Iceland review - 2002, Qupperneq 75

ICELAND REVIEW 73
LUST FOR LIFE — Researchers (left and below)
search the terrestial deserts of Utah for signs of
life in preparation for The Mars Society’s first
human expedition to—that’s right—Mars.
Optimistically, they might pull off a mission in less
than 20 years. In the meantime, the Society has
simulated expeditions in Utah, Antarctica, and
now, the Euro-Mars project is setting up camp in
Iceland’s Martian-like Mývatn, pictured above.
for its Martian-like geology and bustling volcanic activity. With its
pseudocraters, water-soaked terrain and catastrophic
Jökulsársandar plains, the area bears a striking resemblance to
the planet Mars. The area even has a canyon, dug in only a few
weeks by ice bursts, which are very similar to those found on
Mars. The scouting team dropped by the offices of Iceland
Review, to tell of their exciting escapades.
The team explains that the project is “not just fun and games”.
Once the researchers are in the habitat, they have to act as if they
are actually situated on the planet Mars. This means that there is
no escaping to the local fast-food joint for a quick bite; dried
food and vegetables from the space greenhouse will have to do.
The researchers will be wearing spacesuits for the entire research
session, which lasts for two weeks. Inside their spacesuits, a fan
will constantly refresh their air supply and everything they say
will be recorded. The researchers cannot use their senses as they
would on Earth. For instance, they would not be able to hear or
use peripheral vision in their suits, plus they can’t lick rocks to dif-
ferentiate between minerals.
“They are in spacesuits day in and day out. This is very differ-
ent than being in a laboratory. The labs cannot in any way, shape
or size substitute for getting out into the real world,” says Bo
Maxwell, president of the Mars Society UK. The team goes on to
explain that field research can yield very useful information that
cannot be found in a sample tube or by carrying out a scientific
test.
The three scouts met with Icelandic government officials and
scholars during their stay, to discuss the project. They agree that
the first contacts were very positive. The team also held a lecture
for the physics department of the University of Iceland, before
heading north to explore the future sight at Mývatn / Krafla.
The Next Big Step
“It’s a huge advantage to send humans to Mars, rather than
robots. It’s more costly, but more information is gathered. You
get more bang for the buck,” says Charles Frankel, from
Association Planete Mars in France. He explains that it costs seven
million dollars to send one kilo to Mars, and ten billion dollars to
send one man, but the man collects 1000 times more information
than the one kilo robot. Mr. Frankel has been a crew geologist on
board the Mars Society’s Arctic Research Station. “You can’t give
a computer experience,” says Frankel. “We now only have puffin-
standard robots, which are a long way away from cognitive
greatness,” he adds. His colleague, Artemis Westenberg, PR and
Communications Representative for the association, agrees and
says that sending human beings is “the next great step”.
The team says that the goal is to send the first manned mission
to Mars by the year 2020, although it would be realistic to go in
10–12 years if enough backing could be found. “We want to find
out if people can live and work on Mars and become a spacefar-
ing civilisation,” says Mr. Maxwell. When asked if the team had
any last words before departing on their scouting mission to the
north of Iceland, Westenberg, ever the PR man, was quick to
reply: “Earth is the cradle of humankind, but one doesn’t stay in
the cradle forever.” A quote from Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the
father of aeronautics and rocket dynamics, and a fitting end.
x72 IR302 - Mars bs -km 2.9.2002 17:05 Page 73