Aboard The Mars Desert Research Station, Utah - Taking the first step toward becoming a space station designer probably began when Jan Osburg was 10 years old.

He tried to fix his father's broken eight-track tape recorder.

"I took everything off that you can take off with a screwdriver,'' Mr. Osburg said. "I just fiddled with it - disassembled it, assembled it - and then it suddenly worked again."

Twenty years later, Mr. Osburg is far from the family tape player and his hometown of Ettlingen, Germany, but close to his passion for making things work.

He is a research engineer and lecturer for the Space Systems Institute at the University of Stuttgart in Germany. He studied there under Dr. Ernst Messerschmid, one of Germany's first astronauts and director of the European Astronaut Center.

Jan programs his GPS receiver at his computer for an upcoming EVA from the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah. Photo Credit: David Real / Belo Interactive

Ahead of him is a hunt for a job that will enable him to continue his work in the conceptual design of manned space systems, including the integration of related fields, such as architecture, psychology and medicine.

Currently he is solving engineering problems as a volunteer crewman at the Mars Desert Research Center, which is run by the Mars Society to promote the exploration of the Red Planet.

And there were many problems to solve, whether it was an electric generator that wouldn't start, a blown fuse on a spacesuit backpack or a broken water pump. The crew also relied on him to explain how to use a GPS unit, fix a digital camera, connect computers on an internal network, and protect them from static electrical discharges during dust storms. He also served as the team's Health and Safety Officer.

Mr. Osburg, 30, is the youngest on the six-member crew, but was selected as second in command of the Habitat during the group's two-week stay in the Utah desert.

His primary interest is in the design of the Hab and its ability to function as a planetary exploration base. He said its basic design was sound and perhaps could stand on the Martian surface one day. On the first floor are main and rear air locks, plus a lab and workshop area. On the second floor are the crew's living and work areas, with a loft topping off the structure.

But the value of the Mars simulation at the Hab lies in its research into how people might live and work together aboard such a base.

"You don't try to build the perfect Hab right from the beginning after only doing a lot of paper studies," he said. "You just see what works, what doesn't work, and you fix it in small steps."

For an engineer who can fix most things that go wrong, individual pieces of equipment are almost of secondary concern. Nearly everything will be different to a degree - spacesuits, internal layout of the station, water supply. Anytime humans are part of the equation for a space station, the solution is constantly changing, he said.

"You have to approach it in a holistic way - integrate everything - because for the person using it, everything seems like one integrated structure that completely determines their lives," he said.

Because of the constantly shifting relationship between man and machine, simulating a working Martian space station is the only way to predict the problems that future crews will face. That enables engineers to design solutions in advance on Earth, rather than in the isolation of space.

"I'm really convinced that the first crews who go to Mars will somehow profit from the experience that we have gained here," he said. "It keeps them from having to reinvent the wheel - and they won't have time to invent anything. They'll just have to rely on things working."

Mr. Osburg is passionate about his belief that society has a basic obligation to break the bonds of bureaucracy and explore space - what he calls frontier ideology, a concept that he said still exists, to a degree, through the freedom of America.

"Civilized society is too far removed from this frontier experience," he said. "I really think society needs some outlet for the people who tend to be more individualistic, who have initiative and … where you have pioneers who do something. And Mars - space flight in general, especially manned space flight - opens up the next frontier."

He credits the Mars Society and its president, Dr. Robert Zubrin, for leading the charge to open up space to exploration through projects such as the Mars Desert Research Station.

Their work not only fosters scientific research, but creates the public knowledge and goodwill that is necessary for such Mars exploration to succeed, he said. People must be convinced that going to Mars is feasible, necessary and the right thing to do, despite the costs involved.

For some people, he said, space travel will always be an extravagant waste of money.

"If these people had been in power back in 14-something, then Columbus wouldn't have discovered the U.S.," he said.

Mr. Osburg would like to be one of the first to explore Mars, but recognizes that his chances are remote because of his height and eyesight - he is 6-feet-4-inches tall and slightly short-sighted.

"I would love to go, of course," he said. "My family would even support it. But I'm realistic enough to know that I'm not going to make it through the selection process."

But exploration of Mars is a tough, long-term project that will take centuries, which is why Mr. Osburg is donating his free time to the research being done at the Habitat in the Utah desert. He said he is committed to helping in whatever way possible.

"I have a unique opportunity to experience firsthand all the problems, all the different aspects involved," he said. "But also I see this as more of a personal thing: I get to contribute. Even if it's just a small thing to help make life easier for the first astronauts on Mars."