Dear diary: the Sun never set on the Arctic Mars simulation

Header image: Anastasiya (left) and myself working on the Haughton crater rim. Mars Society, Author provided.

By Jonathan Clarke, UNSW

Jonathan Clarke has just returned from another mission to simulate life on Mars. This time he was on Devon Island in the Canadian Arctic, where the sun never sets in the northern summer.

It’s all part of a project to see what some of the challenges are, should humans one day decide to live on Mars. He’s detailed some of the events as they happened across 52 days of his most recent experience.

Can’t believe it, after more than two weeks of waiting we are finally here at Devon Island. It looks very alien, very Mars-like in appearance: stark, a visual symphony in brown, orange and grey.

We landed about 2.5km from the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS) habitat, gleaming white on the distant ridge in the evening sunshine. We forded two creeks and climbed the rocky ridge to get there.

Read more: The new space race: why we need a human mission to Mars

The habitat was in better condition than we had feared, but there was still some mould and it smelled a bit musty. We opened everything up, and settled into the least grotty rooms and mattresses.

There was lots and lots of junk, lots of tidying to do. I went back with the quad bike and trailer to ferry our stuff back to the habitat while the others began to make the station operational.

Felt odd and exposed by myself in the Arctic. No bears though; maybe carrying a shotgun kept them away. Then went down to the creek with some jerrycans and collected water. By the time we were ready for bed it was 1am. Still bright daylight of course.

Today is July 20, an appropriate day for us to start the main part of our mission, because 41 years ago