Life On Mars Gets A Test Run In The Utah Desert

(LA Times) David Kelly Jun 23 2019 4:00 AM 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 ground before stopping. Dead battery. The radio crackles. Every day is a new problem" the operator says with a sigh. Welcome to Mars. Sort of. Since 2001 the Mars Desert Research Station a small complex that includes a laboratory living quarters observatories a repair shop and a greenhouse has served as a reliable stand-in for an actual base on Mars. The station is operated by the Mars Society a collection of 10000 space enthusiasts from more than 40 countries dedicated to exploring and settling the red planet. Researchers here pretend they are 140 million miles from Earth rather than seven miles from Dukes Slickrock Grill and the Whispering Sands Motel in Hanksville. We are the Martians" said Hanksville Mayor Kim Wilson. They are the aliens." Now with NASAs plan to land humans on Mars by 2033 and the promise of commercial space travel interest in the station has soared. Engineers physicians geologists astronomers biologists and others come to test ideas related to living on Mars. Last month more than 500 college students from 10 countries took part in the stations annual University Rover Challenge aimed at creating the best vehicle for use on Mars.