Abstract
Conducting simulated space missions in analog facilities on Earth allows scientist, engineers and students the opportunity to perform simulations that can develop operational knowledge for future missions. The Mars Society’s Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Utah provides an excellent platform for planetary surface analogue research in an extreme environment setting. Team Peru was composed of a Peruvian-American aerospace engineer from The Boing Company, four Mechatronics Engineering students from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP) and one Environmental Engineering student from the National Agrarian University, La Molina (UNALM) in Peru. This paper shares lessons and observations from their two-wee experience at MDRS that their incorporation into their work of establishing a Mars-Analogue base in Peru’s Atacama Desert and a Mars Society branch in Peru; it also discusses the various outreach activities they have been involved in since their rotation concluded at MDRS.
Eiji Onchi
Space Production Engineer
PhD. in Kansei Science
Kansei designer and Mechatronic engineer, learning something new everyday.