Call
for Volunteers for MDRS 2011-2012 Field Season
June
28, 2011
Plans
for the 11th field season of the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS)
are moving ahead rapidly. The 11th
field season is now planned to run from December 3, 2011 through May 6, 2012.
Volunteer
slots are open for participation as a crew member at the MDRS. Crew members
will be required to pay for their own transportation to Grand Junction,
Colorado, and pay a $1000 participation fee (reduced to $500 for students) to
cover station expenses. Volunteers
should send their applications to: mdrsvolunteers@aol.com by September 30, 2011 in order to be
considered.
Both
individual applications and group applications of up to an entire crew (6
people) will be considered.
Applications
should include:
- Your full name
- Full contact
information (home/work address, telephone numbers, email address(es)
- 3 references from
work or school environment
- Your resume
- Proposed projects
for your rotation
- A list of all crew
rotation dates in which you would be available to participate
- The crew position
(engineer, biologist, geologist, journalist, etc.) that you are seeking.
- Experience in
leading expeditions/teams if you wish to be considered for the position of
crew commander
- Any food allergies
/ being a vegetarian or vegan (because of the ongoing food-study). In particular, please answer the
following question: “Is there any specific food or drink that you cannot
or will not consume for medical, ethnical, religious, cultural or other
reasons?” Y/N. If the answer is yes, please describe
the dietary restrictions you observe.
- Research project(s)
for your rotation, or even several rotations during the season (having a
research project aimed at publishable results is definitely a leg-up in
getting selected)
To
enhance your chance of finding a crew rotation, it is very important that you list
ALL slots in which you could participate.
Potential
rotations are as follows:
|
Dec.
3 – 18
|
MDRS
Crew 108
|
|
Dec.
17 – Jan. 1
|
MDRS
Crew 109
|
|
Dec.
31 – Jan. 15
|
MDRS
Crew 110
|
|
Jan.
14 – Jan. 29
|
MDRS
Crew 111
|
|
Jan.
28 – Feb. 12
|
MDRS
Crew 112
|
|
Feb.
11 – Feb. 26
|
MDRS
Crew 113
|
|
Feb.
25 - March 11
|
MDRS
Crew 114
|
|
March
10 – 25
|
MDRS
Crew 115
|
|
March
24 - April 8
|
MDRS
Crew 116
|
|
April
7 - April 22
|
MDRS
Crew 117
|
|
April
21 - May 6
|
MDRS
Crew 118
|
Included
in the participation fee you pay to the Mars Society is:
- Transportation
from Grand Junction, Colorado, where every participant is expected to
arrive no later than the Friday night before the start of the
rotation. The return trip to Grand
Junction will be on the Saturday evening at the end of the two week
rotation. Note: Flying out
should not be booked before Sunday morning after your rotation.
- Food during the
rotation
- Water, heating,
electricity
- Use of science and
engineering and general equipment, science reagents, etc.
- ATVs, HabCar
- Use of EVA suits /
backpacks
Not
included in the participation fee:
- Costs of gasoline
for the trip from Grand Junction to the Hab and the return trip from the
Hab to Grand Junction (160 miles one-way)
- Costs of two hotel
nights for the overnight stay on Friday night before your rotation
and Saturday night after your rotation.
- The Mars Society
has an agreement for a competitive room rate in Grand Junction with the
Sandman Best Western motel. Sharing
of motel rooms is recommended.
The
Best Western room rate includes free breakfast and free Wi-Fi Internet, plus an
airport shuttle between GJT Walker Airfield and the motel.
For
a list of what to bring in gear and clothes, please read the crew briefing
documents carefully.
Every
crew is expected to participate in a number of season-long projects. At the moment that includes:
1) The
ongoing food study led by Dr. Kim Binsted of University of Hawaii and Dr. Jean
Hunter of Cornell University. All foods
and beverages at the MDRS including snacks will be provided by The Mars
Society.
Other
season-long research projects determined by the MDRS Remote Science Team will
be added before the season starts in December.
Anyone
applying for the position of crew engineer, a vitally important job for the
station as a whole and your crew in particular, needs to have a varied
background in many engineering/handyman duties, and needs to be willing to be
trained on the systems of the station by the Engineering Team. You must follow instructions from Mission
Support.
No
modifications or additions to the facility will be conducted without
prior approval from Mission Support Engineering.
Applications
received well in advance of the September 30, 2011 deadline are greatly
appreciated, and will receive special consideration for the earlier crew slots.
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