MDRS Crew 80
March 28, 2009 - April 10, 2009
Daily Crew Reports

Name	Speciality
Maria Catalina	Commander / Astrobiologist
David Laude	Executive Officer / Engineer
Jonathan Lee	Health and Safety Officer / Astronomer
Kerry Klein	Mission Specialist / Geology
Donna Viola	Crew Scientist / Biology, Geology
Katya Muscat	Journalist / GreenHab Specialist

Maria Catalina	Maria Catalina became a space enthusiast during junior high school when the Eagle landed on the Moon in 1969. Dreams of making medicine on the Moon, from plants used by the Mescalero Apache (her maternal ancestors), faded when her Home Economics teacher laughed at her for such an idea. Mrs. Sew and Sew said, "The closest you will ever get to chemistry is to make a good jar of jam...and the closest you will ever get to NASA is to wish upon a star." Maria wished upon the center star in the Belt of Orion, but that did not keep her in school after 10th grade, nor did it sustain the Moon program. It would be two decades before she entered the University of California in 1994. As a sophomore, Maria won the NASA Specialized Center of Research Training in Exobiology Fellowship. Her undergraduate research involving the origin of DNA received one of six awards in the 2000 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) graduate student competition. Earning a BA in Bionomy (biogeochemistry of astrobiology) with high honors, she deferred an invitation to the first NASA Astrobiology Institute PhD program with a Sloan Fellowship. Her sons were in high school so to maintain their schedule, to be sure they graduated, she opted for a middle school math and science teaching credential. Her eldest is now an Aero Space Engineering senior, one is studying Mechanical Engineering, and the youngest has started college. Maria is now a middle school teacher of math and science, was nominated for NASA Educator Astronaut in 2003, published "Native American Science" in a McGraw Hill encyclopedia, won the AAAS Best Science Lesson award, is a Honeywell Educator Scholar, an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship finalist, and took the Northrop Grumman Weightless Flight of Discovery. She is also a JPL NASA Solar System Ambassador and on the Board of Directors for the National Space Society San Diego Chapter. Founder of Global Unified Earth System Studies (GUESS), a research and development endeavor advocating "Education for the Space Generation," Maria uses math and science education as a tool of socialization for middle school students through the Space Port Academy, and provides professional development through The Astronaut Teacher Alliance.
David Laude	David Laude was present for the memorable and impressive launches of Apollo 11, the first Space Shuttle and several Shuttle night launches. He also met several lunar astronauts and like many others, dreamed about space exploration and being a crewmember on the first human journey to Mars. David began a lifelong passion for electronics and space technology in elementary school. By the end of middle school he competed in four science fairs, taking 1st Place in three and 3rd Place in one. As a teenager he repaired radios and TVs, and experimented for hours with model rockets powered by homemade compounds. He designed and built a model that extended wings after engine cutoff and glided to a landing. He also designed and constructed his own measurement equipment, which then became an appreciable asset to his formal training. After decades, the equipment is still highly reliable. With a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Engineering in Electrical Engineering, David designed integrated circuits for Harris Semiconductor (now Intersil), Ford Aerospace, Ford Motor Company and Linear Technology Corporation. Recognized for on schedule designs of high performance integrated circuits with an uncanny record of requiring no redesign, he holds five patents, authored technical papers, and presented at conferences. David is a lifelong learner and enjoys working with talented people. He also has formal training in Anthropology and Archaeology. He is a member of The Planetary Society and a founding member of The Mars Society. Hobbies include radio controlled airplanes, electronics, musical instrument synthesizers, and antique radio restoration. David enjoys adventure, hiking, backpacking, snow skiing, kayaking, and traveling. Utah, with its stark beauty and remote areas, is one of his favorite states.
Jonathan Lee	Jonathan Lee woke up with his parents to watch the first astronauts walk on the moon in 1969, and has since then, maintained a sincere interest in the space program. Living in Florida gave him the opportunity to spend many hours at Cape Kennedy either touring the Space Center or watching launches and landings of the Space Shuttles. Jonathan advocates for the exploration of space as global priority, including the manned exploration of Mars. An avid amateur astronomer, Jonathan began observing the heavens when he got his first telescope for Christmas in 1974. Astronomy is now his main hobby and he uses his 2 telescopes for star gazing from his back yard. As the Crew 80 Astronomer, he will use the Musk Observatory at the Mars Desert Research Station for his project that involves taking data for a morphological study of the comet "Lulin" as a function of the mean distance from the sun. Jonathan graduated from the University of Connecticut in 1988 with a degree in Pharmacy and has worked professionally as a pharmacist in Florida, Connecticut and is currently a hospital pharmacist in Lebanon, New Hampshire, making him a natural choice for the position of Crew 80 Health Science Officer. Hobbies include astronomy, cooking, camping and hiking. He is a member of the Mars Society, National Space Society, and New Hampshire Astronomical Society.
Kerry Klein	Kerry Klein is a geologist by trade, an avid traveler by obsession, and a perpetual wanderer. One of the biggest draws of geology is its close relationship with traveling and the outdoors, and running around in Utah (or Mars) in a space suit is at the pinnacle of the many cool experiences that geology can lead to. Kerry's recent efforts have been focused on mineral exploration, and years of summer jobs and internships have led Kerry to employment in southern Mexico, Western Australia, and the Canadian Arctic, where she has worked as an exploration geologist for iron ore, uranium, and base metals such as zinc and copper. Outside of mineral deposits, Kerry's practical experiences in geology have also dealt with mapping, structural geology, sedimentary basins, and energy and resource management, but a general love of science and learning is what really keeps her going. One of her more recent interests is resource depletion and the global energy market, and she hopes to someday be involved in the development of renewable and sustainable energy resources. When the opportunity came up to apply for an MDRS crew, Kerry jumped at the opportunity to learn hands-on about Mars and the science of space. A first-timer at MDRS, Kerry is excited to apply her skills to the new frontier in space exploration. Armed only with a knowledge of Earthly tectonics and a compass, she will structurally analyze features analogue to those observed on the surface of Mars in order to shed light on the tectonics processes that have led to their formation. All in a space suit. It should be an exciting two weeks!
Donna Viola	Donna Viola has wanted to see the world - from outer space - ever since she saw a shuttle launch from the Kennedy Space Center. She hopes to earn a PhD in astrobiology and conduct research relating to the search for life on Mars, and to someday be a part of future manned - or, rather, peopled - missions to Mars. In between studying and dreaming of Mars, Donna enjoys reading, playing on the UMBC Women's Rugby Team, and climbing trees. She is also a bit of an entomology enthusiast, and worked as in intern in the entomology department of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History during the summer of 2008. She is a proud science geek through and through, and is looking forward to spending two weeks at the Mars Desert Research Station. Donna is currently a sophomore and Meyerhoff Scholar at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She has designed her own major in Astrobiology through the university's Interdisciplinary Studies department with the help of several academic advisors, and plans on taking courses from several departments, including chemistry, biology, and geography and environmental systems. She has been interested in science ever since joining her high school Science Olympiad team, and has to varying degrees aspired to be a chemist, a marine biologist, an astrophysicist, an entomologist, and a geologist before finally deciding that she wanted to be an astrobiologist. She had become fascinated by space science and exploration, in part due to an avid love of science fiction. In fact, Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles contributed to Donna's particular interest in Mars.
Katya Muscat	Katya Muscat's passion for Mars has taken her in various directions through which she discovered her true calling: space exploration. A double major in Aerospace Engineering and Physics at the Metropolitan State College of Denver, Katya's ultimate goal is to devote her career to further advance the exploration of Mars. Katya became interested in Mars since the very first FMARS mission when she was volunteering with Mission Support and Mars suit construction and testing. In 2001, she received Mars Society's Golden Needle Award for "Most willing to do anything for Mars." In August 2003, she was featured on the front page of the Denver Post as part of the article on the youth in Mars exploration. Involvement with the Mars Society in the early stages of the simulated Mars missions has shaped her professional and personal choices and goals to this day. For her internship with Lockheed Martin, Katya led a group of students to design a proposal for a mission to Mars, which revolved around sending aircraft to explore the Martian atmosphere, specifically searching for the sources of methane. A few months later, a mission with the same principles was developed by NASA. Katya's position as the crew's journalist will benefit from her experience as the editor of her college's aviation newsletter, the Metro Flyer. She also loves nature and plant life, and is excited about working as the GreenHab Mission Specialist at MDRS. In addition to those roles, she will conduct research on the germination and growth rates of Cinnamon Basil seeds exposed to the space environment on Shuttle Mission STS 118. Besides Mars, Katya's interests include mountain hiking, snowboarding, caving, swimming, flying, programming and website development, baseball and rugby, traveling, photography and painting, languages, and teaching. She is also a licensed pilot and plans to fly commercially alongside an engineering and astronautics career.

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