ReadersDigestAustraliaNewZealand-April2018

April• 2018 | 59

in its fourth generation of ine-tuning.

Other Australian projects in the pipe-

line include theStarchaser Marsupial

rover for driving on Mars, and air-

borne drones.

Mars-like terrain ofers more than

the best place to ield-test equipment

and procedures. Science projects can

be tailored to yield Mars-relevant data.

Devon Island and Mars share ‘perigla-

cial’ (shaped by freezing and thawing)

landscapes with ‘polygon ields’ (dis-

tinctively patterned ground). here’s

even an ancient impact crater, Haugh-

ton, resembling Endeavour Crater on

Mars–apossible landing site cur-

rently being explored by NASA’s Mars

roverOpportunity.

he craters have similar diameters

and, although Endeavour is millions

of years older, similar degrees of ero-

sion (a much slower process on Mars).

“I did two geological projects,” says

Clarke. “One on the bedrock geology

of the crater rim, and one on map-

ping techniques in polar permafrost

environments.”

Other research was biological. “We

were looking at hypoliths, micro-

organisms living under rocks in ex-

treme climates. If there’s life on the

surface of Mars, it’s going to be in little

sheltered environments such as those.

And we also looked for past life pre-

served in gypsum.”

IS THERE, OR WAS THERE,

LIFE ON MARS?

For centuries, this question has cap-

tured the collective imagination.

Hopes run more to microbes than

little green men these days, but the

answer is still lost in space. Some of

the best clues may be in outback Aus-

tralia, where fossil hot springs have

yielded the earliest evidence of life on

Earth – and may do the same on Mars,

too. Mars Society Australia’s favourite

On inhospitable Devon Island, researchers simulate missions to Mars

PHOTOS: THE MARS SOCIETY