LATITUDE
SPACE TRUCKIN'
WELCOME TO MARS, UTAH, POPULATION FIVE Zac Trolley, P.Eng., made Utah-as- Mars his home for two weeks in February, all in the name of science. -photo courtesy Zac Trolley
‘AND THEN THE AIRLOCK CLOSED’—MARS MEETS EARTH FOR CALGARY ENGINEER With the desert of Utah behind him, a Calgary engineer continues to keep his sights set on Mars. Initially chosen as a backup for a two-week simulation at the Mars Desert Research Station, Zac Trolley, P.Eng. , got his chance when someone dropped out. He made his way to the station, and soon he was taking care of systems, growing plants, and recycling waste water. “I hopped on a plane and took the red-eye down to Utah, where we rented a car and drove a few hours down some windy road,” Mr. Trolley says in a CBC story. “There was this base out in the middle of the desert. It kind of looked like the Badlands, and we were out all on our own. There was a director there to help us get acquainted, the other crew was there, we got the handover, and then the airlock closed—and we were on Mars.”
Any time the crew left the habitat, they donned spacesuits and related gear, including gloves, boots, coveralls, a backpack, and a helmet, just as they would if they were on the Red Planet itself. As for the food, Mr. Trolley says that making it appetizing was, well, a challenge all its own. “We had a big can of Tang and a bunch of freeze-dried foods, so part of the engineering was developing meals that were palatable, every day, day in, day out.” Also on the crew were a professor from an aeronautical university, a mission controller from the International Space Station, and a human factors design associate. Rounding it out was an artist in residence, to help tell the story. Later stories in the series will include chapters set on Mars, Mr. Trolley believes. “We’re going to make it. It’s going to be a hard road, it’s going to be a difficult road, but from the people I’ve talked to, from the people I met, from the conversations I’m having now, it’s a question of when it’s going to happen.”
44 | PEG SUMMER 2018
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