Expeditions – Mars Society Australia

Field Research Since 2001

MSA Expeditions

For more than two decades, Mars Society Australia has run field expeditions to some of the most Mars-like environments on Earth — from the stromatolite country of the Pilbara and the Flinders Ranges to the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah — advancing the science, engineering and human factors of one day reaching the Red Planet.

2001First expedition

10+Major expeditions

3Continents & outback

2001

Jarntimarra‑1 Expedition

Central Australia · Red Centre

MSA's founding field expedition: a two-week survey of Mars analogue sites for the society's geology database. Three priority regions were identified — Arkaroola in the Northern Flinders Ranges (ranked first), Arkaringa near Coober Pedy, and the Woomera region. This Starchaser-sponsored journey was joined by NASA Ames scientists Dr Carol Stoker and Dr Larry Lemke, and launched with a public Mars Forum at the University of Adelaide.

Early 2000s

Expedition One & Expedition Two

Arkaroola, Flinders Ranges · SA

Following site selection, MSA returned to Arkaroola for its first multi-goal Mars analogue field expeditions, testing hardware, field strategies and human factors in terrain chosen for its volcanic rocks, stromatolites and ancient hot springs. These early missions established Arkaroola as MSA's premier Australian analogue location.

2009

Spaceward Bound Australia 2009

Arkaroola, Marree & Reedy Springs · SA

Run with NASA Spaceward Bound under the theme "the evolution of life in our solar system," this expedition brought together 27 planetary scientists, geologists, engineers and teachers from Australia and the US. Work included trialling infrared sensors, identifying analogues for the Mars Science Laboratory rover, testing for biomass in clay deposits, and studying desert hydrology and microbial life.

2011

Spaceward Bound Australia 2011 — The Dawn of Life

Pilbara & Shark Bay · WA

A planetary and space science expedition to the Pilbara's "Dawn of Life" sites near Nullagine and to Shark Bay, again in partnership with NASA Spaceward Bound. The focus was the 3.45-billion-year-old Pilbara fossils — among the oldest evidence of life on Earth — compared with the conical stromatolites of Shark Bay and Antarctica's Lake Untersee as analogues for the search for life on Mars.

2014

Arkaroola Mars Robot Challenge Expedition

Arkaroola, Flinders Ranges · SA

A two-week expedition (4–20 July) testing field robotics for planetary operations alongside astrobiology fieldwork. Competing rovers were developed by Manipal University (India), Murdoch University, UNSW and MSA, with remote robotic and human field operations coordinated from a Saber Astronautics mission control room in Sydney. Led by Dr Jonathan Clarke, the expedition continued the Spaceward Bound Australia teacher-engagement tradition.

2015

Spaceward Bound New Zealand 2015

New Zealand

An international Spaceward Bound field campaign extending the program across the Tasman, bringing scientists, educators and students together to conduct analogue field science in New Zealand's distinctive geological settings.

2016

Spaceward Bound India 2016

India

A Spaceward Bound expedition delivered in partnership with Mars Society India, building on MSA's growing collaboration with Indian researchers and educators in astrobiology and analogue field science.

2016 – 2017

Mars 160

MDRS, Utah & FMARS, Arctic Canada

A Mars Society twin-station mission with strong MSA participation, including Australian crew member Dr Jonathan Clarke. The same seven-person crew carried out a matched 80-day science program at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah and then at the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station in northern Canada, testing how analogue findings transfer between very different environments.

2019

Expedition Boomerang 1 & 2

Mars Desert Research Station · Utah, USA

A four-week mission to the Mars Desert Research Station across two fortnightly crew rotations (26 October – 24 November), each conducted in full simulation. Commanded by Guy Murphy and Andrew Wheeler, the expedition gave a new generation of Antipodean explorers a complete analogue Mars experience, with research streams spanning geology, engineering, human factors and medicine, microbiology and astronomy.

2024

Crew 291 & Crew 292 (Mangalyatri)

Mars Desert Research Station · Utah, USA

Two back-to-back crew rotations (20 January – 17 February) in full simulation. Crew 291 "Boomerang" was an all-Australian rotation led by Andrew Wheeler; Crew 292 "Mangalyatri" — meaning "Mars Expeditioners" in Hindi — was a predominantly Indian crew led by Dr Annalea Beattie, with a mission focus on applying lessons from Utah toward a future analogue research station in Ladakh.