MDRS Crew 42
January 15 - 28, 2006

Name	Speciality
John Aittama	Commander, BS/MS Mechanical Engineer
Dennis Hands	Crew Astronomer/Executive Officer
Dennis Creamer	Crew Biologist
Ben Huset	Crew Engineer
Henrik Hargitai	Crew Mars Geographer
Kathryn Bywaters	Crew Biochemist

John Aittama	John Aittama (pictured on Loch Ness with elder daughter Morgan Fae) is a regular grunt engineer type guy, who is currently living in France with his wife and two young daughters and running a manufacturing facility for the automotive industry. He has some Army experience as a paratrooper in a LRRS (long range reconnaissance and surveillance) unit. This essentially consisted of a six-man team alone for several days in a confined environment, performing mission related tasks and objectives, and communicating the results to head quarters. He is interested as to how the MDRS experience will compare. John is also an avid outdoor enthusiast, hobbyist fiction writer, holds a third degree black belt in Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu, born in the year of the rat (a good astronaut sign), an Aquarius, and a long time member of the Mars Society.
Dennis Hands	Dennis Hands grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina, met his wife Barbara at and graduated from Appalachian State University with a degree in social studies and education. In Greensboro, NC, he taught social studies and astronomy at Grimsley High School, from which he retired in 2004. He's long been an advocate and fan of the space program, even to the extent of applying for the Teacher in Space seat on the shuttle Challenger. Dennis helped construct the Cline Observatory at Guilford Technical Community College and presently serves as Chair of the Observatory Advisory Board. He is also a member and past President of the Greensboro Astronomy Club. Dennis also hosts many public nights at Cline Observatory, helping to bring the wonder of the stars to the public. He has been an observer of variable stars for the AAVSO. The spirituality of star watching, astronomy, and space in general, is not lost on Dennis. His favorite authors include Chet Raymo and Carl Sagan. Dennis is completing his third term as President of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greensboro, and he has given several sermon on the "Spirituality of Astronomy." Sharing the thrill of the adventure is part of Dennis' goal. The beauty, the wonder, the mystery of the universe is huge enough for all to enjoy. He wants to use his time at MDRS to share his experiences with others back home. Dennis is planning to measure the position of Mars in the night sky during his deployment, sending the data to students and amateurs.
Dennis Creamer	Dennis Creamer first saw the MDRS at Kennedy Space Center, in Florida, where he helped to show the Hab to visitors. He later assisted in the GreenHab construction at the Hab's present location, and was a member of MDRS Crew 25. He has a BA in Zoology from the University of South Florida, and did graduate study in Oceanography at Florida State. When an employment opportunity with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service occurred, he quickly accepted it, and worked close to thirty years with the Service, mostly in the Division of Ecological Services, before retiring in 1993. His wife, Hildegard, passed away in 1987, after 30 years of marriage. He lives alone in Northwest Florida, and is now halfway through his 73rd trip around the sun.
Ben Huset	Ben Huset Spends much of his efforts giving hands on multimedia presentations to K-12 school groups, home schools, science fiction conventions, including Marscon, Convergence and MiniCon and civic groups on various space topics. Helped staff and then trained and managed staff for space education displays in planetariums, malls, theater lobbies and conventions. Past Director of MN Spaceweek. Helped coordinate display materials, manage display sites and trained and scheduled staffing. Helped staff NASA International Space Station display at MN State fair assisting visitors with hands on computer simulation displays. Created panel displays for Space Shuttle flights and ISS missions for local planetarium lobby and other venues , STS- 26 to current, often with realtime audio and computer world map displays. Staff writer/photographer for L-5 chapter newsletter L-5 Points. Later moved up to editor/publisher of Downrange. Wrote a syndicated monthly news and commentary column on Soviet Space Activity - Mirwatch. Co-authored article for Final Frontier magazine. Became board member, assistant director then executive director of MN Space Frontier Society. Elected regional board member of National Space Society. Campaigned for Presidential Candidate John Glenn. Founding Member of the Mars Society attended many of its conferences including the founding conference. Private pilot and General Class Amateur Radio operator KA0PSQ! Currently living with a wife, two teen-age kids and 5 cats and lots of computers.
Henrik Hargitai	Henrik Hargitai is a Planetary science teacher at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary, specialized in planetary cartography and planetary morphology. He has edited the Central European edition of the series „Maps of Terrestrial Planets and their Moons” (2001-2006). One of his topics is multilingual nomenlcature and terminology in planetary geology and geography. He has produced several astronomy radio shows and editor of the biweekly talkshow "Radio Telescope" running in Fiksz Radio, Budapest. Editor in chief of the educational radio station First University Radio of Pest EPER 97. He is 31 years old, has two children, he is one of the founders of Mars Society Hungary (www.marssociety.hu).
Kathryn Bywaters	Kathryn Bywaters Crew Biochemist, Undergraduate Student and Biochemistry Major/Lab Assistant, Miracosta College, San Diego