Mars on Earth: Keith Cowing’s Devon Island Journal: Summer 2002

Further Information

In the summer of 2002 I had a unique opportunity: I had the chance to visit another planet – or at least the closest thing to such an experience one can have without leaving this planet.

I was a participant in the NASA Haughton-Mars Project – a international multidisciplinary research project led by Pascal Lee, managed in cooperation with NASA by the SETI Institute. My company is also a financial sponsor of this project. In addition, I was a journalist documenting the various research projects underway here.

While I wore many different hats as I set foot on this amazing island, they all soon merged into one: I was a witness to a close approximation of what it would be like to explore another planet: specifically, Mars. As such, the only way to convey my experiences is to do so from a personal perspective.

To set things in context:

The location: Haughton Crater, Devon Island, Nunavut, Canada – less than a thousand miles from the north pole on the largest uninhabited island on Earth.

Project task: perform a scientific study of the Haughton impact crater and the surrounding terrain in order to learn about Mars and Earth by comparison – and constrast. Also, to utilize the unique Mars-like terrain of Devon Island as a Martian analog so as to learn how to live, work, and conduct science on Mars.

My tasks: assemble a greenhouse that will allow space biology research to be done on Devon Island – and communicate to a wider audience what it is like to live and work on Devon Island.

During my time on Devon Island I took copious notes and over 2,500 photos so as to capture my experiences. Only after I returned home, as I sat back to review and edit the photos and notes I had scribbled, did I truly understand all that had happened.

So many things went on every day. While I was building a greenhouse at Base Camp, astrobiology, geology, human factors, information systems, and space medicine research was also going on – some of it in nearby tents — in other cases, many kilometers away in the field. I have tried to capture as much as I can, given my attempts to see – and do it all.

Herein I present my journals – journals from a place we call “Mars on Earth”.

• Introduction
• 8 Jul 2002: Arrival
• 9 Jul 2002: Getting acquainted – and down to work
• 10 Jul 2002: Mars carpentry
• 11 Jul 2002: Lexan Kites, shotguns, and Driver’s Ed
• 12 Jul 2002: Building and exploring
• 13-15 Jul 2002: Building a Mars greenhouse on Earth
• 16 Jul 2002: Sealing Greenhouses on Earth – and Mars; 6 Wheeled Rovers
• 17 Jul 2002: Greenhouse Dedication, Fishing, and Mystery Food
• 18 Jul 2002: Giving Blood, Eternal Light, and an Evening Commute
• 19 Jul 2002: The Hottest Place on Devon Island, T-shirts, a Star Trek hello
• 20 Jul 2002: Mars Airplanes and Communicating With Earth
• 21 Jul 2002: Visiting ministers, missing ‘green’, and crater tours
• 22 Jul 2002: The hottest place on Devon Island
• 23 Jul 2002: Farewells, Birthdays, and Bartering
• 24 Jul 2002: EVAs, movies – and ‘being here’
• 25 Jul 2002: Russian TV, webcam privacy, and being on Mars for a few minutes
• 26 Jul 2002: Cold Feet, Chocolate, and Home Cooking
• 27 Jul 2002: Anchors and anemometers
• 28 Jul 2002: Drilling into permafrost; leaving footprints for eternity
• 29 Jul 2002: Showering near the North Pole; one last look around
• 30 Jul 2002: Departure and arrival
• 31 Jul 2002: Culture shock and flight delays
• 1 Aug 2002: Departure into darkness
• 2 Aug 2002: Green overdose; home at last
• 2 Sep 2002: Home +30