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June 24, 2009 
HMP-2009 Field Season is a GO! The 2009 HMP field season is almost upon us. This Saturday, June 27, the first participants from the Mars Institute core team will make their from Vancouver to Resolute Bay by way of an Air National Guard C-130 from the Long Island Air National Guard Rescue Unit. This year will see over 50 participants from 11 organizations visiting the HMP Research Station on Devon Island including representatives from the Canadian Space Agency and NASA. For more detail on the field season please visit our The Haughton-Mars Project web site. April 24, 2009 
Mars Institute "Moon-1" Humvee Rover Successfully Completes 500 km Drive Along Northwest Passage PRESS RELEASE: Mountain View, CA and Vancouver, BC, 24 April 2009 - An international team of researchers led by Mars Institute scientist Dr. Pascal Lee successfully reached the arctic community of Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada on Friday, 17 April, after an 8-day, 500 km vehicular trek on sea-ice along the fabled Northwest Passage. The team of five departed Kugluktuk, Nunavut on 10 April aboard the Mars Institute’s Moon-1 Humvee Rover and two snowmobiles, and logged a record-breaking total of 494 km, the longest distance ever driven on sea-ice in a road vehicle. April 9, 2009 Follow the 2009 Northwest Passage Drive Expedition You can follow the 2009 Northwest Passage Drive Expedition at the Haughton-Mars Project website. March 13, 2009 2009 Northwest Passage Drive Expedition Sponsorship Opportunities Still Available The Mars Institute today unveiled its new Moon-1 rover which be used on the upcoming 2009 Northwest Passage Drive Expedition. And while we do have several sponsors who've donated generously there are still sponsorship opportunities available. For more information please contact:
James Antifaev 
PRESS RELEASE: Driving Across The Northwest Passage to Make Polar History An international team of scientists has launched an expedition to drive the Northwest Passage on sea-ice this spring, marking the first time the Passage has ever been travelled in a road vehicle. The team, led by Mars Institute scientist Dr. Pascal Lee, has a dual goal of studying climate change on Earth and advancing the human exploration of the Moon and Mars. The mission is an integral part of the Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) on Devon Island, High Arctic, where research in space science and exploration is being conducted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). The 2,000 kilometre trek will be undertaken in the Mars Institute's new Moon-1 Humvee Rover, an all-terrain exploration rover derived from the vehicle commonly used in the military. The team will be measuring the thickness of sea-ice along the entire length of the Northwest Passage. The unique set of measurements will be key to understanding current and future effects of climate change throughout the Arctic. "If we're successful, this will be the first, and possibly the last, time the Northwest Passage is driven in a road vehicle," says Lee. "Current trends in climate change on a planetary scale have resulted in thinner and less durable ice in the Arctic, possibly ending opportunities to do similar drives for much longer. We want to use this window in time to better understand the changes affecting the Arctic and Earth as a planet." The Mars Institute team will be travelling west to east across the Arctic for two to three weeks, ending at their established research base, the HMP Research Station on Devon Island. In addition to studying climate change, the team will use the traverse to look at how a variety of terrestrial ice and snow features, with potential counterparts on other planets, are formed. They will also research how to effectively plan and execute future long-range pressurized rover excursions on the Moon and Mars. The Northwest Passage is an infamous, ice-choked seaway connecting the Atlantic to Asia. Finding the passage eluded explorers for centuries and was only achieved at a great cost in lives. "This will be an exciting voyage," says Lee. "We hope the journey will help everyone understand Earth better and also provide guidance on how to explore other worlds together in the future. Although these are difficult economic times, exploration remains an essential part of what we need to do to create a stronger future for humanity and our planet." The Mars Institute leads pioneering field research with NASA and the SETI Institute on the use of pressurized rovers for human planetary exploration. It has successfully operated the Mars-1 Humvee Rover at the Haughton-Mars Project research station since 2003. It is adding the Moon-1 Humvee Rover to its fleet to conduct dual-rover exploration studies on Devon Island in the future. For more information, please visit www.marsinstitute.info or www.marsonearth.org or contact:
Sheila Calder / Lindsay Marett
Dr. Pascal Lee All images copyright 2009 Mars Institute 
March 9, 2009 Free Public Lecture at the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre Join Dr. Pascal Lee, Director of the Haughton-Mars Project, Mars Institute for this free lecture at the H.R. MacMillan Space Center in Vancouver. Dr. Lee's talk is titled: From the Earth to Mars - Steps Towards a First Human Mission to the Red Planet. The first human mission to Mars will likely be humanity's greatest undertaking in space exploration in the 21st century. As with all expeditions, its success will depend critically on planning. The First steps towards a human journey to the Red Planet are already being taken, as we continue to explore extreme environments on Earth and prepare for our return to the Moon. Human journeys to near-Earth asteroids and to the moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, will also help pave the way. Dr. Pascal Lee will discuss progress being made in the Canadian Arctic and around the world to achieve these milestones, and most importantly, he will explain why we should. In addition to the lecture theme Dr. Lee will be available to discuss exciting news the Mars Institute is releasing earlier in the day. Date & Time: Friday, March 13th, 8:15 PM PT Location & Free Registration: H.R.MacMillan Space Center December 15, 2008 The Haughton Crater as a Lunar Analog Also available in high definition. October 15, 2008 The Mars Institute Supports Lunar Rover Tests in Arizona The Mars Institute was invited to participate in the annual Desert RATS, or Research and Technology Studies field test being held in Arizona in late October. Dr. Pascal Lee and Nicholas Wilkinson will be joining the NASA Desert RATS team providing support with the Mars Institute's traverse management system software. As well Dr. Lee will be one of the geologists along with an astronaut who will conduct one-day and three-day drives of the Small Pressurized Rover (SPR) with and without a pressurized cabin.
Monday, July 7, 2008 
The HMP Research Station is Fully Operational for the 2008 Field Season The Mars Institute advanced teams arrived in Resolute Bay on June 26th and have since opened up the HMP Research Station for this years longer field season. Researchers are already performing their work and today Internet communications were established. Over 80 participants from over 15 institutions and two space agencies will make their way to Haughton Crater to conduct an exciting science and exploration research program. This years field season is expected to run through to mid-August, our longest deployment to date and will include the total solar eclipse on August 1st. This year we plan to keep you even better informed on a daily basis using a variety of online social networking tools including:
As well we're planning webcasts of various events which may include the eclipse itself. Stay tuned for me details on the webcast schedule. And of course when full communications have been setup we'll turn on our live webcams. Friday, February 22, 2008
2008 Field Season Plans Shaping up for the HMP Research Station The Mars Institute has concluded its yearly goodwill visit to Inuit communities in the Canadian high arctic and has made them aware of our tentative plans for this summers deployment to the HMP Research Station on Devon Island. We're planning another exciting field campaign with researchers from several institutions as well the Canadian Space Agency. We're also hoping to have other space agencies collaborating as well. And we have a bonus this year, on August the 1st there will be a total solar eclipse and the HMP Research Station is directly in the path of totality so we should have an excellent viewing and research opportunity, weather permitting of course.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007 
Conference to Discuss Exploration of the two Moons of Mars The Mars Institute is co-convening this week a unique scientific meeting titled "First International Conference on the Exploration of Phobos and Deimos: The Science, Robotic Reconnaissance, and Human Exploration of the Two Moons of Mars." The conference is being held at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California. The meeting is bringing together scientists, engineers, space exploration professionals, and students from around the world to discuss over three intense days (5-7 Nov 2007) the exploration of Mars's two mysterious satellites and how their exploration relates to that of the Moon, Mars, small bodies, and the solar system beyond.
Conference Sponsors Mars Institute Corporate Sponsors
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