<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; "><P>Greetings from the Arctic! That will be the last time that I will be able to say that for awhile!</P><P>Please find attached the final press release, while the F-XI LDM crew is still at FMARS. Our simulation has come to an end but the work will continue on for years to come. We conducted 88 EVAs on the mission, which I had the pleasure of being part of 46 of them.</P><P>Please forward this message as appropriate and I would be happy to answer any questions. I will be stopping in Toronto on the way to the Mars Society conference in Los Angeles. I will post more images on my webpage post mission but if you want a special sneak peak of 360 panoramas (you will need quicktime) from some of our working sites here is a link on my webspace:</P><P><A href="https://webfiles.colorado.edu/kobrick/ExMars/FMARS2007/360/">https://webfiles.colorado.edu/kobrick/ExMars/FMARS2007/360/</A></P><P>Recent news just hit MSNBC where I did a mini interview via email:</P><P><A href="http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/08/20/325220.aspx">http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/08/20/325220.aspx</A></P><DIV>Space!</DIV><DIV>Ryan</DIV><DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial"><B>--</B></FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial"><B>Ryan L. Kobrick, BScE, MSS '03, MS</B></FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Garamond" size="3"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><B>H</B></SPAN></FONT><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Garamond" size="3"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><B>uman Factors Researcher / </B></SPAN></FONT><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Garamond" size="3"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><B>Crew Engineer</B></SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Garamond" size="3"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><B>Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station</B></SPAN></FONT><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Garamond" size="3"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><B> Crew 11 Long Duration Mission (F-XI LDM)</B></SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT class="Apple-style-span" color="#AA8554" face="Garamond">This message was sent from the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station in Nunavut, Canada</FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT class="Apple-style-span" color="#BF2B1D" face="Garamond" size="3"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><B>My</B></SPAN></FONT><FONT class="Apple-style-span" color="#BF2B1D" face="Garamond" size="3"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><B> WWW</B></SPAN></FONT><FONT class="Apple-style-span" color="#BF2B1D" face="Garamond" size="3"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><B>: </B></SPAN></FONT><A href="http://www.RyInSpace.com"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Garamond"><B>http://www.RyInSpace.com</B></FONT></A></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial"><B>--</B></FONT></DIV></DIV><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 18.0px 0.0px"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="7"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 28px;"><B>Four-Month Arctic Simulated Mars Mission A Success!</B></SPAN></FONT></P><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 17px; "><BR style=""></DIV><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 14.0px 0.0px">Tuesday, August 21, 2007 - The Mars Society's four-month simulated Mars exploration mission in the Canadian High Arctic, the first of its kind, finished successfully today, achieving a significant milestone along the path to the manned exploration of space. In recognition of this occasion, the crew will have a teleconference tomorrow with astronaut Clay Anderson, currently on board the International Space Station. The seven researchers from across North America will then fly directly from the Arctic to the 10th International Mars Society Convention at UCLA in Los Angeles, CA, to present their preliminary results and share their experiences. Commander Melissa Battler and two of her crewmates will also meet with Dr. Gary Goodyear, Canadian Member of Parliament and Chair of the Canadian Space Caucus.</P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 14.0px 0.0px">The long-duration simulated Mars mission on Devon Island, Nunavut, operated smoothly for four months, quadrupling the previous record for an active Mars mission simulation. The Canadian-American crew of the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS) conducted a comprehensive program of geological and microbiological field exploration in the island’s Mars-like polar desert, 900 miles from the North Pole, all the while operating under many of the same constraints that human explorers would face on Mars. By doing so, they have learned from direct experience many lessons that will be of critical value when human explorers actually set foot on the red planet.</P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 14.0px 0.0px">This expedition was unique in that the crewmembers were able to maintain a rigorous simulation for an unprecedented period of time, collecting invaluable human factors data. Seven human factors experiments were completed, including comprehensive sleep and exercise studies. The crew also operated on the Martian 'sol', which is 39 minutes longer than the 24 hour Earth day, for over a month, to see if there were any negative effects on crew psychophysiology or mission operations.</P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 14.0px 0.0px">"The work that this crew has done will contribute to studies of Mars and to studies of the response of permafrost on Earth to global warming," said the mission’s remote science principal investigator Chris McKay, of NASA Ames. "Their pioneering simulation of crew operations on Mars time is by far the best work on this topic ever done. It sets the standard for future Mars mission simulations such as the proposed European Space Agency 500 day mission."</P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 14.0px 0.0px">Despite the tight quarters and tough living conditions, the crew coped remarkably well, and completed a wide range of field research safely and efficiently. In particular, they gathered data on microbial life in soil, snow and lakes, characterizing the changes as the Arctic season shifts from spring into summer. They also compared geological features seen on Mars, such as polygonal patterns and "weeping cliffs," with similar features found on Devon Island, in order to better understand conditions on the red planet.</P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 14.0px 0.0px">FMARS is located on the rim of 39 million year old Haughton Impact Crater. This location is particularly well-suited for the science conducted because a lake filled this crater shortly after impact, thus creating a suitable environment for life to flourish. Similar processes might have occurred on Mars, in similar polar desert environments, thus making Haughton Crater an ideal analogue for Mars.</P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 14.0px 0.0px">The crew has conducted six Mars Remote Education ("Mars Ed") events with five summer camp groups across Canada and with the International Space School at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.</P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 14.0px 0.0px"><A href="http://www.fmars2007.org/">Daily reports and photos </A>(<A href="http://www.fmars2007.org">http://www.fmars2007.org</A>/) sent back by the crew are posted on the Mars Society website. A complete report on the historic mission will be presented by the crew in person at the 10th International Mars Society Convention, which will be held August 30-Sept 2, 2007 at UCLA, Los Angeles. <A href="http://www.marssociety.org/portal/purchaseList#convention"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" color="#0021E7">Registration for the convention is now open </FONT></A>.</P><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 17px; "><BR style=""></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 17px; "><BR style=""></DIV><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 14.0px 0.0px">For further information about the Mars Society, visit our website at <A href="http://www.marssociety.org/"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" color="#0021E7">www.marssociety.org </FONT></A>. Your <A href="http://www.marssociety.org/portal/purchaseList#donation"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" color="#0021E7">donations </FONT></A>are welcome.</P></BODY></HTML>