Humanity has not yet made it to Mars, but one B.C.-born physicist has an inkling of what it might be like.
For four months Ross Lockwood lived on the desolate lava fields of Hawaii's Mauna Loa volcano as one of six crew members embedded in a simulated mission to the red planet.
On Wednesday Lockwood will be speaking about that experience at University of Northern B.C.'s Weldwood Lecture theatre from 2:30 to 3:50 p.m.
"Mars offers the promise of a second home for humanity," said Lockwood, "but the technical challenges of getting there and back again are on a scale humanity hasn't seen since humans first set foot on the moon."
Lockwood has a Ph.D. in condensed matter physics who took part in the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog & Simulation (HI-SEAS) study in 2014.
It's an example of one of many analog missions around the world trying to replicate the environment on Mars and address the numerous technical challenges.
"During the mission he participated in analog spacesuit testing, food and psychological research, in addition to his personal research studying the performance of 3D printed surgical instruments on long-duration space missions," UNBC's press release said, adding Lockwood is passionate about space exploration and science advocacy.
Lockwood works out of the University of Alberta on a student-focused 3D printing laboratory environment called the Science Hardware Hackerspace, or the Shack.
