Remember back in November, when I mentioned that the Mars Society was looking for volunteers to live for a while this summer in its research station on Devon Island, far above the Arctic circle? (It’s up there because its polar desert climate is apparently the most Mars-like place on Earth, and they want to use it to learn what’s needed for an eventual Mars colonization.)

Well, I applied. And while they haven’t made their final decisions yet, I took my first step to the Arctic yesterday when I found out I’ve been accepted for a stint at the Society’s other research station, in a remote part of the southern Utah desert. (Actually, I’m not tremendously interested in a space there, and didn’t even apply for one, since the Arctic station seems much more interesting — I mean, look where it is! The largest uninhabited island on Earth, a big meteorite impact crater, farther north than 90 percent of the population of Greenland! Roaming muskox, polar bears, Arctic foxes, walrus, beluga whales! Utah seems much less interesting, no?)

Anyway, I find out by the end of the month whether I get a spot on Devon. Keep your fingers crossed for me. (Well, not all month long — that could hurt after a while.)

05 February 2002

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