Hidden among the many majestic canyons of the Utah desert, about 7 miles from the closest town, is a small research facility meant to organize humans for all times on Mars.
The Mars Society, a nonprofit organization that runs the Mars Desert Research Station, or MDRS, invited CNBC to shadow considered one of its analog crews on a recent mission.
“MDRS is the perfect analog astronaut environment,” said Urban Koi, who served as health and safety officer for Crew 315. “The terrain is incredibly much like the Mars terrain and the protocols, research, science and engineering that happens here may be very much like what we’d do if we were to travel to Mars.”
SpaceX CEO and Mars advocate Elon Musk has said his company can get humans to Mars as early as 2029.
The 5-person Crew 315 spent two weeks living on the research station following the identical procedures that they’d on Mars.
David Laude, who served because the crew’s commander, described a typical day.
“So all of us gather around by 7 a.m. around a standard table within the upper deck and now we have breakfast,” he said. “Around 8:00 now we have our first meeting of the day where we plan out the day. After which within the morning, we often have an EVA of two or three people and typically one other one within the afternoon.”
An EVA refers to extravehicular activity. In NASA speak, EVAs seek advice from spacewalks, when astronauts leave the pressurized space station and must wear spacesuits to survive in space.
“I feel essentially the most difficult thing about these analog missions is just moving into a rhythm. … Although here the chance is lower, on Mars performing those each day tasks are what keeps us alive,” said Michael Andrews, the engineer for Crew 315.
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