The
MARS
Frontier
BY DAVID LEVELLSavvyscientistsarepreparingfor
exploration on Mars using some of
Earth’s most barren locationsJONATHAN CLARKE HAS BEEN
TO MARS.In 2017 the 58-year-old
Australian geologist escaped the
Canberra winter and instead, for
precisely30days,exploredthe
surfaceoftheRedPlanet.Fortu-
nately,hedidn’thavetoundertake
the arduous 225-million-km jour-
ney. Instead Clarke’s more modest
15,000-kilometreexcursiontoMars
was a virtual one. But, as part of an
internationalsix-personMarsSoci-
ety team at FMARS (Flashline Mars
Arctic Research Station) – a mock-up
Mars base on Devon Island, deep in
the Canadian Arctic – he was able to
undertakealevelofMartiansurface
exploration that was breathtakingly
realistic.
As president of Mars Society Aus-
tralia, Clarke is a virtual Mars veteran.
As well as his time at FMARS, he’s