49th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2018 (LPI Contrib. No. 2083) 2094.pdf

SUMMARY OF FIELD INVESTIGATIONS FROM THE MARS 160 ANALOG MISSION IN UTAH AND DEVON ISLAND J.P. Knightly1, J.D.A. Clarke2, S. Rupert3, and A. Srivastava3. 1Arkansas Center for Space and Planetary Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, ([email protected]), 2Mars Society Australia, 43 Michell St, Monash, ACT 2904, Australia, 3Mars Society, 11111 West 8 Avenue Unit A, Lakewood, CO 80215

Introduction: The Mars 160 Twin Analog Mission both operational and field science simulations under (M160) was a two-phase simulated Mars mission that environmental conditions that more closely replicate took place over 140 days between 2016-2017 at the the conditions an actual mission to Mars would experi- Mars Society's two analog facilities – the Mars Desert ence. Despite its remote location and accessible only Research Station (MDRS) near Hanksville, Utah and by air, FMARS has hosted 14 crews since its construc- the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS) tion in 2001 in missions ranging from 1 to 4 months in on Devon Island, Canada. M160 had two primary, duration and is the proposed location for the year-long overarching objectives: to assess the field science re- Mars Arctic 365 mission. turn between two similar research facilities in two dif- Summary of Field Investigations: ferent Mars analog environments and to assess the psy- Astrobiology: Biological field studies at MDRS and chological impact of each facility's design and location FMARS focused on identifying biosignatures in the on the crew. Here we provide a brief summary of the form of hypoliths and endoliths. These rock-dwelling field science activities that were carried out between organisms are common on Earth [1] and serve as an the two phases of the mission. analog for how present or fossilized life on Mars could adapt to the harsh environment of the planet's surface [2]. Shielded from radiation by living on the underside of rocks, hypolith and endolith colonies could take hold in regions on Mars where the triple point of water has a chance of being reached in the modern era. In ad- dition, gypsum deposits at MDRS [3] and inside Haughton Crater near FMARS [4] were sampled for the detection of putative preserved organic compounds. The finding of gypsum veins on the Martian surface has corroborated the hydrological history of Mars [5], [6]. On the other hand, terrestrial evaporites have been found to preserve the biological record, mainly Figure 1: Photograph of MDRS taken during the first phase halophilic life, over a geologic time [1]. Therefore, it is of the M160 mission in 2016 (Photo: Yusuke Murakami.) plausible to hypothesize that evaporites might serve as microhabitats if life ever existed on Mars [3], [4]. About the Facilities: MDRS is located along the At FMARS, the areal extent and diversity of San Rafael Swell about 7 miles northwest of Han- lichens and vesicular plants were documented as a part ksville, UT by road. Sitting on red sandstone with ma- of ongoing efforts to understand the high arctic biome. roon hills of bentonite as a backdrop, the facility is sur- The occurrence of several species was were noted to rounded by geology that is both physically and visually have their furthest inland extent on Devon Island, con- analogous to the surface of Mars (Figure 1.) The facil- tributing important knowledge to this active biome. ity is in a temperate climate and experiences four equal Field methods employed in the astrobiology study seasons throughout the year. It is easily accessed by a at MDRS and FMARS included documenting hypolith dirt road and flights into the airport in nearby Grand and endolith colonies using a series of quadrat surveys Junction, CO. Since the facility's construction in 2001, (Figure 2) and the sampling of ancient evaporites, with it has hosted over 1,000 researchers and students in both activities conducted in coordination with special- over 180 simulated Mars missions ranging from 2 ists “on Earth.” Similar procedures would need to be weeks to 3 months in duration. developed and refined for future crewed missions. This By comparison, FMARS is located on Devon Is- study formed the basis for one of the primary compara- land almost halfway between the Arctic Circle and the tive operational studies of M160. Once the sample North Pole and experiences a short, cold summer dur- analysis effort from both phases of the mission has ing which the majority of missions have been con- concluded, a final determination can be made of the ducted. It is situated in a periglacial environment on science return from this project at each site. the rim of the 39 million-year-old Haughton Impact Geology: Geological field work at MDRS took ad- structure. It's geology and climate are ideal for running vantage of sedimentary outcrops to study prehistoric 49th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2018 (LPI Contrib. No. 2083) 2094.pdf

ongoing study of Mars analogs on Earth. The estimated two-year round-trip mission to the surface of Mars and back will be the longest mission in human spaceflight history. However, many of the recent long-duration Mars mission simulations have focused primarily on the psychological impact of crews in extended isola- tion without an intensive field science program for the crew. While understanding the impact of isolation by itself is important to understanding crew dynamics, a mission to Mars will be one of active exploration with perhaps as much as half of the mission being spent on the surface. Mars 160 was focused on implementing a strong field science program in order to better under- Figure 2: M160 crew members conducting a quadrat sur- stand the role of field science in analog missions, with vey while wearing spacesuits on Devon Island in order to implications ranging from crew dynamics and selec- document the diversity of hypolith and endolith colonies tion up to the final design of the field science program (Photo: Paul Knightly). on the first crewed mission to Mars. fluvial landforms in the form of inverted and exhumed Future Work: The science return from MDRS and channels similar to features that have been observed on FMARS will continue to be analyzed over the near fu- Mars [7]. At both MDRS and FMARS, fossilized stro- ture. With nearly four years of work leading up to the matolites were studied for their value as analogs for conclusion of the field portion of the study, post-mis- how mesoscopic fossils could appear on Mars [8]. sion sample and data analysis has by comparison only The periglacial environment surrounding FMARS just started. Additional reports are expected to be is- and inside Haughton Crater provides a unique opportu- sued over the coming years as findings from the field nity to study cold-weather processes that have been ob- and psychological studies become available. Future served on Mars. Water-ice permafrost in periglacial long-duration missions will be developed for MDRS patterned ground on Devon Island is visually and mor- and FMARS using guidance from the results of Mars phologically similar to patterned ground observed on 160 to make the most efficient use of each facility. Mars that was confirmed by the Phoenix mission to be Acknowledgements: This research would not have composed of water-ice [9]. Patterned ground in the been possible without the contribution of our M160 vicinity of FMARS was studied to draw comparisons crewmates – Annalea Beattie, Claude-Michel Laroche, with results from the Temperature and Electrical Con- Alex Mangeot, Yusuke Murakami, and Anastasiya ductivity Probe (TECP) on Phoenix [10] through data- Stepanova. We are grateful to Robert Zubrin for orga- loggers deployed in the permafrost active layer. Addi- nizational and financial support and vision, Paul tionally, patterned ground was studied to determine Sokoloff in his role as co-PI and Arctic expert, Vincent how it could be impacting the evolution of Haughton Chevrier, Hanna Sizemore, and Matt Siegler for their Crater and craters in the periglacial regions of Mars via expertise in Mars periglacial and environmental pro- trenching and anaglyph imaging [11]. cesses, and to Chris McKay, Kathy Bywaters, and Additional field work was undertaken to familiarize Charles Cockell for their input into biological matters. the crew with the unique geology of the Haughton Im- References: [1] Lowenstein T.K. and Schubert pact Crater with an emphasis on collecting samples of B.A. (2011) GSA Today, 21, 4-9. [2] Warren-Rhodes impact breccia, shattercones, and visiting a supersite K.A. and McKay C.P. et al (2013) JGR, 118, 1451- identified by Osinski et al [12] that represents a collec- 1460. [3] Young B.W. and Chan M.A. (2017) JGR, tion of the major observable facies inside the crater. 122, 150-171. [4] Parnell J. and Lee P. et al (2004) In- The longer traverses into Haughton Crater also faced ternational Journal of Astrobiology, 3, 3, 247-256. [5] constraints due to time, weather, and availability of Squyres S.W. and Arvidson R.E. Et al (2012) Science, crew resources – important factors that will impact the 336, 6081, 570-576. [6] Nachon M. and Clegg S.M. et manner in which field science activities are conducted al (2014) JGR, 119, 9, 1991-2016. [7] Clarke J.D.A on the first crewed missions to Mars. and Stoker C.R. (2011) International Journal of Astro- Discussion: After nearly four years of preparation, biology, 10, 161-175. [8] McKay, C.P. and Stoker Mars 160 concluded field activities in August 2017 C.R., (1989) Reviews of Geophysics, 27, 189-214. [9] when the crew departed from Devon Island. An early Mellon M.T. and Aridson R.E. et al (2009) JGR, 114. analysis of field samples and data collected in the field [10] Zent A.P. and Hecht M.H. et al (2010) JGR, 115. have highlighted both the differences of each facility [11] Knightly J.P. and Murakami Y. et al (2017) AGU as well as the strengths that each one contributes to the 2017 Fall Meeting, 266391. [12] Osinski G. R. and Lee P. et al (2010) Planetary and Space Sci., 58.