Research Article Open Access Kereszturi, Astrobiol Outreach 2013, 1:2 DOI: 10.4172/2332-2519.1000e102 Editorial Open Access Volume 1 • Issue 2 • 1000e102 Astrobiol Outreach ISSN: 2332-2519 JAO, an open access journal Keywords: Mars; Earth analog; Field work Introduction Astrobiology is more than a popular topic of natural sciences in these days. Beside it fuses various disciplines, it also provides a new way to bring science close to the public. One of the most “exotic” subtopic is the analog field work aimed at astrobiology related research. Below we outline three examples how Mars analog field activity could be used to implement astrobiology in the popularization as well as education. Although this work reflects the view of the author, the increased interest for Mars analog work suggests that this topic should be better exploited in the education and outreach of astrobiology. ese field trips were realized as planned activities, aimed at the analysis of the occurrence of water in cold or dry terrains, and also to collect extremophile samples for laboratory testing. e terrains were partly known already, but Google Maps served as a useful tool in the identification of targets and traverses between them. e desert work at MDRS and FMARS stations (see below) were part of such analog research that beside science, also tested the methods and tools of future manned Mars expedition, including the realization in analog space suits. Methods is work summarizes ideas and suggestions of the outreach related activity during Mars analog field works. Specific details on the expeditions including their results can be found in related papers [1], and thus not discussed here. For the popularization during and aſter the missions, the following methods were used (examples for the way of presentation for young audience see [2]): printed journal papers, online articles [3,4], aſter the mission radio and TV interviews, public lectures at astronomical meetings [5], implementation of one lecture for each semester into the undergraduate education at university level [6,7]. Results Field works aimed at astrobiology related analysis, mainly at Mars analog terrains were realized by the author and colleagues at three environment types, where expedition related outreach activity was also realized. e general parameters are listed below to provide context what topics could be used here in the outreach-while examples for the details on how to implement these issues into the education and popularization are presented in the Discussion and Conclusion section. Desert environment Two field works were realized at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS, Figure 1), Utah, USA in 2004 [8] and 2008. To provide Mars analog conditions a rocky desert with horizontal sandstone layers, and concretions occasionally cemented by hematite were present. is desert was characterized by dryness, ephemeral water flow curved channels, and cyanobacteria in cryptobiotic crust (oſten in “solar burned” rock surfaces with desert varnish). e two weeks long activities were realized in space suits and using planned field equipments of a human Mars expedition. Arctic crater e Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS) is located at the 23 km diameter Haughton crater at on Devon Island, arctic Canada, where a one month duration expedition was realized in *Corresponding author: Kereszturi A, Konkoly Thege Miklos Astronomical Institute, Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Hungary, Tel: +3613919355; Fax: +3612754668; E-mail: kereszturi.akos@csfk.mta.hu Received October 03, 2013; Accepted October 03, 2013; Published October 07, 2013 Citation: Kereszturi A (2013) Mars Analog Field Work and Astrobiology. Astrobiol Outreach 1: e102. doi: 10.4172/2332-2519.1000e102 Copyright: © 2013 Kereszturi A. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Abstract Mars analog field work fuses the essentials of outreach in astrobiology: interesting science question together with exploration at exotic terrain under unusual conditions (like work in space suit or with tools planned for astronauts). Basic characteristics of such projects at desert, arctic and salty environments are listed, indicating those issues that could be used to implement such projects to the education and use in public outreach. As next Mars missions’ detectors will be regularly tested at, and astrobiologists will also collect samples at exotic terrains in the future too, it is strongly encouraged to use such activities in the public outreach of astrobiology. Mars Analog Field Work and Astrobiology Kereszturi A 1,2 * 1 Konkoly Thege Miklos Astronomical Institute, Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Hungary 2 Karoly Nagy Astronomical Foundation, Hungary Figure 1: Searching for cyanobacteria colonized cryptobiotic crust samples at Utah, during aMars analog field work. Journal of Astrobiology & Outreach J o u r n a l o f A s t r o b i o l o g y & O u t r e a c h ISSN: 2332-2519