In a Rocky Israeli Crater, Scientists Simulate Life on Mars

In a Rocky Israeli Crater, Scientists Simulate Life on Mars
Scientists participate in a demonstration of an experiment led by Austrian and Israeli agencies simulating a mission to Mars, near Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, on Oct. 10, 2021. Amir Cohen/Reuters
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RAMON CRATER, Israel—From the door of the expedition base, a few small steps to the left an autonomous rover passes by. A few giant leaps to the right is an array of solar panels. The landscape is rocky, hilly, tinged with red. Purposefully it resembles Mars.

Here, in the Ramon Crater in the desert of southern Israel, a team of six—five men and one woman— have begun simulating what it will be like to live for about a month on the red planet.