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Recreating Mars In The Arctic by Janet Wong 
Toronto - January 26, 2000 - If humans were to inhabit Mars, how would we do it? What would we need to know? How would we breathe, eat, sleep, communicate, interact and live?University of Toronto geology graduate student Darlene Lim is among a team of scientists on the Haughton Mars Project asking, and answering, those very questions. This project, led by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, will be conducted on Haughton Crater on Devon Island in the Canadian high Arctic. According to Lim, the similarity of this crater to Mars is quite remarkable. Its geography, topography and potential microbiology may be comparable to those of the Red Planet since there is evidence that Mars once had crater lakes similar to the ancient lake that once occupied Haughton Crater. "By and large, the Haughton Mars Project explores how we would explore Mars," Lim says. "We have to know what to look for to see if there ever was life on Mars. And we also have to be conscious so that our activities do not destroy what we intend to study." A two-level habitat is being built and tested in Colorado by the Mars Society (a private group committed to the exploration and settlement of Mars). This simulated Mars space station -- which sleeps up to six people -- will have its inaugural opening July 20 on Haughton Crater and two groups will reside there for one week each this summer. As the project progresses through the years, the plan is to have people staying in the habitat for longer periods of time, says Lim, who is also a Mars Society member. "The science and research gathered will be extremely useful -- from earth sciences research to robotics testing on rough terrain, from space communication to the social aspects of living in extreme conditions," she notes.
"This project is a feasibility study and will give us a lot of information on what we need to know before we can send human explorers to Mars," added Lim.
EARTH INVADES MARS
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Sydney - January 12, 2000 - The failure of Mars Polar Lander could not have come at a worse time. NASA is plagued by funding difficulties and the tensions over the survival of individual programs that inevitably results from this. The problems of the International Space Station are of Herculean proportions and Shuttle launches are sporadic events. NASA is clearly ailing, and the impact of any further problems is magnified. Although NASA's investigation into the loss of MPL has yet to report its conclusions, it's important to remember that we will never know for certain why the lander failed. In the absence of solid facts, all manner of theories will be advanced. 