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MARS-1 Humvee Rover
MARS-1 Humvee Rover Reaches Devon Island After Successful Crossing of Frozen Arctic Sea MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA, - May 20, 2003 - The Mars Institute today announced that its MARS-1 Humvee rover has reached Devon Island in the Canadian high Arctic after successfully crossing the Wellington Channel, a 23 mile (37 km) stretch of treacherous sea ice separating Cornwallis Island from Devon Island at 75°N. The vehicle was driven and escorted by a team of four expeditioners led by Dr Pascal Lee, Project Lead for the NASA Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) and Chairman of the Mars Institute.
About the MARS-1 Humvee The distinctive orange MARS-1 Humvee rover is a unique experimental field exploration vehicle modified for the HMP by AM General, manufacturer of the famous High Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) or Humvee. The refurbished four-wheel-drive all-terrain rover rolled out of AM General's plant in Mishiwaka, Indiana, on May 14, 2002, bearing the one-of-a-kind serial number "MARS-1". The vehicle configuration is that of a military ambulance HMMWV. To increase traction and tread lightly, the MARS-1 is equipped with wide tracks manufactured by Mattracks, Inc. The MARS-1 is equipped with a tall rear cab affording compact work and living space (including two sidewall-mounted sleeping bunks) for crews of up to four researchers engaging in several day-long field traverses across the rugged Mars-like rocky polar desert terrain of Devon Island. The vehicle was specified to allow two parallel goals to be met: 1) support Arctic science research in Astrobiology and Mars analog studies by serving as a safe, reliable, all-terrain-capable, high-tech roving field laboratory vehicle; and 2) serve as an economic test bed for preliminary design and operations studies that will help define some of the key requirements for future pressurized rovers for human Moon and Mars exploration. About the MARS-1 Humvee Sea Ice Crossing Expedition - May 10-12, 2003 The MARS-1 Humvee rover began its adventurous journey to Devon Island over a year ago. It left AM General on May 25, 2002 and was delivered to NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California, on May 28. From there, it was airlifted to Resolute Bay, Cornwallis Island, Canadian Arctic on June 10-11, 2002, aboard a United States Marine Corps C-130 Hercules transport plane. After undergoing a series of successful systems verifications in Resolute in the Summer of 2002, the vehicle was put in hibernation storage for the brutal Arctic winter. The HMP Team planned to wait for the return of mid-Spring 2003 and its anticipated combination of long hours of daylight and thick sea ice conditions to undertake the Wellington Channel crossing to Devon Island.
The team left Resolute Bay at 9:30 pm CDT on May 10, 2003, driving the MARS-1 and three snowmobiles with traditional Inuit komatik sleds on tow. After a 6-hour overland traverse under the midnight sun, they reached Read Bay on the east coast of Cornwallis Island (75°02'N, 94°36'W) and rested for the "night" inside the rover. The next day, May 11 at 3:30 pm CDT, the 8800 lb (4 metric ton) MARS-1 ventured onto the rugged sea ice off Read Bay, only to touch land again 3.5 hours later 23 miles (35 km) to the East, at Cape McBain, on the west coast of Devon Island (75°04'N, 92°13'W). The rover was driven in shifts by Lee and Schutt, both of whom received formal training in the operation and maintenance of military Humvees at the AM General plant prior to this Arctic trek. During the crossing of the Wellington Channel, no load other than a single driver was carried on board the MARS-1 so as to keep the vehicle close to its standard empty weight of approximately 8800 lbs (4 metric tons). Prior to crossing, an ice thickness of 1.0 foot (0.3 meter) was established as a minimum requirement for supporting the vehicle safely in the absence of any visible open water leads within 30 meters of the rover. Estimates of ice thicknesses actually encountered during the crossing ranged from of 1.5 to 3 ft. To increase chances of survival in the event of a bail-out, the MARS-1 was operated with each driver wearing a full-body Mustang floatation suit and the driver side door off. Escorting the MARS-1, and at times trailblazing a safe passage for the vehicle through rough hummocks and uneven ice, were three snowmobiles, each pulling a traditional komatik sled carrying a share of the expedition's survival supplies and fuel. The snowmobiles carried all four expeditioners back to Resolute Bay after the Humvee was secured on the west coast of Devon Island, in anticipation of the upcoming Summer's HMP-2003 activities. The MARS-1 Humvee rover will be accessed again later year by Lee and his team who will rejoin the vehicle by Twin Otter airplane once the annual snow cover on Devon is removed and the NASA HMP Base Camp reopens for Summer research activities. The HMP-2003 field campaign is anticipated to run from July 1, 2003, to August 5, 2003. The vehicle will be equipped over time with a complement of scientific instruments including imaging systems, field microscopes, and other tools for sample collection and analysis, making it a highly capable roving field laboratory. Researchers aboard the rover will go about their field work in geology and microbiology as different sites on Devon Island are encountered. They will then remotely share their findings and experiences with their collaborators, peers, students, and the public at large via satellite link. It is hoped that the MARS-1 will allow researchers to gain new insights into life in the remote and extreme environment of the high Arctic, and eventually elsewhere on Earth as well. As the primary Arctic field science mission takes place, the MARS-1 will also be used as an experimental concept vehicle that will help define some of the key requirements for designing and operating a future pressurized rover for human Moon and Mars exploration. Pressurized rovers are generally thought to be required to enable effective long-distance human exploration activities. |
