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www.privateairny.com Private Air | Winter 2019/2020 42 POSTCARD I 'm a huge sci-fi fan and grew up in Canada watching Star Trek and Dr Who. But my passion for visiting Mars was given a shot in the arm thanks to the Mars One project four years ago. It's the brainchild of an enterprise based in the Netherlands, where I've lived for the past decade, and it was looking for people to live on Mars. ousands applied, and I got through to the third round, but not the final 100 candidates. e Mars Society, however, has been running simulated missions in Utah for more than a decade. e idea is that crews spend time there in a Mars- like environment, so that any potential problems that may be encountered on a real space mission can be anticipated. As part of my Mars One application process, I went for two weeks in 2014. As junior engineer I liked overseeing the EVA (extravehicular activity) equipment, making sure everything was working, and so on. But I also wanted to be in charge, so the next year I was put forward to command a Japanese crew. It's strange being at the research station. You're in a harsh climate in the middle of nowhere, in a red, Mars- like setting. You're working on new technologies for food production and sustainability, and perfecting elements of teamwork – you live the astronaut's life. One of the biggest challenges was to live in a confined space with people you don't know. Besides a few Skype calls in advance, you have no idea what these people are like, and to throw yourself into total isolation with them for a long period plays on your mind a little. It's a two-storey facility, like a water tower in size. ere are six dorm rooms and a communal area that doubles as your eating area, plus science labs and work stations, hygiene facilities and a greenhouse. ere's also an observatory with an impressive telescope. e other thing I really loved was leaving the station to go outside, putting on the pack, helmet, gloves and radio and sitting in the airlock: the moment you open the door it's like, bang, you're there. ey have a rover vehicle, too, which you control remotely from inside, and I loved traversing the terrain just like the Curiosity Rover that's currently on Mars. ey do an exceptional job of mimicking life on Mars. e facilities are pretty raw and definitely put you back to basics, but the location really does feel like it's been picked up from Earth and dropped on Mars. If you put yourself in the right frame of mind, you can fully immerse yourself. e whole experience really changes you. You realise that the pursuit of material things like cars and houses aren't that important – sometimes going back to basics provides a better quality of life. My visits to the research station have really ignited my passion for space and for Mars in particular. I'm pretty committed: I do a lot of online courses in astronomy and astro biology, and I'm always looking at other projects around the globe – anything that gives me the slightest chance of fulfilling my dream and getting to space. While it's not Mars, there's something being planned right now which involves 80 days at the Utah facility followed by 80 days at the Mars Society's Arctic outpost. If I can score 160 days away from my family and know they'd be OK without me, then that would be something I'd love to do. PAMELA NICOLETATOS Adventurous mother of two Pamela Nicoletatos has been dreaming about going to space since she was little, and jumped at the chance of a one-way trip to Mars when a Dutch venture called Mars One announced that it was looking for candidates. With the reality of space travel still some years in the future, however, she volunteered for the next best thing: a stay at a remote research station in the wilds of Utah where people lock themselves up for weeks on end and pretend that they really are on the red planet… I SPENT THREE WEEKS ON "MARS" WITH A TEAM FROM JAPAN

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