Ukrainian engineer Sergiy Yakymov heads the Mars Research Station in the San Rafael Desert in Utah, USA
This was reported by the Voice of America.
It is noted that the Martian Desert Research Station has been located in Utah, in the San Rafael Desert, since the early noughties, where geological and social research is being conducted to simulate the possible life of astronauts on the surface of the Red Planet.
“We host various groups from all over the world who conduct experiments or test equipment. And this Martian station is classified as a geological analog, because the geology of the surrounding desert is as close to the geology of Mars as possible,” said Sergey Yakimov.
The rotation of research groups lasts from two weeks. They live in special modules. They eat vegetables and fruits from a “Martian” greenhouse. They go outside only in spacesuits.
According to Yakimov, the most difficult thing to cope with in isolation is boredom. Over the past 20 years, many studies have been conducted on human interaction in such conditions.
“The most recent research findings from a group in Europe have established that the best crew to go to Mars should be made up entirely of women,” he said.
Similar studies show that women consume fewer resources, such as air, water, and food, which are scarce in space, compared to men.
“I have been pursuing this dream all my life. But you have to take some steps. You can’t just sit on the couch and say I want to become an astronaut. Living in America for several years, I worked as an engineer in a small company, but I still couldn’t work there in the field of human spaceflight. And here was such an opportunity to get involved in this work at the station,” Yakimov said.
The Martian Desert Research Station was established by the Martian Society, a non-governmental organization funded by various donors. Among them are billionaires Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk.
Yakimov is confident that although a flight to Mars is still a distant prospect, the research being conducted at the Martian station may still be useful on Earth.
The next step in his career is to work for NASA at the Space Center in Houston, which, among other things, trains astronauts, but he must first obtain US citizenship.
