Across the Tasman.
Into the field.
A Mars analogue expedition linked research in the Utah desert with students in New Zealand and Australia.
A shared expedition.
An open classroom.
TasMars 2013 continued the trans-Tasman Mars analogue story, with the mission listed in the New Zealand archive for 27 January–10 February 2013.
David Willson, Jen Blank, Melanie Newfield and Emma Braegen formed the expedition crew. Their work spanned engineering, geology, geochemistry and biosecurity, with visiting researchers contributing field science.
Jonathan Clarke and Haritina Mogosanu coordinated the Australian and New Zealand mission connections. Live chats gave schools a way to follow the work from home rather than simply read about it afterwards.
Like KiwiMars, it used an Earth-based analogue setting to explore questions about planetary science, practical fieldwork and the human side of a mission.