Ever look up at that little red twinkle in the sky and wish you could pay a visit to Mars? We're not there yet, but the two Mars Analogue Research Stations (MARS) in Utah and on the uninhabited Devon Island are able to give people a little taste of what it may be like. Research crews spend two weeks to a month living in the habitats built by the Mars Society and follow a code of rules to make the whole thing more Mars-y. To name a few: The days are 39 minutes longer just like on the Red Planet, everyone has to wear a spacesuit outside the enclosure, and all communications have to have a time delay to simulate the fact that Mars is pretty far away from Earth.

Next to taking a leisurely sojourn in space, a stay at the Mars Analogue Research Station sounds like a whole lot of geeky fun. — Kevin Hall

Fogonazos, via Neatorama