The Mars Society is looking for a few good men and women to spend four months in the remote Canadian arctic, just 900 miles from the North Pole, in bulky faux spacesuits!
This won't be an extended vacation, or a reality-TV plotline. For rocket scientist Robert Zubrin, president of the Mars Society, next year's exercise on Devon Island will be an experiment in the exploration process - a test that could help smooth the path to Mars. ...
Six of the crew members will have to stay "in sim" for the duration - meaning that they'll follow the same procedures that a crew on true Mars would have to contend with. They'll have to wear bulky "spacesuit simulators" to venture outside the habitat, and be responsible for all the chores associated with daily life on another planet.
A seventh volunteer will serve as a field support manager, taking care of the logistics and toting a shotgun when necessary to fend off polar bears.