
DLR PR — Near Hanksville, Utah, in the United States, but ‘on Mars’. At least that is what Volker Maiwald will feel when he embarks on his two-week mission in the Mars Desert Research Station on 23 February 2013. The scientist is normally based at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) Institute of Space Systems in Bremen, where he works determining the feasibility, costs and benefits of space systems and concepts of the future, calculating trajectories and planning habitats for isolated or harsh environments. As a member of Crew 125, he will soon experience being part of a team of six living on Mars.