 km from the geographic North Pole and approximately 1,287 km from the magnetic North Pole .
Operated by the non-profit organization Mars Society, the aim of the station is to gain important knowledge about a possible manned Mars mission or Mars colonization and to get the public excited about manned Mars missions . The Mars Society uses the station to conduct geological and biological research under Mars-like conditions, to develop field techniques based on these findings and to test instruments, properties of the station and technologies.
The final cost of the project amounted to 1.3 million US dollars , and have been sponsoring covered by large companies. Flashline.com, an internet business, donated $ 175,000 and was granted the right to link its name to that of the project. Other important sponsors were the Kirsch Foundation, the Foundation for the International Non-governmental Development of Space (FINDS) and the Discovery Channel , which acquired the exclusive English-language TV rights for the first two years of the station's activities .
The FMARS project is one of four stations originally planned by the Mars Society as part of the Mars Analog Research Station Program. The Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) was completed in 2002 in southern Utah . Stations in Europe (European Mars Analog Research Station / EuroMARS) and Australia (Australia Mars Analog Research Station / MARS-Oz) were also planned, but did not get beyond the planning phase.
Establishment of the station
The establishment of a Mars-like research station on Devon Island was first proposed by Pascal Lee in April 1998. The station was officially selected as the first Mars Society project at its founding convention in August 1998.
The station was designed by the architect Kurt Micheels and designer Wayne Cassalls in coordination with Robert Zubrin and numerous Mars Society volunteers.
Kurt Micheels and Robert Zubrin conducted a reconnaissance tour of Devon Island as part of NASA's 1999 field season of the Haughton Mars Project (HMP) to gather information to plan missions and to determine an optimal location for the station. A corresponding location was found on a ridge overlooking the Haughton Crater. It was named "Haynes Ridge" by Robert Zubrin in honor of Professor Robert Haynes of York University , a founding member of the Mars Society and pioneering thinker on questions of the terraforming of Mars . After this exploration tour, Kurt Micheels was chosen as the station's project manager.
The structure of the station was constructed between January and June of 2000 by Infrastructures Composites International (Infracomp) under the direction of John Kunz, using a special type of fiberglass honeycomb construction. The Mars Society provided Infracomp with additional workers from Mesa Fiberglass, Pioneer Astronautics, and the Rocky Mountain Mars Society group to meet the deadline for the station to become operational. The station's components were trucked to Moffett Field, California, and loaded onto three C-130 aircraft operated by the U.S. Marine Corps 4th Air Delivery Battalion. The first C-130 left Mofett Field for the Arctic on July 1, 2000.
On July 3, 2000, the three C-130s, Kurt Micheels, John Kunz, and a paid team of construction workers arrived in Resolute. On July 4th, the construction team traveled to Devon Island with Twin Otters . On July 5, the Marines reported five successful drops of the station components that were parachuted. A sixth drop was also successful on July 8th.
The seventh and final drop, which was carried out on July 8, failed. The parachute separated from the cargo at a height of about 300 meters. The cargo included a crane for use in building the station, a trailer to transport the remaining six cargo from its landing site to the construction site, and fiberglass floors for construction. All equipment was completely destroyed.
On July 12th, Kurt Micheels and the construction crew left Devon Island and returned to Resolute as they saw no way to proceed with the construction of the station. Micheels resigned as project manager on July 15th. The Mars Society then hired Aziz Kheraj, the owner of Resolute South Camp Inn, a hotel in Resolute Bay . On July 12th he flew to Devon Island and assessed the situation. He offered crucial support, equipment and materials to resume construction of the station.
Mars Society member and builder, Frank Schubert, was forwarded to the initial team. Originally intended to focus on upgrading the interior of the station, he played a key role in building the structure of the station and was appointed new project manager by Robert Zubrin. He spent several days developing a new construction plan. Robert Zubrin joined Frank Schubert in Resolute on July 15. John Kunz also agreed to stay and support the construction work. Zubrin and Schubert flew to Devon Island on July 15th, John Kunz followed on the next day.
On July 17th, parts were shipped from Resolute that were used to build a crude replacement trailer. With the help of volunteers from the Haughton Mars Project and members of a Japanese TV crew, six of the wall segments were transported from their landing site to the construction site.
The remaining components of the habitat were transported to the construction site on July 18th and 19th. The existing volunteers were supported by Joe Amarualuk and several Inuuk . Matt Smola, the foreman of Frank Schubert's construction company in Denver, also came to Devon Island on July 20 and helped with the further construction.
On July 20 through July 22, the wall segments of the station were raised and connected to one another. The floors of the station were made of wood and installed on July 23rd and 24th. The station's domed roof was installed between July 24th and 26th. With that the outer construction of the station was finished. People from the Haughton Mars Project, the Discovery Channel film team, and a number of local journalists helped with the internal expansion of the station, which was only partially completed. The finishing touches followed the next year.
A red-green-blue Mars flag was hoisted on the roof of the station on July 28, 2000.
On the same day at 9 p.m. there was an inauguration ceremony, attended by everyone on the island. This included about fifty scientists, Inuuk and journalists. Several people gave a speech. Robert Zubrin held the closing words and dedicated the station to the people who will one day use it, the first pioneers of Mars. After breaking a bottle of Canadian champagne, the station was eventually christened.
The first set of wall segments will be erected on July 20, 2000.
On July 21, 2000, volunteers used scaffolding to erect the walls of the station.
The arch of the roof dome will be erected on July 25, 2000.
The exterior of the station was completed on July 26, 2000. Seen from left to right are Joe Amarualik, Joannie Pudluk, John Kunz, Frank Schubert, Matt Smola, Bob Nesson and Robert Zubrin.
Robert Zubrin gives a speech at the station's inauguration ceremony on July 28, 2000.
FMARS badge (2000)
A symbolic first team moved into the station on July 28th and 29th. It consisted of Pascal Lee, Marc Boucher, Frank Schubert, Charles Cockell, Bob Nesson and Robert Zubrin. Frank Schubert, Matt Smola and Robert Zubrin left Devon Island on the afternoon of July 29th.
A crew charged with testing all of the station's functions then manned the station for four days. This was headed by Carol Stoker and consisted of Larry Lemke, Bill Clancey, Darlene Lim, Marc Boucher and Bob Nesson. The crew used a prototype of Hamilton Sundstrand's Mars space suit to conduct multiple spacecraft missions. Communication with a group of scientists and researchers who are not on the island was ensured. This group is called the “Mission Support” group.
Robert Zubrin described all the events around the station in his book "Mars on Earth: The Adventures of Space Pioneers in the High Arctic".
Missions
The Mars Society sends researchers to the station during the arctic summer, and they usually live and work there for a month. Each of these expeditions has a crew of six to seven people. As a rule, the crew meets one to two months before their trip in the Canadian Arctic, for a personal meeting and to complete various training units. The team will travel together to Resolute by plane. There they spend a few days at the South Camp Inn, organizing their supplies and equipment, and doing several training sessions while waiting for clear weather. Then they cover the rest of the route in twin otter planes. These planes land on a dirt runway on Devon Island near the station. The main vehicles used to transport the crew while they are on the island are quads .
During the simulation of Mars conditions during each expedition, it is necessary that mock spacesuits are worn and all communication is carried out by radio during all work that is carried out outside the habitat. Crew members wearing one of these spacesuits use them while entering the habitat or exiting a simulated airlock. The communication between the station and the “Mission Support” group takes place with a time delay (usually 20 minutes), which simulates the actual radio traffic between Earth and Mars. A satellite phone is kept on site for use in emergencies.
Due to the restricted view of the crew members while wearing spacesuits, there is always one crew member who is not wearing one. This is then "out-of-sim", which means that it is not currently participating in the simulation. It is the responsibility of this crew member to keep an eye out for polar bears and to protect the crew from them. This crew member is usually armed with a shotgun . The crew also carries deterrents with them. No polar bears have been encountered by any of the FMARS crews to date, however signs of their presence on the island are regularly discovered and at least one encounter with a participant in the Haughton Mars Project has been confirmed.
Crew members are also obliged to write regular reports on the research they have carried out, to advise on the status of the technical systems and to record and document details relating to other aspects of the mission. There are four reports that are usually created, a commander's report, a science report, a technical report and a kind of logbook with personal entries from the crew members. The crew sends these reports to the Mission Support group (usually in Colorado).
Mission schedule
In the first field season in summer 2001, six different crews, each with five to seven people, worked and occupied the station. From 2002 to 2009, six crews also always occupied the remote outpost.
2001
A well-trained team was sent to the Devon Islands in April 2001 to review the condition of the station after the winter and to finish the interior expansion. It consisted of Frank Schubert, Matt Smola, Len Smola, Greg Mungas, Pascal Lee and Joe Amarualik. The team spent a week working on the station, preparing it for the 2001 field season.
FMARS crew 1, consisting of six participants, occupied the station from July 7, 2001 until the evening of July 10, 2001.
FMARS crew 2, consisting of six participants, occupied the station from July 10, 2001 until the evening of July 17, 2001.
FMARS crew 3, consisting of seven participants, occupied the station from the morning of July 17, 2001 until the evening of July 28, 2001.
FMARS crew 4, consisting of six participants, occupied the station for five days
2002
FMARS crew 7, consisting of seven participants, occupied the station from July 9, 2002 to July 26, 2002.
The crew carried out the mission between July 11 and July 24, 2002 under Mars conditions. In addition to carrying out a systematic program in the fields of geology and microbiology under simulated Mars conditions, the team successfully worked with researchers from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and obtained the northernmost ground truth data for the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) of the Satellite Terra .
2003
FMARS crew 8, consisting of seven participants, occupied the station from July 7, 2003 to July 30, 2003.
The crew carried out the mission between July 10 and 29, 2003 under Mars conditions.
The crew conducted an experiment that tracked their cognitive performance throughout the mission.
2004
FMARS crew 9, consisting of seven participants, occupied the station.
2005
FMARS crew 10, consisting of six participants, occupied the station from July 12, 2005.
2007
The FMARS crew 11 consisted of seven people and one deputy crew member. The station was prepared prior to the arrival of the crew by a pre-dispatched engineering team consisting of Paul Graham, the Mars Society engineering team coordinator, James Harris, chief engineer of FMARS Crew 11, and several workers from the Resolute community. Matt Bamsey later assisted the advance team. Paul and the other workers left the station shortly before the crew arrived.
The crew worked under full Martian conditions for a period of 100 days until August 21, 2007. This quadruples the previous record. In addition, the crew lived as if Sol (Martian day) reigned on Earth for more than a month to study the effects on the crew's psychophysiology .
The team conducted data collections related to a significant number of scientific studies during the mission.
Shortly before the end of the mission, the crew spoke to astronaut Clayton Anderson , who was then in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) on board the International Space Station .
Logistical support and a research permit for the mission was provided by the Polar Continental Shelf Project .
2009
FMARS crew 12, consisting of six participants, occupied the station from July 2 to July 28, 2009.
The crew worked under full Martian conditions between July 14th and 26th, 2009. During the simulation, the crew completed 16 EVAs in 43.5 hours and covered a distance of 128 km. Cumulative with data from all other crews results in a total time of 106 hours and a distance covered of 323 km during spacecraft. The crew carried out simulated Mars research, initial missions and testing of new technologies and devices for use in the areas of geomatic aerial photography , "in-situ resource utilization", geophysical measurements , medical laser treatment, geotagging of photographs, "motion planning" (conversion of tasks in movements in robots), and public communication.
The start of the simulation was delayed until July 14th due to a large number of maintenance work and renovations that could only be completed outside of the simulation (i.e. without a spacesuit and other difficulties). This included the construction of new tanks as fuel storage facilities, changes to the generator to improve safety and functionality, the installation of an incinerator and a gray water container, adaptation and processing of the imitation spacesuits as well as general organization and cleaning of the vicinity of the station. This maintenance ensured full compliance with environmental regulations and improved both operational and aesthetic elements of the station.
2013
FMARS crew 13 consisting of nine participants. The mission has also been referred to as Phase 1 of the Mars Society's Mars Arctic 365 (MA365) mission.
2017
The arctic portion of the Mars 160 mission ended on September 3, 2017. The mission had six crew members.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Haughton crater in the Earth Impact Database ( memento of the original from October 24, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ About FMARS , official website of FMARS (English)
- ↑ a b c d e f g Robert Zubrin : Mars on Earth: The Adventures of Space Pioneers in the High Arctic . Penguin , 2003, ISBN 1-58542-255-X , pp. 93-116 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Robert Zubrin: Mars on Earth: The Adventures of Space Pioneers in the High Arctic . Penguin, 2003, ISBN 1-58542-255-X , pp. 117-149 .
- ↑ a b c d Robert Zubrin: Mars on Earth: The Adventures of Space Pioneers in the High Arctic . Penguin, 2003, ISBN 1-58542-255-X , pp. 151-178 .
- ↑ a b c K. Ferrone, S. Cusack, C. Garvin, VW Kramer, J. Palaia, B. Shiro: Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS) 2009 Crew Perspectives, AIAA paper 2010-2258. In: Proceedings of the AIAA SpaceOps 2010 Conference, April 25-30, Huntsville, AL, USA. 2010.
- ↑ a b Sheryl L. Bishop, Ryan Kobrick, Melissa Battler, Kim Binsted: FMARS: Stress and Coping in an Artic Mars Simulation, 59th IAC Congress, Glasgow, Scotland, 29 September - 3 October 2008 2007.
- ^ Robert Zubrin: Mars on Earth: The Adventures of Space Pioneers in the High Arctic . Penguin, 2003, ISBN 1-58542-255-X , pp. 185-199 .
- ^ Robert Zubrin: Mars on Earth: The Adventures of Space Pioneers in the High Arctic . Penguin, 2003, ISBN 1-58542-255-X , pp. 199-222 .
- ^ Robert Zubrin: Mars on Earth: The Adventures of Space Pioneers in the High Arctic . Penguin, 2003, ISBN 1-58542-255-X , pp. 223 .
- ^ Robert Zubrin: Mars on Earth: The Adventures of Space Pioneers in the High Arctic . Penguin, 2003, ISBN 1-58542-255-X , pp. 265-289 .
- ↑ a b Postcards from the Arctic (English)
- ↑ FMARS 2009 Successful ( Memento from May 23, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
Coordinates: 75 ° 25 '52.7 " N , 89 ° 49' 24.2" W.