April 2, 2004 Student Life
This feature, "Student Life," returns with a new
name, replacing "Student News." The intent, however,
is the same. "Student Life" brings readers the best
of student-produced journalism at Utah State University. Featured
items are written by students for The Utah Statesman,
the official student newspaper of Utah Sate University, or The
Hard News Café, the online publication from the
Department of Journalism and Communication. Both publications
are award winning and present the talents of Utah State's journalists-in-training.
This week's piece is from The Utah Statesman by writer
Brooke Nelson
Student takes a mission
to 'Mars'
From the The Utah
Statesman 3-31-04
 Utah
State University student Jamon Nielson spent two weeks experiencing
the life of a "Martianaut," and conducted research
with USU technology while living in the Mars Desert Research
Station (MDRS) near Hanksville, Utah.
Nielson returned from his mission Monday morning. During the
two weeks, the six-member crew lived in an 8-meter cylindrical
shelter, leaving only in space suits to conduct experiments
and record data. The crew consisted of two women and four men
from around the world including areas like India, Oregon, Australia,
Belgium and Wales.
"It was basically a tin can," Nielson said of his
home base. "I learned there's a mental conditioning needed.
I was with five people for two weeks basically cooped up in
this can. We started to get on each other's nerves a little
bit after two weeks."
Nielson said the experience gave him a better appreciation
for what real astronauts go through, adding it gives him a good
perspective on how tough a real mission to Mars would be - a
journey he says would take almost three years round trip.
According to the Mars Society Web site, www.marssociety.com,
the purpose of the MDRS is to give participants a taste of astronaut
life as well as to test equipment in a real-life setting, providing
a much better idea of how effective the equipment is than in
a factory test room. The MDRS is in use from May to December
and crews of four to six people rotate through every two weeks.
Researchers also hope to gain a better idea of how plausible
a real mission to Mars would be.
One of Nielson's jobs was to conduct experiments with Lada,
which Nielson describes as "the most sophisticated pot
holder you would ever see," a chamber that waters, measures
and even photographs the plants inside.
The technology was developed between 1999 and 2001 at the Space
Dynamics Lab (SDL) with Gail Bingham serving as project manager.
Nielson said USU has built four units, one of which is currently
aboard the International Space Station and was launched in September
2002.
Lada, named for the Russian goddess of spring, is designed
to allow astronauts to garden in space, providing them with
badly needed nutrition, according to the SDL's Web site, www.sdl.usu.edu.
Bingham said while nothing was learned during the two weeks
that surprised him about Lada, he said Nielson gained some new
insights about Lada's potential.
According to Nielson's report, which can be accessed at www.marssociety.com,
one of the most important discoveries was that Lada can be used
as a plant incubator used to transfer plants from the astronaut's
habitat into other soils, including those of the environments
astronauts will one day visit.
"I think Jamon got his eyes really opened to what it's
going to be like to support a crew on Mars and that's pretty
important to someone who's thinking about going into space,"
Bingham said.
These results were what Bingham expected, he said. Bingham
has been working with other space vegetation systems like this
for more than 10 years, saying whether it's Mars or the moon
"it's critical that we learn how to grow plants" in
space.
Two types of lettuce, Mizuna and a Chinese lettuce, were grown
during the mission. Nielson said while he debated attempting
to grow wheat or other grains, he eventually chose the plants
he did because of their hardiness and ability to germinate quickly,
although Lada has been successful in the past growing other
vegetables like peas and tomatoes.
Serving as the EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity) commander during
the mission, Nielson spent a lot of time in his space suit learning
to explore surroundings and collect data while in full astronaut
gear.
"In some sense you are cut off from your environment.
I was like bubble boy," Nielson said, adding it was weird
not to be able to feel the wind or touch the things around him.
"I was responsible for navigation, using GPS and maps,"
Nielson said. "I found some neat stuff - fossils, petrified
wood. I'm not a geologist but I found it interesting to see
all the kinds of stones. I wish I knew more about that stuff."
Nielson said by far the most frustrating part of the experience
was the failing of the power generators which crashed six or
seven times during the two weeks. During the crashes, experiments
couldn't be conducted and computers were down. In space, if
this were to happen, astronauts wouldn't even be able to leave
the shelter because the pressure couldn't be controlled, he
said.
One day, missions to the real red planet will be possible,
Nielson said, it's just a matter of taking the technology already
available to the next level.
Nielson may just be one of those lucky astronauts. Having completed
a master's degree in physics, Nielson is now working as a research
assistant at SDL as well as on a second bachelor's in aviation
technology. He said he will apply for the NASA astronaut corps
next year. Nielson was selected for the MRDS experience after
filling out an application on the Mars Society Web site.
"I've wanted to be an astronaut since I was a kid. I've
always been interested in science and stuff. I guess it's because
I watched 'Star Wars' when I was 6 years old," he said.
Nielson said he also hopes his experience will give both USU
and Lada some more exposure and publicity.
Meanwhile, he said he is trying to readjust to normal life,
also saying his favorite part of the experience was the camaraderie
that developed between crew mates.
"I liked the whole environment, the whole simulations
of what an astronaut would really go through," he said.
"I'm already starting to miss those guys. We got to be
good friends."
By Brooke Nelson, bnelson@cc.usu.edu
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