Send Crew 245 to Mars!
Donation protected
THE SHORT OF IT:
Hello, from Crew 245 of the Mars Desert Research Station! We are a team of six students and recent graduates who will be embarking on a two-week mission to an analog Mars habitat this April. During our time at MDRS, we will be conducting experiments in botany, emergency medicine operations, human factors, and planetary protection. But – we need your help to get there. We proposed and planned this mission ourselves, which means we are shouldering the costs. 100% of your donations will go toward conducting our experiments and other parts of carrying out the mission!
Follow us at @redplanetpeople and continue to the bottom for our full story!
DONATION TIERS:
We are so grateful for your support in making this mission happen. To bring you along on our journey and show our appreciation for your generosity, we have a 4-tier donation reward system. For donors wishing to receive their gifts, please send us your contact information. Our email account is "Redplanetpeople" at gmail. Rewards will be sent to the address you provide following the completion of the mission! We will regard any qualified donors as opting out of their rewards if an email is not received by April 30th.
TIER 1: $20 and up. Receives a two-pack of decals! One of the MDRS logo and the other of our custom-designed mission patch.
TIER 2: $50 and up. Receives fabric mission patch with our custom-designed logo (identical to the one each crew member will have sewn onto their spacesuit during the mission). This is in addition to Tier 1 rewards.
TIER 3: $100 and up. Receives a “Postcard from Mars” which contains photographs taken by the crew during the mission. This is in addition to Tier 1 and 2 rewards. Included on the postcard will be a fun and exclusive tidbit from the mission. Also, you will receive details of how your contribution benefited the team!
TIER 4: $200 and up. In the credits of our documentary you will be listed as a patron and top supporter. The video will be publicly available on YouTube and promoted through the social media of team members’ alumni groups, several non-profits, and major influencers. This is in addition to receiving Tier 1, 2, and 3 rewards.
THE FULL STORY:
Mission Commander Dylan began assembling a team of young leaders and brilliant engineers back in 2019. He drew from his cohort of the Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program (of which four members of this mission represent), past internships in the aerospace industry, and his alma maters. The goal? To bring together talented young professionals whose dreams and futures lay among the stars.
Our proposal was accepted – and we became Crew 245 of the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS).
We were thrilled, but we had no idea what would lay ahead in 2020. Many months went by with the mission looking like it was going to be canceled. But in early 2021, we finally got the green light, and became one of two crews scheduled to visit the Mars analog station this year!
On April 10, we will be arriving in Grand Junction, CO, where we will join the MDRS Director and be transported to the habitat – far away from civilization.
What is the Mars Desert Research Station?
We’re glad you asked! MDRS is an analog astronaut habitat owned and operated by the Mars Society. An analog astronaut mission is one which aims to mimic human space exploration for the goal of helping future astronauts avoid pitfalls the analog astronauts find along the way. NASA, DLR (The German Space Agency), and other space organizations often run missions like these. The Mars Society, which runs MDRS, is the world’s largest and most influential space advocacy organization dedicated to the human exploration and settlement of the planet Mars. It was founded by Robert Zubrin, and not only conducts Mars analogs in Utah and the Canadian Arctic, but also runs university engineering challenges, advocates for space support in Washington, D.C., and manages extensive STEM outreach worldwide.
What is our mission about?
In addition to learning to operate a Martian habitat, our mission includes a number of experiments in the fields we’re working to become experts in. Our experiments include comparing growth rates in Martian dirt vs. terrestrial soil, operations impacts in planetary protection, personal rituals and personality types impact in human factors, emergency operations in EVA’s (extravehicular activities), and dexterity testing for astronaut suits.
Who are we?
Oh, but of course! Let us introduce you to the superstars that make up our crew.
Dylan Dickstein, Commander: Dickstein brings a combination of industry experience, academic depth, and dare-devil-like list of pastimes. He is a pilot, scuba diver, published author, and will be earning his Ph.D. from UCLA in just a few months.
Shayna Hume, Executive Officer: Hume is a Ph.D. Candidate at CU Boulder in Martian Entry, Descent, and Landing, and is thrilled to arrive at one of the closest things to Mars on Earth! She has her M.S. in Aerospace Engineering and an M.E. in Engineering Management, and volunteers with the Space Generation Advisory Council.
Shravan Hariharan, Crew Engineer: Hariharan is an engineering intern at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and a recent graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology with his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and a minor in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. He’ll be continuing forward to earn an M.S. in Aerospace Engineering at MIT.
Olivia Ettlin, Crew Scientist: Ettlin recently graduated from UCLA with her B.S. in Molecular, Cell, & Developmental Biology. She works with the California State Parks where she performs wilderness assessments, habitat restoration, and native species management. Her specialty is sustainability, and she’s thrilled to conduct experiments in botany, hydroponics, and geologic assessments.
Julio Hernandez: Botany Officer: Hernandez is a Ph.D. Candidate in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering at Purdue University, where he researches human sustainability on long-term space missions. At MDRS, he will be diving into the subfield of botany and examining the maximum growth rates of plants using simulated Martian regolith.
Alex Coultrup, Health & Safety Officer and Media Officer: Coultrup recently completed her M.S. in Spaceflight Human Factors where she focused on spacesuit operations and safety for commercial space travel. On this mission she will focus on astronaut psychology for day-to-day Mars base operations. Additionally, she is bringing a botany experiment from Nanoracks, where she works full-time!
Follow us at @redplanetpeople on social media for real-time updates and lots of stellar content from the team!
Hello, from Crew 245 of the Mars Desert Research Station! We are a team of six students and recent graduates who will be embarking on a two-week mission to an analog Mars habitat this April. During our time at MDRS, we will be conducting experiments in botany, emergency medicine operations, human factors, and planetary protection. But – we need your help to get there. We proposed and planned this mission ourselves, which means we are shouldering the costs. 100% of your donations will go toward conducting our experiments and other parts of carrying out the mission!
Follow us at @redplanetpeople and continue to the bottom for our full story!
DONATION TIERS:
We are so grateful for your support in making this mission happen. To bring you along on our journey and show our appreciation for your generosity, we have a 4-tier donation reward system. For donors wishing to receive their gifts, please send us your contact information. Our email account is "Redplanetpeople" at gmail. Rewards will be sent to the address you provide following the completion of the mission! We will regard any qualified donors as opting out of their rewards if an email is not received by April 30th.
TIER 1: $20 and up. Receives a two-pack of decals! One of the MDRS logo and the other of our custom-designed mission patch.
TIER 2: $50 and up. Receives fabric mission patch with our custom-designed logo (identical to the one each crew member will have sewn onto their spacesuit during the mission). This is in addition to Tier 1 rewards.
TIER 3: $100 and up. Receives a “Postcard from Mars” which contains photographs taken by the crew during the mission. This is in addition to Tier 1 and 2 rewards. Included on the postcard will be a fun and exclusive tidbit from the mission. Also, you will receive details of how your contribution benefited the team!
TIER 4: $200 and up. In the credits of our documentary you will be listed as a patron and top supporter. The video will be publicly available on YouTube and promoted through the social media of team members’ alumni groups, several non-profits, and major influencers. This is in addition to receiving Tier 1, 2, and 3 rewards.
THE FULL STORY:
Mission Commander Dylan began assembling a team of young leaders and brilliant engineers back in 2019. He drew from his cohort of the Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program (of which four members of this mission represent), past internships in the aerospace industry, and his alma maters. The goal? To bring together talented young professionals whose dreams and futures lay among the stars.
Our proposal was accepted – and we became Crew 245 of the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS).
We were thrilled, but we had no idea what would lay ahead in 2020. Many months went by with the mission looking like it was going to be canceled. But in early 2021, we finally got the green light, and became one of two crews scheduled to visit the Mars analog station this year!
On April 10, we will be arriving in Grand Junction, CO, where we will join the MDRS Director and be transported to the habitat – far away from civilization.
What is the Mars Desert Research Station?
We’re glad you asked! MDRS is an analog astronaut habitat owned and operated by the Mars Society. An analog astronaut mission is one which aims to mimic human space exploration for the goal of helping future astronauts avoid pitfalls the analog astronauts find along the way. NASA, DLR (The German Space Agency), and other space organizations often run missions like these. The Mars Society, which runs MDRS, is the world’s largest and most influential space advocacy organization dedicated to the human exploration and settlement of the planet Mars. It was founded by Robert Zubrin, and not only conducts Mars analogs in Utah and the Canadian Arctic, but also runs university engineering challenges, advocates for space support in Washington, D.C., and manages extensive STEM outreach worldwide.
What is our mission about?
In addition to learning to operate a Martian habitat, our mission includes a number of experiments in the fields we’re working to become experts in. Our experiments include comparing growth rates in Martian dirt vs. terrestrial soil, operations impacts in planetary protection, personal rituals and personality types impact in human factors, emergency operations in EVA’s (extravehicular activities), and dexterity testing for astronaut suits.
Who are we?
Oh, but of course! Let us introduce you to the superstars that make up our crew.
Dylan Dickstein, Commander: Dickstein brings a combination of industry experience, academic depth, and dare-devil-like list of pastimes. He is a pilot, scuba diver, published author, and will be earning his Ph.D. from UCLA in just a few months.
Shayna Hume, Executive Officer: Hume is a Ph.D. Candidate at CU Boulder in Martian Entry, Descent, and Landing, and is thrilled to arrive at one of the closest things to Mars on Earth! She has her M.S. in Aerospace Engineering and an M.E. in Engineering Management, and volunteers with the Space Generation Advisory Council.
Shravan Hariharan, Crew Engineer: Hariharan is an engineering intern at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and a recent graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology with his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and a minor in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. He’ll be continuing forward to earn an M.S. in Aerospace Engineering at MIT.
Olivia Ettlin, Crew Scientist: Ettlin recently graduated from UCLA with her B.S. in Molecular, Cell, & Developmental Biology. She works with the California State Parks where she performs wilderness assessments, habitat restoration, and native species management. Her specialty is sustainability, and she’s thrilled to conduct experiments in botany, hydroponics, and geologic assessments.
Julio Hernandez: Botany Officer: Hernandez is a Ph.D. Candidate in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering at Purdue University, where he researches human sustainability on long-term space missions. At MDRS, he will be diving into the subfield of botany and examining the maximum growth rates of plants using simulated Martian regolith.
Alex Coultrup, Health & Safety Officer and Media Officer: Coultrup recently completed her M.S. in Spaceflight Human Factors where she focused on spacesuit operations and safety for commercial space travel. On this mission she will focus on astronaut psychology for day-to-day Mars base operations. Additionally, she is bringing a botany experiment from Nanoracks, where she works full-time!
Follow us at @redplanetpeople on social media for real-time updates and lots of stellar content from the team!
Organizer
Shayna Hume
Organizer
Denver, CO