Home of the 110 mph SkyDoc™
Since 1989
A Proud Sponsor of the Mars Project
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In the summer of the
year 2003, a unique experiment was begun in the Arctic Circle when the Mars
Society deployed its Flashline Arctic Research Station, the world's first
fully-simulated Mars Base. |
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The MARS project has enabled scientists, engineers
and even astronauts to test the equipment and technology (habitation,
transportation, life support, recycling, etc.), that will be deployed during
a human mission to Mars.
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The SkyDoc™ Aerostat has been there providing
surveillance and advance warning of hazards. |
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Dr. Pascal Lee, a NASA engineer who has lead three
several expeditions to Devon Island, and who is the MARS project leader, best
sums up the reason for selecting Devon Island, "By setting ourselves up
in this polar desert, we will experience an environment that most closely
resembles the surface of Mars." |
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If humans are to live on Mars - even for brief
periods - they are going to have to be supported by a wide range of
infrastructure. They'll need a place to work, and rest and live. They'll need
power, light, food, water, and heat to name a few of the requirements.
They'll need robust transportation, equipment able to operate in low
temperatures and "hostile" environments. |
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Not only does the island exhibit geological and
glacial features which resemble features found on Mars, its daytime
temperatures are similar to those of a "summer" day on Mars, and it
is largely snow and ice free in summer - some the Antarctic, another popular
Mars analogue, cannot offer so easily. While the atmosphere may be 100 times
as dense as the atmosphere on Mars, it is hardly an issue. Everything else
about the island makes it an ideal proving ground for technology and
equipment that may one day be carried to Mars. |
