Mars Desert Research Station
[1] The MDRS station was built in the early 2000s near Hanksville, Utah, in the western United States.
[3] The MDRS campus includes a two-story habitat with a greenhouse, a solar and a robotic observatory, an engineering pod and a science building.
[7] The project's goals are to develop field tactics based on environmental constraints (i.e., being required to work in spacesuits), test habitat design features and tools, and assess crew selection protocols.
During mission periods, crew members must wear an analogue space suit simulator when completing tasks outside their living quarters, which is a metal building with an airlock.
Destinations for EVAs can be chosen from an established way-point database, and attained either on foot, or by all-terrain vehicle.
MDRS is owned and operated by the Mars Society, which selects the crews and handles most of the administrative tasks.
The crews usually consist of a mix of scientists, astronomers, physicists, biologists, geologists, engineers, and the occasional journalist.
Their responsibilities include maintaining a structured stream of information from the crew to mission support, establishing the agenda for each day (EVAs, maintenance, cooking, cleaning, etc.
[15] Both FMARS and MDRS originally have the same basic design:[16]: 104 a two-level habitat module 8 m (26 ft) in diameter.
Like the FMARS, it has a shower and toilet, a biology and geology laboratory, two simulated airlocks, an extravehicular activity preparation area, and storage space.
In the loft area, a tank stores freshwater and a hatch is used for maintaining antenna and weather instruments.
On the second floor are six very small private crew staterooms with bunks and a small reading desk, a common dining and entertainment area, a dedicated communications station and a galley or kitchen equipped with a gas stove, refrigerator, microwave, oven and a sink for meal preparations.
The original Gary Fisher GreenHab, retrofitted in 2009 from a closed loop water recycling center to a functional greenhouse, was destroyed by fire in December 2014,[22] and replaced in September 2015 after an Indiegogo campaign raised $12,540 to rebuild it.
The Musk Mars Desert Observatory houses a 28-centimetre (11 in) Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, donated by Celestron.
[citation needed] The telescope is capable of being operated remotely, and is accessible to amateur and professional astronomers via the internet.
The observatory's other sponsors include Le Sueur Manufacturing Inc., which provided the Astro-Pier on which the telescope is mounted; Software Bisque, which provided TheSky software; Vince Lanzetta of East Coast Observatories; Adirondack Video Astronomy; High Point Scientific; Technical Innovations; and the Lehigh Valley Amateur Astronomical Association.
The addition of the Musk Mars Desert Observatory provides research opportunities that were not available before, to the crew and local teachers and students.
