The experiments

Local positioning system for mars

Once mankind starts to explore Mars, they will need to know their position on the planet. Since there will be no GPS at first, they will need to use a different positioning system. We thought of using triangulation to solve this problem. We will use fixed beacons made of Arduino chips with known positions and moveable beacons that will be carried by the crew. By analyzing the power of the signal received by the movable beacons and their information, the crew can know its position. One advantage of this approach would be the fact that the exploring crew could extend the beacon network with its advance in unknown territory. It could also be used to carry information from the field to the headquarters.

This project would be an improvement of a project started by Crew 103 that failed due to hardware issues. We plan to use their previous experience and equipment, which will help us to achieve the first results even faster and give us more time to improve the project.

 Observation of astronomical objects from mars

Mars has a very tiny atmosphere compared to the Earth, so telescopes located on Martian soil would be more efficient because of the absence of atmospheric perturbations. Another big advantage to being on Mars (or equivalent to the desert of Utah) is that there is no luminous pollution, which becomes a chronic problem on Earth.

We plan to observe the sky between 10 pm and 3 am because we want to observe all the objects before appearing in the vision field. So at the MDRS we will use the MUSK observatory, and the software ”stellarium” on windows. It will help us to locate astronomical objects. We’ll follow the training on the website to become experts in that field and to be able to use the CCD camera and the different filters for photography.

A study of the past climatic conditions through rock and sediment analysis

The geology of Mars holds important information on the previous climatic conditions of the planet. The main goal of this project is to analyze the nature of the rocks around the MDRS to determine these conditions and to produce a satisfying model of their formation. As the surface of Mars is now mainly dry, the wind is the only cause of erosion, and the observation of the sediments should provide enough data to estimate the atmospheric conditions and dominant winds. A global mapping of the rocks localization according to their nature is planned to reconstruct the past landscape and obtain a global model of the wind directions and sedimentation around the station.

A search of water traces by erosion analysis

The observations on Mars show landscape structures like water flow environments on Earth and the Curiosity rover has recently found rocks characteristic of stream beds. However, the surface of Mars is now completely dry, and the landscape and sediments are the last indicators of past water traces. This project is centered on the observation of the landscape and the analysis of sedimentation and erosion around the MDRS. His main objective is to determine the respective part of water flow and wind erosion in the formation of the local geographic structures. In case of a typical stream bed is found, the sedimentation structure and erosion will be considered to establish a model of the past water flow and its influence on the landscape.

 Desensitization of the smell in close space in terms of time

Astronauts on missions on Mars will stay in closed areas for quite a long time. So, the idea of this project is to study the possible impact of such living conditions on the smell's ability of the crew members, that is the bluntness of their sense. It can be due to numerous factors like dust in the living area, the absence of usual and common smells, and so on. This could create an insecure climate in the station because the astronauts would become less sensitive to smoke smells or toxic gas, for example, which could threaten the whole team. To do so, on the first day of our simulation members will be educated to recognize the smells that we have brought with us in the form of essential oils. Then after a week the first group will take a test which will consist in distinguishing the different smells of a mixing. Finally, at the end of our simulation the second group will take it also. By comparing both results we will be able to determine if bluntness really occurs.