The Mars Desert Research Station in Utah is a testbed for human missions to Mars
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The Mars Desert Research Station
Laurie J. Schmidt
The Mars Desert Research Station, located in the Utah desert near the town of Hanksville, is a simulated Mars habitat that serves as a testbed for field operations studies in preparation for future human missions to Mars. During each field season, which typically runs from December to April, volunteer crews spend one to two weeks at the station testing things like habitat design features, technologies, and crew selection protocols.
The desert region of southeast Utah is what is known in space exploration terms as a Mars "analog" -- locations on Earth where environmental conditions and geologic features are thought to resemble those that may be encountered on Mars. In this image, the bentonite hills of the Morrison Formation display their colorful bands.
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