Mars Society Canada's Third Training Expedition

Geology, Biology, Technology, Operations
and Human Factors Research at the
Mars Desert Research Station in Utah

Expedition Gamma is at MDRS

January 31, 2006

Expedition Gamma arrived at MDRS on January 20 and is only a few days away from completion. During this time the crew has made incredible progress in their training and research objectives. To learn more about the crew’s progress checkout the mission field reports and the daily commander’s log videos.

Expedition Gamma Crew Announced

November 3, 2006

The crew for Expedition Gamma has been selected, and all candidates have been notified of their status. You can find out more about each crewmember and the selected research proposals in the Crew Biographies section. Please continue to watch this space for new developments.

Expedition Gamma Applicant Shortlist

Septmber 24, 2006

The selection committee received an outstanding response to the call for applicants, and all submissions were of the highest quality. After much deliberation, the committee has selected its shortlist candidates, and has begun interviews. The organizers would like to thank all of the applicants for their hard work and excellent submissions and strongly encourage this pool of applicants to continuing applying for future training missions.

Call for Applicants Closed

Septmber 1, 2006

The Mars Society Canada is no longer accepting applications for Expedition Gamma. The selection committee will be meeting throughout the month of September to review applications and conduct interview. The committee hopes to have a crew selected by the end of September.

Good luck applicants!

Expedition Gamma - Call for Applicants

July 10, 2006

The Mars Society of Canada is now accepting applications for Expedition Gamma – a two-week training and research mission to the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Utah. The purpose of Expedition Gamma is to certify new recruits for participation in future large-scale research expeditions, to expose researchers to the facilities and environment typically available in a Mars analog setting, and to cross-train participants in several areas including geology, biology, technology and operations as they pertain to human Mars exploration. The two-week expedition will take place in January of 2007.

Expedition Gamma will be the Mars Society of Canada’s third training mission, building on the success of MSC's two previous training missions Expedition Alpha (2004) and Expedition Beta (2006) to MDRS that featured studies involving the local geology and biology, crewmember physiology, crew dynamics, field-testing of new fieldwork protocols, EVA traverse planning, and work-study task and procedure analysis. With both Expedition One to MDRS and Expedition Two to Arkaroola, Australia having been successfully completed and with Expedition Three scheduled for February of 2007 at MDRS, successful participants of Expedition Gamma will have the chance to contribute to future large-scale expeditions being planned for the Canadian Arctic, Iceland and the Atacama Desert in Chile, among other locations. Individuals who have not participated in either a Training or prior Research Expedition will not be eligible to take part in future full-scal e expeditions led by the Mars Society of Canada.

Applications are being sought for 6 crewmember positions: Geologist, Biologist, Chief Engineer, Field Engineer, Extravehicular Activity Systems Engineer and an open-ended Researcher. Applicants for these six positions are also encouraged to apply for the position of Health and Safety Officer (HSO), responsible for overseeing crew safety and general wellbeing. For a more detailed description of each position, click HERE.

Although Expedition Gamma is being led by the Mars Society of Canada, applications will be accepted from exceptionally qualified candidates from around the world, provided that the applicant is capable of legally entering into the US for the expedition itself, and into Canada for any related future conferences, training, expeditions or other opportunities. Applications will be accepted from anyone in good physical condition of at least 18 years of age without regard to race, creed, colour, or gender. Scientific, engineering, practical mechanical, first aid, wilderness, literary skills and a good sense of humour are all considered a plus. Every trainee must commit to the full two weeks.

The Mars Society of Canada will pay travel and related expenses between Salt Lake City, Utah and MDRS during training and simulation, but there will be no salary or other travel reimbursement. Travel between Salt Lake City and the crewmember’s home country must be self-funded or supported by outside sponsors / institutions.

All applications must include:

A letter describing which position you are applying for, your reasons for participating and how you envision your contribution to the expedition (1 page maximum, 1.5 pages if also applying for the HSO position)
A resume detailing your educational background, experiences and acquired skills
Two character references (names and contact phone numbers only - references will be contacted only if the applicant is short-listed)
Research Proposal (if applying for one of the four research positions, see below)
A contact phone number, should you be short-listed
A short biography (100 to 250 words) for posting on the webpage, should you be selected

Total length of applications must not exceed 4 pages. Please submit all applications to MSC. No hard copies of the application or research proposal are required (email applications only). Applications and research proposals are due August 31, 2006.

Click HERE for a list of Frequently Asked Questions and other background information concerning Expedition Gamma, the Mars Desert Research Station and the Mars Society of Canada’s Expedition Series.

Research Proposals:

Those wishing to apply for the Geologist, Biologist or the Open-ended Researcher position must include a research proposal with their application. Research proposals are not required for either of the Chief Engineer, Extravehicular Activity Engineer, or Field Engineer positions, although all three positions require very strong technical and troubleshooting skills (see requirements HERE.

Research proposals should be 2-4 pages (in addition to the above-mentioned 4 page application package maximum) and include the following:

Proposal Abstract - 250 words maximum
Short literature review
Problem statement
Methodology and Required Resources (time, personnel, equipment, etc.)
Proposed analyses
Reference citations

Proposals must be written to publication quality and adhere to the AAS format. Once the expedition is complete, a comprehensive summary paper of the expedition science program will be published. Parts of your proposal submission will be used to create the summary paper, and you will receive co-author credit.

A multidisciplinary peer review panel will evaluate the scientific merit of each proposal. Only those proposals that meet our criteria will be selected.

Selection Criteria:

Congruence with the general scientific program as expressed in R. Persaud, "A Systematic Approach to Studies at the Mars Analog Research Stations", Martian Expedition Planning (ed. C. Cockell), AAS, 2004
Excellence, rigor and scientific value of the proposed project
Potential for knowledge development/integration with research selected for the Expedition Gamma program

Send all applications and research proposals to MSC. Applications and research proposals are due August 31, 2006.

For more information, please contact the MSC.

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