Student Shiro “returns” from Mars

Space Studies distance graduate student Brian Shiro has just landed
back on Earth after having spent two weeks at the Mars Desert Research
Station (MDRS) in Utah.  He served as commander to crew of six
would-be space explorers living and working together in the cramped
quarters of the MDRS facility.  They were the 89th MDRS expedition
since its founding by The Mars Society in 2002.

During their mission, Brian and his crew successfully completed twenty
extra-vehicular activities (EVAs) in support of research projects that
spanned radio astronomy, extremophile biology, seismic geophysics,
geologic mapping, EVA operations, and pure exploration.  Brian logged
25 hours, 2 minutes of suit time on 11 EVAa covering 80.5 kilometer
during the mission.  Added to his previous FMARS
mission last summer, he can now boast nearly 54 hours of
experience on 20 EVAs spanning 160 kilometers.

Brian led two EVAs to complete a seismic refraction profile to image a
putative buried inverted channel seen in previous ground penetrating
radar data collected by NASA Ames.  He also collaborated with UND’s
Pablo De Leon on a study to gauge knee fabric abrasion with prototype
NDX-2 Mars space suit fabric developed by the UND Space Suit
Laboratory.

Throughout the mission, Crew 89 maintained a vibrant, active public
presence via a dynamic website that include daily blog posts, Twitter
updates, YouTube videos, and a Facebook group.  The website also
included summary maps and links to georeferenced photos for all EVAs .
Although the mission is now over, the crew will continue to post
updates as they analyze and present results from their MDRS research
endeavors.  Please follow the adventure here.