Astronaut for Hire

Last week I attended the 3rd annual Lunar Science Forum (LSF) held at the NASA Ames Conference Center .  The 3-day meeting sponsored by the NASA Lunar Science Institute (NLSI) dealt with topics "of the Moon, on the Moon, and from the Moon."  The LSF was one of several lunar- and space-focused meetings during the week that also included the LunarGradCon , Next Generation Lunar Scientists and Engineers Workshop (NGLSE), Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG), and NewSpace2010 .  I want to thank the NLSI for providing the travel grant that made it possible for me to attend the meeting. After introductory speeches from Ames Director Pete Worden (whom I know from ISU ), Jen Heldmann (whom I know from the PSSS ), and others, science journalist Andrew Chaikin delivered a very engaging an opening talk titled "Luna 2.0." One of his slides showed the LROC mission patch, which says in Latin "Science enables Exploration. Exploration enables Science." T...

Now that I've been home from MDRS for a month, I want to pause and reflect upon the experience. In particular, I want to compare MDRS to its sister Mars base FMARS , where I spent July of last year.  I am now a member of a small club who can proudly say we have done a tour at each station, which are the only two mock Mars habitats in existence (for now).  

In addition to the excitement from the Chile tsunami , this week is also host to the 41st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) in The Woodlands, Texas.  Back in 2004, I attended the LPSC meeting, which is the world's premier gathering of planetary scientists, and I am happy to have a contribution to this year's LPSC.  On Thursday, I will be virtually presenting research findings from the geophysics projects I did at FMARS and MDRS , including the seismic station installation , electromagnetic survey , and seismic refraction survey .  I say virtually because I unfortunately won't be there in person; instead a colleague will present the poster for me.  You can read my 2-page abstract online or see the full poster below: LPSC 2010 Poster

My second mission to "Mars" is now history. I think my first command experience went well, and it was truly a privilege to serve with such a fine crew . Below is the Executive Summary from our mission summary report . It'll also be a Mars Society press release later this week. MDRS MISSION 89 REACHES SUCCESSFUL CONCLUSION The 89th expedition to the Mars Desert Research Station ( MDRS ) returned to Earth today having successfully completed a two-week mission in a Mars analog environment. MDRS is located in a visually stunning, geologically rich area of the Utah desert that affords an excellent opportunity to learn how science investigations can be conducted by an isolated, self-sufficient human crew. Through the 14-day mission, the international crew transitioned from an assortment of near strangers to an efficient, compatible, coherent team. They learned not only how to conduct operations in the remote setting but also how to live and work in the very cramped ...

NASA's future plans may be in flux, but the MDRS Crew 89 expedition's future is a certainty.  We'll return to Earth tomorrow. After our morning crew briefing, Mike and I drove the pressurized rover to Hanksville to pick up three temporary crewmembers.  Amnon Govrin and his twin sons spent the morning at MDRS learning about it and our mission.  They got to witness all of EVA 19 's pre- and post- EVA procedures and in between, Amnom inverviewed us about life on analog Mars.  It was a busy day showing our visitors around, conducting two EVAs, and preparing for the end of our mission.  We stuck to the day's planned timeline extremely well, which is a testament to our efficiency as a crew.  In fact, it feels like just as we're getting used to life at MDRS we have to leave.  Two weeks just isn't enough. You can read a summary of our last full martian day on our crew blog .

Today was a good day because we finally completed my seismic experiment. As I reported last time , we had problems on the first seismic EVA.  However, we learned from our mistakes and were able to successfully take 120 shots of data at 40 locations with 6 geophone spreads covering 109 meters (358 feet).  At just over 6 hours, it was our longest EVA of the mission.  Thanks to Luís, Kiri, and Darrel for their generous help with these two EVAs.  You can read Kiri's account of today's EVA on our crew blog ( part 1 and part 2 ). As I've described previously , I chose this site because ground penetrating radar (GPR) data suggest that the Kissing Camel Range (aka: "Dragon Head") is an inverted channel that continues beneath Radio Ridge a few kilometers southwest of MDRS.  The Google Earth screenshot shown to the right illustrates where we conducted the seismic survey.  The GPS waypoints spanning the survey are shown in red, and the blue line indicates the app...

After abdicating some tantalizing EVAs for the past three days on account of my not feeling well , I was looking forward to getting outside today and finally starting my seismic research project. I had originally planned to do the first seismic EVA yesterday, but I just wasn't ready, so Kiri led the geology section EVA yesterday instead.  Below is my crew blog post describing today's EVA : My morning was occupied with preparations for the seismic experiment. This included finalizing the survey coordinates and entering waypoints into the GPS, printing and laminating a survey plan, and fashioning several survey flags out of wire clothes hangers and flagging tape. I also strapped the big, heavy pelican cases containing the seismic equipment to the back rack of the Viking I and Spirit rovers. I affixed the sledgehammer, strikeplate, and two bright red buckets to the third rover Opportunity. At 11:30 am, I briefed Luís and Darrel on the EVA plan. It clicked with Darrel ...

As our mission began its second week, I started feeling under the weather. I have a sore throat and low energy level. I think I caught a bug from a fellow crewmember who had similar symptoms for a few of days last week. Living in close quarters with a group of people, this is to be expected. Since yesterday was Sunday, we opted to go light on the science and do a recreational EVA to summit Olympus Mons. That's a big hill not far from the Hab. The real Olympus Mons is on Mars and is the biggest volcano in the solar system. There's even an award for the first person to climb it. Normally I wouldn't have missed an EVA like this, but due to my not feeling well, I skipped it and stayed in the Hab as the field party's CapCom (which we call "HabCom"). Kiri and Mike did great jobs describing the EVA in their blog posts. Check out the highlight video from the EVA below:

Our simulated Mars mission has reached its midpoint.  In my last post , I thought that the snowy conditions here at MDRS would be just a short term anomaly in our mission. However, after 4 consecutive days of snow, my crew and I are having to re-think the strategy for our mission. When humans go to Mars, they'll also have to contend with inclement weather. Dust storms in particular could halt or severely limit EVA operations for days or weeks at a time. Yesterday we decided to do an emergency rescue operations EVA . Carla and I spent the morning constructing a sled out of materials we found at the Hab. The wooden sled had two runners made of PVC pipe and a rope to pull it from a rover or by hand. While we were busy carpenters, Darrel and Luis re-built and installed the carburetor for one of our rovers, Kiri edited our first two YouTube videos , and Mike got the radio telescope software working. It was a productive morning. By lunchtime, we had a sled, a nearly operationa...

We awoke yesterday to a beautiful white blanket of snow covering MDRS and its surroundings. In our morning crew briefing, we decided not to attempt a rover EVA in the snow. Instead, we opted to focus mostly on indoor projects like organizing and testing equipment, taking inventories, and writing. However, the snow beckoned us outside, and we all ended up crunching through the powder for more than an hour in the morning to enjoy the view while doing the daily engineering checks. Kiri found some interesting concretions on the hillside near MDRS. The snow continued to fall throughout the day. By mid-morning, the internet was down, presumably because of snow buildup on the satellite dish. We decided to brush off the snow on an EVA rather than break sim to do it. Luis wanted to collect some fresh snow samples to complement the older snow samples he had obtained on EVA 6 yesterday, so we decided to clear the satellite dish on our way to do EVA 7. We went outside, cleared the snow, an...

After three and a half days at the Mars Desert Research Station , my crew and I have settled into a routine familiar to any Mars pioneer. Every morning we have a meeting to discuss the day's activities. Then we break up to finish any chores, projects, or EVA preparations. In the late morning, the first EVA commences. While that team is out in the field, the others are back in the Hab working on other things and finding some time for exercise. In the afternoon, we switch so the other three people can go on an EVA while the first three stay back in the Hab and try to get caught up on their tasks. You can learn more about MDRS living here . Boredom is the last of our worries. As I learned at FMARS , overwork and information management are concerns. By dusk when we're all back inside, it's a mad rush to get all of the reports written by 8pm when Mission Support comes online. It usually takes most of the night to sift through all of the photos, select the best ones t...

My first full day at the Mars Desert Research Station has been very productive. We've completed all safety and engineering checks and conducted our first two EVAs. Donning the spacesuit again felt natural to me. The crew is getting along great, and we're keeping up with all of our duties so far. There are many similarities and differences between MDRS and FMARS. In general, MDRS is more well-worn but also more institutionalized. It has more infrastructure too such as the GreenHab and Musk Observatory . I'll likely devote a future post to comparing the two mock Mars habitats.

My bags are packed, and I'm ready to go. I can't believe the time has finally come. Today I'll begin my journey back to Mars. I'm not headed to the real Mars, of course - not yet. Instead I'm going to the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Utah. Like my FMARS adventure last summer, MDRS is a simulated Mars habitat owned and operated by The Mars Society . Below is the Commander's Welcome message that I posted to our crew blog : Welcome to the MDRS Crew 89 website! I hope you enjoy following our mission and learn something about what it takes to live on Mars. My name is Brian Shiro , and I am the Commander for the 89th crew of the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS). My crew and I will inhabit the simulated Mars habitat (the "Hab") from 23 January through 6 February 2010. Previously, I served as Geophysicist on the 2009 FMARS-12 expedition , and I am very excited to be commanding my first mission on analog Mars. In the three months...

Things are shaping up for my second mission to analog Mars. This time I'll be headed to the Mars Desert Research Station ( MDRS ) in Utah for a 2-week expedition from 23 January to 6 February 2010. I will serve as Commander with a crew of five other highly capable and talented scientists and engineers.  We will be the 89th crew to inhabit the MDRS since it's founding in 2002. Brian Shiro , Commander / Geophysicist Carla Haroz, Executive Officer / Engineer Mike Moran , Crew Astronomer Darrel Robertson, Chief Engineer Luís Saraiva, Crew Biologist / Health and Safety Officer Kiri Wagstaff , Crew Geologist / Information Officer / Journalist Kiri has set up a crew website where we'll maintain a blog. Of course, we're also on the major social networks: Twitter , Facebook , Flickr , and YouTube.  As with all MDRS crews, our daily reports and select photos will be posted to The Mars Society's website . Luís designed our crew patch, which I think looks very nice....

As I gear up for my MDRS mission, one of my priorities is ensuring that I'm physically fit to handle the rigors of living on analog Mars.  The XTERRA Trail Running World Championship Half Marathon was the ideal challenge for me.  I competed in the 2nd annual race this past weekend at Kualoa Ranch on Oʻahu's windward coast. Billed the "most scenic half marathon trail race on the planet," the course snakes through dense rainforest and broad valleys on secluded singletrack trails and dirt roads along dramatic knife-edged mountain ridges. According to the XTERRA news release , more than 1,000 runners from 35 states and 9 countries participated in the day’s 21k, 10k, and 5k races, which raised money to support the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation of Hawaii . I've run hilly races, half marathons, and trail races in the past, but I've never done all three at once. The XTERRA course advertised 2,900 feet of elevation change (although my Garmin Forerunn...

I'm going back to Mars! Or at least a close approximation of it. This time, instead of the Canadian arctic, I'll be headed to the Utah desert. There must be truth in advertising because this blog's title says it all. I was just asked to command the 89th crew to the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Utah from January 24 through February 7 next year. To get a flavor for the simulated Mars habitat and its surroundings, you can view some recent photos of MDRS taken by Popular Science or read their conversation with Robert Zubrin about how to live in Mars.

Do you want a chance to gain some first hand experience as an astronaut crewmember on a simulated Mars mission? The Mars Society is currently looking for people to apply to the 9th season of the Mars Desert Research Station ( MDRS ) in Utah. MDRS is similar to FMARS , but crews generally only spend 2-week rotations at the site, which is only about 7 miles (11 km) from the town of Hanksville.