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Highlighted Projects
Haughton Mars Project
It's been nearly a century since the Norwegian explorer, Roald Amundson, finally breached the Northwest Passage, forcing his way by ship through the maze of frozen islands that is the Canadian Arctic.
Now, nearly a century after Amundson, another exploration is being made in these windswept wastes. Its goal is not to circumnavigate a continent, but to understand another world. The Haughton-Mars Project, led by SETI Institute Principal Investigator Pascal Lee, will investigate a bit of chilly real estate that is, in some ways, very much like Mars. In so doing, scientists will learn more about the geology of the Red Planet and how it compares with features on Earth, as well as how life adapts to cold, dry environments. In addition, the research team will be able to try out many tools and techniques that could be useful for a future manned expedition to Mars.
The project is taking place on Devon Island. It's possible that this 200-mile wide isle isn't on your list of favorite vacation spots; it's located 450 miles above the Arctic Circle, just beyond better-known Baffin Island's northern tip. On Devon's western plains is a 15-mile wide crater, obvious only in aerial photographs, and one of only 150 or so impact craters known on our planet. The Haughton Crater - the dramatic locale of Lee's research project - was blasted out of the rock 23 million years ago by an errant meteor.
Devon Island is located in the Territory of Nunavut in Canada. The expedition base camp will be located just outside the northwest area of the Haughton impact crater, which is located at 75°22'N latitude and 89°41'W longitude.
Click to Find out more about Devon Island
While any earthly crater could teach us something about the effects of cosmic impacts, this particular "bleme" is especially interesting to Lee and his co-workers because the conditions on Devon Island are, in many ways, similar to those on Mars. It's rocky, desert-like, and cold. It approximates the martian environment. So even though Devon Island is an imperfect analog, it's a heck of a lot easier to get to and study than our rusty neighbor in space. Pascal Lee and his team will be spending weeks at a stretch in this northern retreat, learning about Mars and methods for visiting and living on the Red Planet.
By examining Haughton crater, the scientists hope to understand how such impacts affect Mars and what the history of water on that planet might be. They will also gain insight into the possibilities for life in extreme environments. There are ancient hydrothermal vents at Haughton, caused by the meteor's impact. Hydrothermal vents can encourage microbial life. By studying them at Haughton, Lee's team will better understand how to look for evidence of biology - past or present - on the Red Planet.
The Haughton meteorite impact crater, on Devon Island, Nunavut, in the Canadian high arctic, is 20 km in diameter and formed 23 million years ago.
Click to learn more about the Haughton crater
In addition, the Haughton Island has valleys and channels sculpted by ice that look very much like some of the features recently photographed on Mars. The Devon ice-carvings may help us to better grasp the true nature of their martian analogs which, until now, have been thought to indicate the presence of liquid water not far beneath the surface.
In addition, their project will test out the business of getting along in an "alien" environment. How efficiently do humans function? Can efficient communication networks be set up and operated? How well do robots function in such cold, brutal locations?
By simply doing the experiments, Lee's team will gain insights into how tools, clothing, vehicles, robots, and even people stand up to the harsh environments they would find outside the hatch of a Martian rocket.
It's not Mars, but it's both literally and figuratively close.