MDRS Crew 28
April 11-24, 2004

During the active field season, the crew of the Mars Desert Research Station rotates every 2 weeks. These are the scientists and engineers who live and work on site within the MDRS. They explore all of the facets of human exploration in a simulated Mars environment. The MDRS will be active for a 7 month period.

Name	Speciality
R.D."Gus" Frederick	Commander
Gregorio Drayer	Electrical Engineer
Steve Featherstone	Journalist
Kathleen Johnson	Photographer/Artist
Greg Michael	Mars Express Planetary Scientist
Alyssa Rzeszutko	Aerospace Engineer

R.D."Gus" Frederick	Gus Frederick recently worked as an Instructional Technologist for the Oregon Public Education Network, a Web-based resource for Oregon's K-12 public educators. He became involved in the Mars Society after many years of space activism, and serves as President of the Oregon Chapter. He is an avid hiker, caver, artist, photographer and filmmaker. He is especially fond of 3D stereo imaging, digital imaging and time-lapse motion pictures. For the last several years, he has been involved in several studies relating to the use of lava tube caves on Mars, and has provided numerous illustrations and has authored a number of papers relating to this and related topics. Besides the Mars Society, he is also a member of the International Association of Astronomical Artists, National Space Society, National Speleological Society and Planetary Society. He is assisting the GreenHab portion of the project by providing technical advice regarding data acquisition and the sensor web. Additionally, Frederick is maintaining his own backyard 'Mars Garden' at his home in Silverton, Oregon. For this rotation, he plans to get up an running an automated hydroponic "salad machine" to help feed hungry Habsters. He is also the proud father of Genevieve, his daughter, currently attending college in New Mexico.
Gregorio Drayer	Greg Drayer is 25 years old. Proud to have served the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) for four years now, in support of the United Nations Programme on Space Applications as National Representative for Venezuela and currently as a Regional Representative for South America. Serves as National Representative of the Latin-American Space Association in Venezuela. Serves the UNESCO Space Education Programme as the National Focal Point for Venezuela. National Award "Sow the Future" 2001-2002 for an essay entitled "A Post-Petroleum Venezuela" for the World Future Society Venezuela. Has participated in the United Nations' symposia (2001 and 2002) "Enhancing the participation of youth in space activities: Implementing the recommendations of UNISPACE III", sponsored by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, the Austria Government and the European Space Agency. Awarded Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow at the Caltech during 2000 and 2001 sponsored by Caltech and the United States Air Force Research Laboratories (AFRL). Coordinated the Mars Polar Lander (MPL) event in the Ibero-American School of Astrobiology. This was the first time that Venezuela participated in a Planet Fest of the Planetary Society. Received a scholarship from the International Space School Foundation, FUNINDES, Institute of Energy of the Americas, and the Venezuelan American Partership to the International Space School 1999. Has published 33 graphic simulations for various comets including C/2001 Q4 (NEAT) and C/2002 T7, visible comets during Crew 28's mission with its charts published at http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/charts.html. Studied music nine years at Conservatorio Juan José Landaeta in Caracas (1987-1996). Played percussion with the Chacao Symphonic Orchestra for three years. Graduated as Power Engineer at Universidad Simón Bolívar after recovering a high power CO2 laser for experimental applications in the University's Plasma Physics Laboratory, he is currently conducting graduate research on Control Systems Engineering toward an approach to integrate, control and achieve the physical realization of complex concurrent systems making use of artificial intelligence, for the ultimate goal of sustainability, minimizing the unnecessary impact on the surrounding environment. His research could have a great impact on how we approach the challenges of Sustainable Development on Earth and how we reach to other celestial bodies in the efforts of human space exploration. He is part of the MDRS Crew 28 thanks to the support of the World Future Society Venezuela and other individual supporters. He plans to become the first Venezuelan Astronaut.
Steve Featherstone	Steve Featherstone is a writer and photographer from Syracuse, New York. After receiving a master’s degree in fiction writing from Syracuse University in 1996, he went to work for Garmin International, a large GPS manufacturer. He moved to New York City in 1998 and worked for various Internet technology companies during the dot com boom; and like so many others, he was laid off soon after the bubble burst. Throughout his corporate employment, Steve continued to publish short stories, essays, and, increasingly, magazine articles. Today, he is a full-time freelance writer and photographer. Steve contributes regularly to a wide variety of magazines, including Popular Science and Outdoor Life, on technology and science-related subjects. His travel essays are broadcast frequently on public radio stations across the country. His book, “Outdoor Guide to Using Your GPS,” will be published in June 2004. Two years ago Steve became interested in Mars Society activities while researching another story. He will be writing a series of dispatches about his experiences at MDRS for the online magazine Slate. Additionally, he will be poking his microphone into the faces of his crewmembers for a story he plans to record for National Public Radio.
Kathleen Johnson	Kathleen Johnson is a Los Angeles artist with a background in art history and critical/film studies, who received her MFA from the University of Southern California in 1995. Her work is concerned with landscapes and the built environment, both real and imagined, and how we interpret these places for ourselves. She is also interested in fantastic architecture and alternative living systems, and is currently collaborating on a speculative design project for a therapeutic house to be filled mostly with water, some preliminary experiments for which are taking place at a site in the Mojave Desert, as part of a group of projects known as the High Desert Test Sites. Kathleen has a huge layperson's enthusiasm for Mars and for space exploration advocacy in general, fueled by many sources, including her sci-fi book club and its varied intellectual pursuits. Following a lecture on the Society's analog environments given at a Caltech chapter meeting, a rotation at the MDRS seemed a promising synthesis of her interests. While there, as time permits, she hopes to work on two photographic studies: 1) to explore and document the surrounding landscape and discover how/why it is thought to be analogous, why it is inspiring for this purpose, and to imagine herself within it; and 2) to study the design of the Hab as speculative architecture, particularly the GreenHab Living Machine and its reclamation systems. She would also like to learn firsthand what the Mars Society hopes to learn from these simulated experiences, what type of people are attracted to participating, and to collectively envision what it would be like to be part of a manned mission. Lastly, she looks forward to celebrating Yuri's Night '04 at the Station with the crew!
Greg Michael	Me, I'm 35, and from the UK. I am just finishing a two-year research fellowship at the European Space Agency, where I've been studying impact craters, on Mars and on Earth, and making science preparations for the now-lost Beagle-2 Mars lander. Before, I was in Russia, where I met my wife, began a family, and completed my doctorate (in that order), and then we went to live in Romania - a first experience of working remotely, not through space, but merely the internet. In my work, I'm thinking about Mars all the time, but perhaps not always from the perspective of what it's like to be there. Recently I was on a boat, in the Atlantic, enjoying the lapping of the waves against the hull... Of course we ask - was there water on Mars? When was it there? Under what conditions? How much was there? Where did it go? These are fascinating questions. Still, there are others, of a different kind: I'd also like to know how Martian waves looked and felt. How did they lap? Were they ever enjoyed? The difference between experience and knowledge: one for the explorer, one for the scientist, and neither a substitute for the other. At MDRS, as well as making my small contribution to the realisation of a real future manned mission, I hope to discover something of the incredible experience that awaits the first Mars astronauts.
Alyssa Rzeszutko	Alyssa Rzeszutko is a senior in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and will complete her degree in August, 2004. She has participated in many societies on campus since the beginning of her freshman year. She was an active member on the executive board of the Illini Space Development Society, a student chapter of the National Space Society. She also participated in the Float'n Illini, a microgravity research group that competed nationally in the Reduced Gravity Flight Program hosted by NASA Johnson Space Center. Her team flew a rotational fluid dynamics experiment on the KC-135. During the summer before her sophomore year, Alyssa studied abroad in Shanghai, China and then interned at Northrop Grumman Electronic Sensors and Systems Sector. At the beginning of her sophomore year, Alyssa joined the Advanced Chemical Systems Group under Professor Nancy Sottos. Her research, thus far, has involved the dielectric and tensile properties of autonomous materials, specifically polymers. She has given two presentations at undergraduate research conferences held at the University of Illinois. Alyssa participated in the NASA Academy at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center after her junior year. She worked on the development and testing of an electromagnet for microshutter actuation on the James Webb Space Telescope. Alyssa published her first academic research paper in March of 2004. Alyssa intends to work in France beginning in September 2004. She is grateful to the many people that have inspired and motivated her to continue to reach all of her goals. Because of those individuals, she has never lost sight of her aspiration to become a United States astronaut.