Manufacturing of Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station Completed!

The manufacturing of the primary structure of the Flashline Mars Arctic
Research Station has been completed. At the end of May, the fabrication of
the structure was behind schedule, causing some concern that it might not
be ready in time to ship to the Arctic for construction this summer.
However, as a result of an all-out mobilization of extra workers, double
shifts, and weekend work from Infracomp, Mesa Fiberglass and a swarm of
hardworking volunteers from the Rocky Mountain Mars Society (RMMS) and
Pioneer Astronautics, the job has been done! Special citations for service
above and beyond anything anyone could hope to ask are due to RMMS
volunteers Keith Savage, Dewey Anderson, and Frank Schubert. (Thanks
guys!) The last of the 12 dome sections came off the mold June 22, and the
test assembly was completed the same day. (A photo of the structure
undergoing test assembly at the Mesa Fiberglass factory in Commerce City
Colorado can be seen at the Mars Society web site at
http://www.marssociety.org.) The structure has now been disassembled and
is being prepared for its transportation to the Arctic. Paradrop of the
disassembled station on Devon Island is now planned for the first week of
July. If the weather holds, construction will then take place over the
next three weeks, with Mars simulation activities scheduled to begin
before the end of the month.

Well done Flashline Team! On to Devon!

A complete report on the construction and first season’s activities of the
Flashline Station will be presented by the crew members returning from the
Arctic at the Third International Mars Society Convention, which will be
held August 10-13 at Ryerson University, Toronto. See the Mars Society web
site at http://www.marssociety.org for details.