Mars needs Humans:
Dr. Tam Czarnik of the Mars Society

Published 2001/12/01 | By Chris Uzal

As the Medical Director of the Mars Desert Research Station and the field medical
officer for the final phase of the Mars Arctic Research Station this past summer,
Tamarack Czarnik MD is a man of many talents in an organization that is overflowing
with talent. Along with hundreds of other scientists and visionaries throughout
the country and the world, Dr. Czarnik and his colleagues do the heavy lifting
of gathering research through real world, and often hostile, simulations that
bring humanity closer to an eventual mission and colonization of the Red Planet.

Through the vision outlined by Dr. Robert Zubrin, founder of the Mars Society,
the organization has three goals:

1. Broad public outreach to instill the vision of pioneering Mars.
2. Support of ever more aggressive government funded Mars exploration programs
around the world.
3. To conduct the exploration of Mars on a private basis.

Dr. Czarnik agreed to represent the Mars
Society in an interview with Cyberista.com.

Cyberista.com:	“Hard work, no pay, eternal glory” … That’s quite an advertisement. Explain the projects behind this.
Dr. Czarnik, Mars Society:	The “Hard work, no pay, eternal glory” byline came, as I’m sure you’re aware, from an old advertisement looking for “a few good men, stout of heart” to go exploring (the Arctic, I think it was). The Mars Research Stations are part operational science, part advertisement: They work out (in a practical, day-to-day setting) how humans will live and work on the planet Mars (given the constraints on communication, the environment, etc), while maintaining a high profile (and thus advertising our existence and purpose). The first Research Station, the Mars Arctic Research Station, is located on Devon Island, 400 miles north of the Arctic Circle. It’s the closest Mars analog we have on Earth, as it is the only known occurence of an impact crater in a polar desert. But because of it’s location, we can only operate there 2 months a year. So the second research Station, the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS), is now being erected in Utah, a few miles north and west of Hanksville, where we’ll conduct operations 9 months out of the year. We reproduce the communications delay (varying from 3 to 10 minutes one-way, depending on the current distance from the Earth to Mars), we use a checklisted procedure to ‘suit up’ (takes about 45 minutes), then spend another 1/2 hour in the airlock, simulating the half-hour decompression that we’ll have to undergo before stepping out onto the surface of Mars (presupposing the Hab is pressurized to 8.3 psi with 30% oxygen, 70% nitrogen). Then once out on the surface, we go about our EVAs (usually focussed around geological surveys), and develop protocols for the unforseen problems we run into. You see, there are LOTS of problems that you never anticipate before you actually go out and try to DO something, and the only way to FIND those problems is to actually DO the thing. So basically, we’re making as many mistakes as we can here on Earth, to avoid having to make them on Mars.
Cyberista.com:	The temperature variance between Southern Utah and Devon Island is pretty significant. Are there separate objectives to the different climate simulations?
Dr. Czarnik, Mars Society:	We wanted separate climates to have separate simulation seasons. So when MARS is closed on Devon Island, MDRS is open in Utah.
Cyberista.com:	What kind of major surprises have you run into since beginning the program?
Dr. Czarnik, Mars Society:	Well, a number of things we THOUGHT would be problems were not, and we ran into a number of concerns that nobody had thought of yet (as nobody had tried to ‘explore Mars’ yet). For instance, nobody put a power outlet on the OUTSIDE of the Hab, as nobody expected to (say) plug in a hair dryer on the surface of Mars. But to do geology, you need a rock saw. On Mars, the dust (or ‘fines’) are loaded with superoxides; they’ll irritate skin, inflame the eyes, and generally be a tremendous nuisance inside the Hab. So you DON’T want to operate the rock saw inside the Hab if you can get away from it. But a rock saw is a high-power tool; it’s very tough to battery-operate one. So you need a power plug on the outside of the Hab.
Cyberista.com:	How badly did the absence of external outlets set back the geologists on the simulation?
Dr. Czarnik, Mars Society:	Not at all; we just used the rock saw inside the science area. But on Mars, it will either have to be enclosed in a negative-pressure box or operated outside the Hab, to avoid the pervasive fines.
Cyberista.com:	What were the living conditions like?
Dr. Czarnik, Mars Society:	NASA sent some studies on how crewmembers liked to decorate their individual staterooms (which are only about 7 feet by 10 feet by 3 feet). But it turns out people don’t spend much time in their cabins. Mainly, you go in there a couple times a day to read, listen to music, or to just get AWAY from other people (VERY necessary!). So that was one ‘problem’ that wasn’t.
Cyberista.com:	That sounds like a coffin. How quickly does the human element rub people the wrong way?
Dr. Czarnik, Mars Society:	Depends on the person. I quickly found out I wouldn’t be an ideal candidate to send to Mars, as I like people in small doses, spaced infrequently. Other people, crewmembers who were ‘people people’, got along great; it never seemed to bother some of them! One crewmember had soup spilled all over her, and she just laughed it off. THAT’s the kind of person we’ll need for the first missions to Mars! Forget about your ‘high thrust – low drag’, type A, strongly driven individuals. We need people more like my wife, very relaxed and easy to get on with.
Cyberista.com:	How did you get involved in the Mars Society ?
Dr. Czarnik, Mars Society:	Let’s see… I was living in Laramie, Wyoming, and decided to move back to Ohio to attend the Wright State University Residency in Aerospace Medicine (at the time, the only civilian Aerospace Medicine Residency in the world). But soon as my wife and I got to Ohio, I read about the Founding Convention of the Mars Society to be held in Denver , I got in the car and drove back cross-country to attend. I just attended the First Convention; I presented a paper at the second, and helped administration at the third convention. I missed the fourth convention, as I was at KSC walking visitors through the Hab [habitat building] display to show people what we’re doing. Most recently, Founder Bob Zubrin asked if I’d consider being the Medical Director for the MDRS (having as I do a background in Aerospace Medicine), and I agreed. I also work on the TransLife project, sending mice into low-Earth orbit, spinning the craft to generate Mars-normal gravity, and studying how it affects their development.
Cyberista.com:	Your specialty is aerospace medicine. What is it? How does it differ from normal Medicine?
Dr. Czarnik, Mars Society:	Normal Medicine is the study of a sick or endangered Human in a normal enviroment; Aerospace Medicine is the study of a healthy human in a ‘sick’ or dangerous environment. Thus, we study the effects of the Space environment on normal humans: low gravity, low pressure, high or low oxygen content, etc.
Cyberista.com:	I noticed in your journal that you had experiences involving minor medical emergencies. What were the stories behind those incidents? What did you learn in relation to being hundreds of millions of miles away?
Dr. Czarnik, Mars Society:	Oh, let’s see… one person splashed gasoline in his eye while fueling an ATV; another bit his lip going down a particularly rough scree slope; another cut her thumb… minor stuff, mostly. Most serious was when a guy started vomiting blood. Simple lab tests showed he was quite dehydrated, & I was ready to start IV fluids on him, but an acid-blocker and gentle oral hydration brought him through. What all this brought home for me was that we need to studiously anticipate medical incidents and bring a WIDE variety of medications with us; once the ship lifts, you’re only as good as what you brought. Also, common ailments are common: bring LOTS of skin lotions for chafed hands, ibuprofen for bruises, antacids for upset stomaches!
Cyberista.com:	From a medical perspective, what is the most dangerous aspect of a potential Mars mission?
Dr. Czarnik, Mars Society:	Hmmm… I think the most potentially dangerous aspect is we just don’t KNOW how astronauts returning from a 2 1/2 year mission to Mars will handle Earth-normal gravity on their return. We know that the heart tends to get weaker and flabbier the longer you spend in microgravity; there’s even some indication that certain types of arrhythmias might be more common. I think one of the potential uses of the ISS is to have a sort of rehabilitation station there, to allow astronauts to slowly (say, over 2-3 weeks) adjust to Earth-normal graivty. Artificial gravity (as by swinging the craft on the end of a tether) helps on the way out and on the way back, but the highest stresses, the greatest danger lies in actually returning to a full 1G.) If we used a tethered station in conjunction with the ISS, we’d obviate the most immediate concerns, at least making it safer.
Cyberista.com:	Part of discovering the solution is covered by your work with mice on the TransLife project. Can you describe your work in this area?
Dr. Czarnik, Mars Society:	To date, my work has centered on determining what has been done to date and what we’ve discovered, so we don’t spend valuable time in orbit re-inventing the wheel. We have a LOT of data from the Russian/Soviet ‘Kosmos’ launches, and a lot from the American Shuttle experiment, and some from Skylab and SpaceLab experiments; but none of it adequately addresses the basic question: How will mammals tolerate artificially-induced gravity, and how will they handle Earth-normal gravity after living in Mars-normal gravity? I think it’s important to note that the Mars Society DOESN’T think we’re ready to go to Mars tomorrow. But we ARE in far better position to go to Mars in 10 years than we were to go to the Moon in 10 years, back when JFK launched the Apollo program. If we spend those intervening 10 years doing the needed research, we CAN be ready to go to Mars and safely return in as little as 10 years. I want to also note that Dr. Bob Zubrin states that humans are NOT native to the Earth. We’re evolved to live only in one very small section of Africa. The rest of the planet we’ve basically colonized, adapting our technology to allow us to live there. It is the same with Space; technological adapting is what we DO for a living!
Cyberista.com:	To what degree is government involved in the Arctic and desert projects? Is there motivation by government to launch a human mission to Mars within 15 years, give or take a few years?
Dr. Czarnik, Mars Society:	There’s no NASA or other government funding for either FMARS or MDRS. The projects are financed half by corporate sponsors and half by membership fees. About 305 of our crew members have been NASA employees, and there’s a lot of data sharing back and forth. They send us studies to do, we do them and send back their results. The question of government support is harder to answer. Dan Goldin was very disappointed not to see a manned Mars mission happen on his watch. The new NASA Administrator comes from a budgetary background, and his chief objectives seem to be getting ISS cost overruns under control. Right now, I think Mars is kind of treated as “the ‘M’ word”; nobody wants to talk too loudly about making it happen soon.
Cyberista.com:	What about small projects? For example, observatories on the dark side of the moon or visits to asteroids for prospecting? Is there a lack of motivation for these projects as well?
Dr. Czarnik, Mars Society:	Lots of ‘small’ projects are needed to develop our ability to get to and from Mars; we need a communications satellite out of the plane of the ecliptic (so we don’t lose comm when the Sun is between Earth & Mars), we need to demonstrate the effects of Mars-gravity on humans (TransLife addresses this), we need to demonstrate the ability to deploy & operate a 1.5 km-long tether at 1 rpm to generate Mars-normal gravity. Mars Odyssey (now in orbit around Mars) will pinpoint the water & mineral deposits, and typify the radiation environment.I do worry, though, that NASA under O’Keefe will cut back these essential steps. ISS has a habit of cutting off other projects funds, & now even ISS is cutting back. $5 billion in US cost overruns? That money has to come from somewhere, & NASA Code M already forbids them from spending money to research human exploration beyond Low Earth Orbit. Small projects don’t have the protection of heightening international cooperation to keep them from the chopping block. No lack of motivation, but “No bucks, No Buck Rogers”.
Cyberista.com:	The $64,000 question: Is the ISS a social program for better relations over coffee at the U.N.? Would the United States be better off trying another space race against Europe, China and Russia to drive technological progress or is everyone happy with the system as it exists? How does the Mars Society seek to change this?
Dr. Czarnik, Mars Society:	I think ISS has dual purposes, just like our Research Stations. On the one hand, we ARE doing some important research on ISS (especially advancing Aerospace Medicine), and gaining a foothold in space. On the other hand, it’s certainly another way of working with other countries, trying to get everyone onto the same page. If you look solely at technological progress, I think there’s no question but that another ‘Space Race’ (with the Chinese, for instance) would spur us to greater efforts and advance our science far more rapidly. The Mars Society is focused on Human Exploration of Mars, however it occurs: unilaterally, as a joint intergovernmental effort, or as private enterprise. To that end, we seek to raise awareness and encourage all three possibilities.
Cyberista.com:	How did you get started in science?
Dr. Czarnik, Mars Society:	Hmmm…. well, I got a Computer Science degree 20 years ago… and hated it. I wanted to be around people more. I spent several years paying off student loans at minimum-wage jobs, and decided that I wouldn’t jump into anything again! So I trained as a Nurse’s Aide, and worked at that for awhile. Finding I liked it, I trained and worked as an EMT, then as a Paramedic, then finally went for the MD. But I always had 2 dreams in Life: to be a doctor, and to be an astronaut. Sadly, my 20/400+ vision makes the latter unlikely; but I decided I can still help other people into space, can still advance Humanity’s drive out into the stars. I think that’s where we’re headed. “The choice, as Wells once said, is the Universe – or nothing … The challenge of the great spaces between the worlds is a stupendous one; but if we fail to meet it, the story of our race will be drawing to its close. Humanity will have turned its back upon the still untrodden heights and will be descending again the long slope that stretches, across a thousand million years of time, down to the shores of the primeval sea.” . Arthur C. Clarke . 1 March 1996
Cyberista.com:	That’s deep.
Dr. Czarnik, Mars Society:	It is… and it outlines succinctly what I believe to be our destiny, either way …
Cyberista.com:	I would say it leaves little room for debate.
Dr. Czarnik, Mars Society:	No. You’ll always have people who think other concerns are more pressing… and sometimes, when the fight is for continued existence, they’re right. But we, as a species, need to explore, expand and constantly push the edges.
Cyberista.com:	Thank you for all your time, Dr. Czarnik.
Dr. Czarnik, Mars Society:	Thanks again, Chris. Tam out.

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Mars needs Humans: Dr. Tam Czarnik of the Mars Society

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Mars needs Humans:
Dr. Tam Czarnik of the Mars Society