We will be explaining a little of the science behind the MDRS and Antipodes experiments below, as our intrepid crew brave the wilds of the martian atmosphere, sample the alien geology and take in the sights of a truly dark sky.
Topics:
Introducing mars
- Welcome to Mars!
- The Water question
- Martin weather - dusty with a chance of storms
- Mars' past - volcanism and canyons
- Could any Earth life survive there?
Martian astronomy
- Solar clock
- Navigation using the stars
- Dark-sky requirements
Hab Science
- The hab design
- Power sources
- Greenhouse experiments
Antipodes
- Antipodes 0 - Communications and the AoudaX
- Antipodes 1 - Rover command
- Antipodes 2 - Biological sampling at MDRS
- Antipodes 3 - Soldering at Dachstein
Introducing Mars
Welcome to Mars!
Whilst the martian environment is considered 'most similar to Earth's' when compared to other planets in our Solar System, it really doesn't do justice to the weird and wonderful nature of the martian environment! Both Mars and Earth are 'terrestrial' planets, so called because you're able to wander around on them, like the Apollo astronauts did on the lunar surface 30 years ago. You would feel a little lighter on Mars than you're used to here on Earth though - because it's much smaller than the earth about half as wide and only about 1/8th of the Earth's mass.
The red planet's characteristic hue comes from huge amounts of rusty (iron oxide) dust strewn across its surface, which is mostly composed of silicate rocks and other metals. However the dry, dusty Mars that our minds conjure pictures of when we imagine it, is a relatively new phase in Mars' life (compared to its current age of around 4 and a half billion years!). We believe, because of strange, wavelike patters on the Martian surface that is was once much hotter and wetter than it is now. Currently, Mars' surface temperatures sit between about -90 and -10 degrees Celsius, far to cold for anything to be 'wet' as any water would instantly freeze at those temperatures. This begs the obvious question: What happened to Mars that so drastically changed its atmosphere? (and importantly, could the same thing happen to Earth?)
Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Texas A&M/Cornell
The answer to this lies deep within the Mars core, where Mars once again reminds us of just how different it is from our home here on Earth. Mars has much weaker magnetic field than the Earth's, in fact the only field it has comes from magnetic elements in the dust that covers its surface. Compare that to Earth which has a strong magnetic field due to the movement of iron deep within our planet. Why is this important? Our magnetic field is what protects us from much of the violent debris that are constantly being fired out towards us by solar storms on the surface of our Sun. Without this protection, this so called 'Solar Wind' slowly stripped Mars of much of its atmospheric gasses, leaving it cold and with a much thinner atmosphere (and thus lower atmospheric pressure) than Earth. What's left of the martian atmosphere is mostly made up of carbon dioxide, much of which freezes as 'dry ice' at Mars' polar regions during its winters. All in all, when you look out at Mars tonight (it's the bright orange-red object mid-way up in NZ's northern skies during early currently), think fondly of our brave Kiwi-naughts huddled in their heated, pressurised space suits as they brave the wilds of Utah. And all in the name of science!
Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink!
As interesting as the martian atmosphere is, there's one compound that's presence is probably more important than all the others combined: water. Whilst some early astronomers convinced themselves they saw vast canal systems on the martian surface, it wasn't till Mariner 9 reached the red planet in 1971 that direct evidence of the presence of water was observed - in the form of erosion patterns, weather and vast canyons and floodplains later photographed in more detail by the Viking missions. 
The importance of confirming the presence of water on Mars cannot be understated, simply because we believe water to be a pre-requisite for all known life on Earth - so it's presence on a foreign world within our solar system goes a long way towards answering one of mankind's biggest and most enduring questions: are we alone in the cosmos? The image above shows some convincing evidence for the presence of large amounts of liquid water on the red planet's surface at some point in its history, and until we sent landers and rovers to Mars - this was all the evidence we had. However, since the Viking landers made their way to Mars' surface in 1970s, we now know there IS water on Mars, but it's usually in the form of ice or clouds rather than liquid. This is in part due to the frigid temperatures at the surface and also due to the low pressures, meaning that rather than melting water on Mars can transform straight from a solid into a gas - a process known as sublimation (similar to what dry ice, frozen carbon dioxide, does here on Earth). 
Like Earth, mars has two polar ice caps that shrink and grow depending on the seasons. This is where the majority of ice on mars is found, but also there are small amounts in frosts, glaciers and snow storms, all of which have been witnessed on the martian surface. Stream beds, eroded craters and minerals directly connected to the existence of liquid water have also been observed that strongly suggest the existence of liquid water on mars, yet the question remains: is there liquid water on the surface there now? NASA's next mars mission, the Curiosity Mars Rover, that is due to land in August 2012 is set to answer this question as well as to detect the chemical signatures of microbial life on mars.
Martin weather - dusty with a chance of storms
Mars' past - volcanism and canyons
Could any Earth life survive on Mars?
Martian astronomy
Solar clock
Navigation using the stars
Dark-sky requirements
Hab Science
The hab design
