The Mission
A Voyage to Mars
It takes anywhere from 5 -10 months to get to mars in a rocket ship. Upon landing, Earth and Mars are already further from each other given their individual orbits. A year later, when the two planets are near each other again, spaceships can leave Mars and return to Earth in 5-10 months. The whole trip may take close to 3 years or 1000 days. If humans are sent on a long space voyage like the one to Mars, there are some factors to consider, such as how humans will behave in this environment as well as how technology and equipment will perform. An analog is a set of circumstances where some of these factors can be studied, tested, and refined. The Mars Ocean Analog is designed to explore human psychology in the dangerous high performance life and death environment of the sea.
Human Factors
— Living in a confined space.
— Living in a dangerous environment.
– Isolation from society and civilization.
– Interpersonal conflict/resolution.
— Managing limited resources.
— Having the ability to come up with creative solutions.
— Having knowledge of operating and maintaining the vessel.
— Having knowledge of what constifutes health, nutrition, keeping physically fit, and mentally sane.
— Staying calm and focused during emergencies, despite fatigue.
— Having the ability to adapt and evolve.
— Knowing human help will never reach in time
Human Factors
— Living in a confined space.
— Living in a dangerous environment.
– Isolation from society and civilization.
– Interpersonal conflict/resolution.
— Managing limited resources.
— Having the ability to come up with creative solutions.
— Having knowledge of operating and maintaining the vessel.
— Having knowledge of what constifutes health, nutrition, keeping physically fit, and mentally sane.
— Staying calm and focused during emergencies, despite fatigue.
— Having the ability to adapt and evolve.
— Knowing human help will never reach in time
The Mission
Each mission will be 2-3 weeks long.
Candidates will sail in teams of 4-8 at a time.
Analog astronauts will learn to live with constant motion, other people, conservation of resources, limited communications, system maintenance, living in a small confined space, and engage in scientific research including, but not limited to diving, taking measurements, collecting data, etc.
The crew will send regular updates and reports to the shore.
Pre-Requisites for Candidates
— Good Health
— Ages 18-45
— Willingness to work with others
— No sailing experience necessary
—Must know how to swim
—Dive experience optional
—CPR training preferred
— Up to date passport
MOA Mission Summaries
MOA VIII- Starbase Bound
MOA VIII- Starbase bound, final frontier
Departure: 2/20/25
Arrived: 3/15/25
Duration: 24 days
Crew:
Reid Stowe – Ocean Analog Captain, Male, America
Maxine Hoover, Crew, Female, America
Total number of people: 2
Mission Goal: Sail from Grand Cayman Islands to Starbase, TX
End of Mission Report: Crew and ship arrived safely to destination.
MOA VII- Starbase bound
MOA VII- Starbase bound
Departure: 2/5/25
Arrived: 2/19/25
Duration: 14 days
Crew:
Reid Stowe – Ocean Analog Captain, Male, America
Ophir Ruimi, Crew, Male, Israel
Total number of people: 2
Mission Goal: Sail from St. Thomas, USVI to grand Cayman Islands
End of Mission Report: Crew and ship arrived safely to destination.
MOA VI- Winter to Summer
MOA VI- Winter to Summer
Departure: 12/22/24
Arrived: 1/16/25
Duration: 26 days
Crew: Reid Stowe – Ocean Analog Captain, Male, America
Ilankuzhali Elavarasan – Crew, Female, India
Fred Sullivan- Crew, Male, America
Madeline Sullivan, Crew, Female, America
Total number of people: 4
Mission Goal: Sail from NYC to St. Thomas, USVI.
End of Mission Report: Crew and ship arrived safely to destination. Crew faced difficulties due to cold temperatures (17 degrees F) and storms. Crew collaborated with MMAARS on body mapping protocols which served as logs of each crew members physical and psychological states through out the voyage.
MOA V- Winter Solstice
MOA V- Winter Solstice
Departure: 11/15/24
Arrived: 11/27/24
Duration: 12 days
Crew: Reid Stowe – Ocean Analog Captain, Male, America
Luke Ribiero – Crew, Male, America
Fred Sullivan- Crew, Male, America
Maxine Hoover, Crew, Female, America
Total number of people: 4
Mission Goal: Sail from NYC into the North Atlantic Ocean and back.
End of Mission Report: Crew and ship arrived safely to port despite being held up due to incliment weather. Crew collaborated with MMAARS on body mapping protocols which served as logs of each crew members physical and psychological states through out the voyage.
MOA IV- Resilience
MOA IV- Resilience
Departure: 6/10/21
Arrived: 6/23/21
Duration: 13 days
Crew: Reid Stowe – Ocean Analog Expert (69) Male, America
Eric Goss- 3rd MOA analog (34) Male, America
Jake Davis- Crew (33) Male, America
Total number of people: 3
Mission Goal: Sail from West Palm Beach, FL to New York City and to demonstrate the viability and effectiveness of a small crew.
End of Mission Report: Crew and ship arrived safely to port despite one very strong squall. One crew member had some internal challenges that came up, but was still able to participate in sail maneuvers as needed.
MOA III- LATAM
MOA III- LATAM
Departure: 4/29/21
Arrived: 5/15/21
Duration: 17 days
Crew: Reid Stowe – Ocean Analog Expert (69) Male, America
Oliver Parody- Captain (31) Male, Canada/America
Luis Diaz- 2nd analog (28) Male, Peru
Marcos Bruno- 3rd analog (25) Male, Argentina
Danton Bazaldua- 4th analog (27) Male, Mexico
David Mateus- 4th analog(25) Male, Columbia
Total number of people: 6
Mission Goal: Sail from Starbase TX to West Palm Beach FL. Engage in robotics experiment.
End of Mission Report: The mission ended at Key West because of time constraints of the analog astronauts. Overall the mission was a success and besides gaining many insights into the challenges of space travel, the crew also claimed the analog was a life changing experience.
MOA II- Voyage to Starbase
Departure: 4/1/21 Miami, FL
Arrived: 4/15/21 Port Isabel, TX
Duration: 15 Days
Crew: Reid Stowe – Captain (69) Male, America
John Wolfe – First Officer (29) Male, America
Andrew West – Engineer/Carpenter (29) Male, America
Oliver Parody – Carpenter (31) Male, America
Eric Goss – Diver (34) Male, America
Kate Wicks – Crew (36) Female, America
Gwen Whitney – Crew (31) Female, America
Total number of people: 7
Mission Goal: Arrive on the shores of Starbase, TX.
End of Mission Report: Mission goals were met. The crew had a memorable sail, with good winds, and minimal breakdown of equipment. After a visit to to SpaceX, they departed via land routes making way for the next crew.
MOA I- Demo
Departure: 1/3/21 from Cape Fear River, NC
Arrived: 1/20/21 West Palm Beach, FL
Duration: 17 Days at sea
Crew: Reid Stowe -Captain (69) Male, America
John Wolfe- First Officer (29) Male, America
Andrew West- Engineer/Carpenter (29) Male, America
Oliver Parody- Carpenter (31) Male, America
Eric Goss- Diver (34) Male, America
Atila Meszaros- Analog expert, MDRS (22) Male, Peru
Soanya Ahmad- Chef/Social Media (37), Female, America
Darshen Stowe- Crew (12), Male, America
Total number of people: 8
Mission Goal: To demonstrate an analog at sea and to formulate protocols for future missions.
End of mission report: Despite strong winds right in the beginning, numerous spars breaking, contrary winds, and slow progress, the goal to demonstrate an analog at sea was achieved as well as ideas and actions to improve future missions. The crew bonded extremely well together and remained with the ship after the mission was over.