Now Science News

25/10/2024

Journalist Report
MDRS Crew 301
Michael Ho, 10.24.24

Day 4: We woke up and find ourselves back on MDRS Utah, Earth!
That awesome Martian landscape through the visor of the helmet while that constant swishing of oxygen blowing past our ears will now hang proudly suspended in time within all our memories.
Nevertheless the crew is now back on Earth, and we still have much to learn and samples to collect.
0742 hrs: Sunrise. Eager to catch the only Sun we share with Mars as seen from Earth. Right on time, it appeared, bathing the landscape below with its beautiful golden glow.
0900 hrs: Zoom with Mission Specialist Dr. Shannon Rupert (who is still on Mars). We had a very brief history of NASA’s search for water and life on Mars through the various rovers such as Pathfinder and Sojourner. We had a quick lesson with samples of petrified wood, Gryphaea, coprolite, man-made mud pottery, dinosaur bone marrow. The importance of using desert varnish as a model to detect life on Mars made a lot of sense, knowing that these rocks may potentially contain microbial mats of cyanobacteria and fungi (as on Earth), and desert varnish had been detected by Spirit on Mars.
1000 hrs: Off we went, looking for desert varnish at…
1100 hrs: We arrived at Gryphaea Hill at North Ridge and were mind blown by the sight of the exoskeletons of gryphaea dotting every single inch of the entire area. An upheaval of the landform here must have then left all marine life here high and dry – leaving only a mass grave of these lifeforms from some 155 million years ago.
1300 hrs: Burger Shak! Nothing fills the spirit more than a great Hanksburger Combo at Burger Shak after a stint on Mars.
1400 hrs: Rockin Riddle Rock Shop – this shop totally rocks! We went in and felt like Harry Potter when he first entered Diagon Alley – there were just so many rocks to check out! Cathy the owner is such a gem with many interesting stories to tell!
1515 hrs: Some of the crew members also tried out Riley’s two new designs of helmets for EVA.
Riley wearing the helmet she designed as part of the Spaceward Bound Utah program.1729818868743blob.jpg
Riley wearing the helmet she designed as part of SWB Utah.

1600 hrs: We went off to Barrainca Butte to hunt for galaxy rocks and to stake out the area near Robert’s Garden for the lichen that fluoresces under UV. We found the patch, and will go out again tonight with UV flashlights to have a look at it.
1730 hrs: Back to Hab!

22/06/2024

Breakthrough terraforming concept to be presented at Mars Society convention

Potential Terraforming Breakthrough to Be Presented at Mars Society Convention The Mars Society is delighted to announce that a new breakthrough concept that could open the way to terraforming the Red Planet will be presented during the 27th Annual International Mars Society Convention, which wil...

05/05/2024

A reader Carlisle Herron found this book in a used book store in Cincinnati. It is genuine. I did sign a copy of The Case for Mars to Neil Armstrong in 2008.

13/03/2024

Save the Date! The Next International Mars Society Covnetion will be held in Seattle at the Univeristy of Washington, August 8-11, 2024.
It;s going tobe grand! Don't miss it!

Save the Date: 2024 International Mars Society Convention! Calling all Mars and space advocates! Mark your calendars for the 2024 International Mars Society Convention, taking place Thursday, August 8th through Sunday, August 11th at the University of Washington campus (The HUB) in Seattle. This ann...

30/01/2024

Did you know that the great "russian' scientist Volodymyr Vernadsky was actually Ukrainian?

Ukrainian scientist Volodymyr Vernadsky was ahead of his time. His encyclopedic knowledge led him to posit a view of matter and the Earth as uniquely alive, with humanity as a guiding force.

16/01/2024

Journalist Report
Nicole Chan, Crew 290 Journalist
01.15.2024

Sol 8
Today we get back into our normal routine. With an EVA planned this afternoon, the crew started the day with some slices of bread from yesterday. We all remarked that it was a bit more moist than previous iterations, making the bread softer and nicer to eat. With some raspberry jam and peanut butter, the crew had a wonderful breakfast and got to work. Rebecca (Chopper) began transferring knowledge of the pH meter from yesterday’s ScienceDome session. Madelyn (Melon) used the time to check geological guides for suitable sampling sites around the region of Kissing Camel Ridge, the destination of today’s EVA.

The crew suited up around 1200 and went on a rover ride to the Ridge. We all had fun donning our new and improved flight suits with our Project MADMEN mission patches! (It was a great bonding activity and yet another first for me which was super exciting.) They noted plenty of worthy sites to sample on the way there, so they made notes to CAPCOM, which is managed by Anna (Roots). Many pictures of hills with multicolored layers of deposits followed. As they settled on a site, the EVA crew, Melon, Anja (Freebee), and Ben (Funk), began the multi-step site processing. Melon and Funk focused on collecting soil samples and taking various measurements at the site (pH, temperature, ATP, etc.). Freebee collected more radar samples of interesting terrain with REMI. After returning to the Hab, Chopper went to the ScienceDome to process those samples to keep the data consistent.

Today also saw the continuation of Roots’ study of the crew’s glove dexterity. We were tasked with grabbing and changing our hold on various small objects (washers, nuts, caps, and screws) with and without gloves. Additionally, we also tied and untied a series of knots. It was a fun challenge and we’re all glad to participate in the study for Roots. The most impressive factor is that she had developed the protocols for this study (as well as the materials to carry out the tests) all during our rotation. Talk about resourcefulness! We look forward to the results from this dexterity study. Our frustrations during the tests also informed us of possible changes to our EVA equipment and gear to make the manual manipulation more efficient.

We all enjoy getting back into the groove of things at the station. Although our days are busy and sometimes tiring, we work productively and wind down in team-bonding activities in the night. Speaking of, we had a great time learning more about each other during last night’s powerpoint presentations. We covered a span of topics and had many laughs. I look forward to more of these nighttime conversations as we come closer together as a crew.

05/08/2023

I’m at a Star Trek convention in Las Vegas. The has a booth here displaying our virtual reality simulation of . This afternoon I’m giving a talk in a huge hall. My subject: “What can we create on Mars”

17/04/2023

Robert Zubrin’s 'The Case for Nukes' highlights the connection between energy and freedom.

03/04/2023

The Case for Nukes: How We Can Beat Global Warming and Create a Free, Open, and Magnificent Future