Edgy Stay on Mars

A group of six New Zealanders recently completed a two-week simulated mission at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Hanksville, Utah. The three men and three women of the KiwiMars team lived together in a two-story, 10-metre-wide “environment” with greenhouse and observatory to replicate the conditions of a mission to Mars. “When you get to such a place, everything is alien,” mission commander Haritina Mogosanu said. “People do get nervous, they get scared and a little bit on edge because they don’t know how to react. It’s like a survival camp.” The team included Mogasanu, Mike Bodnar, Annalea Beattie, Don Stewart, Ali Harley and Bruce Ngataierua.