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Mars on Earth

Devon Islander has always been a cold and uninhabited(无人居住的) place in the Canadian Arctic. Day after day there are high winds and the temperature is below freezing. But for the first time, despite the terrible weather conditions . Devon Islander is the new home for a group of explorers from NASA. They are living here for a months in order to train and learn how to live and work on Mars. The group's members come from various backgrounds and nationalities, but they all have the same purpose: to find out how people can live on Mars in the future.

They have chosen Devon Islander because the environment and landscape is similar in many ways to Mars. The surface is freezing cold and the ground is rough. However, there are some differences on Mars, where the atmosphere is poisonous to breathe, Devon

Islander is easier to travel to and it has its own dangers that you won't find on Mars. For example, you might meet a hungry polar bear on Devon Islander!

One thing the learn wants to develop is suitable clothing for Mars. This includes a space suit. The suit they are testing at the moment is strong enough but it's too difficult and tiring. In addition, people will need to do experiment on Mars while wearing the suit so they have to be able to move around easily. One team member, Andy Overbeeke, specializes in space suit engineering. He explains: "You have to think about what they're really going to operate in."

Another part of daily life on Mars will be meals and food. Creating a new home on Mars requires a lot of food. So the big question is: can you grow plants in order to survive? Scientists believe that growing plants on Mars might be possible. Mars and Earth have many similarities. They both have about the same amount of dry land and a 24-hour day. However, the atmosphere on Mars is totally different, so Canadian scientist Alain Berinstain is attempting to grow plants in a special greenhouse that you could also build on Mars. The greenhouse needs to run 365 days a year, so it uses a combination of solar energy and wind power.

People living on Mars will also want their own transportation. For this, the team on Devon Island have built the "Martian Rover". It's a huge heavy vehicle that can travel over rocks and rough terrain. This kind of testing takes many days but so far the work has been valuable and effective. As a result, the whole team now believes their work is crucial and that it's possible for humans to land on the planet Mars and create a home there. Addy Overbeeke adds, "We know that it's man's destiny to go out and do space exploration. It's always time to think about what you want to do in the future."