MOUNTAIN LIFE - Coast Mountains | Fall Winter 2019

23 EXPLORERS ON MARS Space may be the final frontier, but when it comes to field testing the latest spacesuits here on Earth, the best we can do is Iceland’s Grímsvötn volcano. Actively bubbling away beneath the Vatnajökull ice cap, Grímsvötn is fraught with harsh weather conditions, steam vents, deep crevasses and dangerously unstable terrain. Plus, the volcano could re-erupt at any time. These conditions are exactly why scientists and explorers consider the area an “analog”, one that mimics conditions found on distant planets or moons. In August 2019 a team of seven headed to Grímsvötn to test a 50-pound Mars mission analog spacesuit known as the Mars Suit 1 (MS1), a one-off prototype built in collaboration with NASA by designer Michael Lye and a team at the Rhode Island School of Design. “It’s crazy there,” says Dave Hodge, a photographer and Explorers Club member who helped with funding and coordination for the trip with Lye and Daniel Leeb, mission director at the newly-formed Iceland Space Agency. “The volcano erupted six years ago,” Hodge says. “It blew right through the ice cap, so there is this massive area of giant crevasses and huge chunks of ice the size of parliament buildings just hanging off the side of the caldera, all above a giant glacial lake full of chunks of floating ice. The caldera of the volcano is 20 kilometres wide.It’s an incredible spot, totally remote.” The idea behind analog testing is to simulate, as closely as possible, what the actual experience would be like on Mars. Much of the MS1 mission focused on Icelandic geologist Helga Kristín performing experiments in the suit. “The gravity on Mars is around one-third of that on Earth,” Hodge says. “So the goal with the suit is to simulate that. There were no elaborate heat/cooling or oxygen systems in the suit, we don’t need those here, and they would add too much weight with our gravity.” A specialist in volcanology and how magma behaves underneath the physical husk of volcanoes, Kristín used LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) surveying technology to provide feedback on whether it was possible to perform precise scientific duties while wearing the MS1. An experienced mountaineer, she also tested the suit by doing some ice climbing and glacier travel. “One very important role of analogue missions is to ensure that participants feel, act and believe in what they’re doing so that useful data for what might happen on Mars is provided,” says Lye in an interview with space.com . “The idea is that anything you would do while exploring Mars... any activity, whether it’s science or travelling or moving about, would be possible in this suit.” For Hodge, who also got to try on the suit (“it was awesome”), the MS1 analog mission held extra significance because he was able to fly an official Explorers Club flag. Established in 1904 in New York City, The Explorers Club is a multidisciplinary society dedicated to scientific discovery, research, exploration and, more recently, conservation. “It started around the polar expeditions,” Hodge says, “but now there are 3,500 members worldwide who can apply to carry a flag on expeditions. Flag expeditions need to be focused on exploration, scientific research and/or conservation—you won’t qualify if it’s just a vacation.” “ All the satellites up there are helping conservation and science, from tracking weather patterns to helping pre- dict environmental sensitivities to allowing people to communicate from the middle of nowhere.” –Dave Hodge words :: Feet Banks photography :: Dave Hodge Field testing a NASA-designed suit in Iceland’s most Martian-like environment