Campus Martius Crew
MDRS 120
Mission Statement
Crew 120: “Taking Care of Business”
We have made a long journey to relieve the pioneering crew, (#119) who did a fine job laying the groundwork for a long-term human habitation in an analog station on Mars. We will be trusted with many responsibilities in operating the station, correlating with the simultaneous mission to:
• Use GPS Navigation and maps to return to points of interest
• Collect, identify and chart rock and soil samples
• Conduct well planned EVA’s to explore the uncharted regions of Mars in search of minerals, ancient
water remains, and other signs of living matter.
• Work with the Remote Science Team to conduct individual research projects.
o Commander John Reynolds will be overseeing all crew operations. He will be planning daily crew schedule to ensure stability of the mission, and act as liaison between local agencies, Capcom and MDRS Command. He will be teaching crewmembers how to efficiently operate the Habitat, perform maintenance, and troubleshoot any obstacles as they arise
o Executive Officer Derek Pelland will work to assist Commander Reynolds in organizing and leading crew operations. He will be working with crew engineer to rig gear for maximum field capabilities and effectiveness.
He is also serving as the Crew Journalist, implementing various social media platforms. This will include constant updating of blogs, photos, and video testimonials to document the successes and challenges that the crew will face on Mars.
o Astronomers Diane Turnshek and Nora Swisher will use the 14” telescope in the Musk Observatory to confirm exo-solar planets. They’ll maintain the facility, documenting solutions to problems that may crop up during the season, especially for crews without astronomers on board.
o Physicist Nora Swisher will be serving as the Crew Health & Safety Officer, ensuring safety and instilling precaution with all operations inside the habitat and on EVA’s. She will preserve and uphold the first and fifth priorities of the mission: safety and comfort.
o Crew Engineer Erick Tijerino will be responsible for running the life support systems in the station. This includes maintaining the communications, overseeing the water supply, and monitoring fuel consumption. He will also be taking care of the ATV’s used on EVA’s, making repairs, and building any necessary rigging to support overall scientific research of other crew members’ projects.
o Crew Geologist April Davis is our designated scientist, who will be utilizing the crew resources and EVA experiences to conduct field research. She will be communicating with RST to plan the daily EVA’s. April will be gathering and analyzing mineral and soil samples in an effort to improve efficiency of tool designs for future Mars geologic data collection.
MDRS 120
Mission Statement
Crew 120: “Taking Care of Business”
We have made a long journey to relieve the pioneering crew, (#119) who did a fine job laying the groundwork for a long-term human habitation in an analog station on Mars. We will be trusted with many responsibilities in operating the station, correlating with the simultaneous mission to:
• Use GPS Navigation and maps to return to points of interest
• Collect, identify and chart rock and soil samples
• Conduct well planned EVA’s to explore the uncharted regions of Mars in search of minerals, ancient
water remains, and other signs of living matter.
• Work with the Remote Science Team to conduct individual research projects.
o Commander John Reynolds will be overseeing all crew operations. He will be planning daily crew schedule to ensure stability of the mission, and act as liaison between local agencies, Capcom and MDRS Command. He will be teaching crewmembers how to efficiently operate the Habitat, perform maintenance, and troubleshoot any obstacles as they arise
o Executive Officer Derek Pelland will work to assist Commander Reynolds in organizing and leading crew operations. He will be working with crew engineer to rig gear for maximum field capabilities and effectiveness.
He is also serving as the Crew Journalist, implementing various social media platforms. This will include constant updating of blogs, photos, and video testimonials to document the successes and challenges that the crew will face on Mars.
o Astronomers Diane Turnshek and Nora Swisher will use the 14” telescope in the Musk Observatory to confirm exo-solar planets. They’ll maintain the facility, documenting solutions to problems that may crop up during the season, especially for crews without astronomers on board.
o Physicist Nora Swisher will be serving as the Crew Health & Safety Officer, ensuring safety and instilling precaution with all operations inside the habitat and on EVA’s. She will preserve and uphold the first and fifth priorities of the mission: safety and comfort.
o Crew Engineer Erick Tijerino will be responsible for running the life support systems in the station. This includes maintaining the communications, overseeing the water supply, and monitoring fuel consumption. He will also be taking care of the ATV’s used on EVA’s, making repairs, and building any necessary rigging to support overall scientific research of other crew members’ projects.
o Crew Geologist April Davis is our designated scientist, who will be utilizing the crew resources and EVA experiences to conduct field research. She will be communicating with RST to plan the daily EVA’s. April will be gathering and analyzing mineral and soil samples in an effort to improve efficiency of tool designs for future Mars geologic data collection.
Campus Martius Crew Biographies:
April Davis
April is a student at MiraCosta College, where she works as a program assistant for the
MiraCosta Astronomy Department. At the age of 18 she enlisted in the US Army, spending most
of her enlistment in Mannheim, Germany as a truck driver in the Army’s only active duty bulk
fuel company. She did one tour of duty in Iraq, as part of the invading force attached to the
Third Infantry Division.
After returning home, April worked as an engineering technician at Infineon Technologies,
providing inline quality control for all stages of 200mm/300mm wafer production.
Last summer, April drove from the Atlantic Ocean coastline to the Pacific Ocean coastline, in a
month long camping adventure chasing America’s most interesting and beautiful geology. She is
now pursuing a degree in planetary geology with an emphasis in geophysics, in hopes of one day
applying that education from a habitat on Mars.
Derek Pelland
Derek was motivated to join the MDRS team because of his background as an explorer
and pursuit of scholarship. He is an Eagle Scout and U.S. Marine, familiar and fascinated with
nature. Survival skills, leadership and service are ingrained. After military service, Derek earned
a scholarship and a bachelor’s degree in social sciences at the University of Michigan in Ann
Arbor where he helped launch the national Student Veteran program. (SVA)
He began a career in education as a high school teacher and model UN coach in Metro Detroit.
Derek won a scholarship to pursue a Masters in Education at the University of Southern
California. He began working on a multi university education outreach program that interacts
with local school administrations in California.
He is a currently studying at Pepperdine University’s Graduate School of Education and
Psychology in the Social Entrepreneurship and Change Program. He plans to earn an Ed.D. in
Organizational Leadership. Derek is engaged in a school gardening initiative in Los Angeles, and
an international non-profit outreach in Nepal.
Nora Swisher
Nora is a first-year physics graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. She helps teach an astronomy class for non-scientists and is currently taking
classes and deciding what field of research to pursue for her thesis.
As an undergraduate physics student she did experimental research in granular materials
at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She has spent the last summer doing
computational cosmology research at Carnegie Mellon University. She has been involved with
the Society of Physics Students and high school outreach, and is particularly interested in
decreasing the gender gap in STEM fields and retaining physics and astronomy students of all
genders and backgrounds.
Nora looks forward to participating in MDRS to gain more varied professional experiences,
contribute to space exploration research, and go on an adventure!
Erick Tijerino
Erick currently works as Combustion, Performance and Emissions engineer for Cummins
Inc. His current role involves both thermo-fluid analytical and experimental work in vehicles as
well as in performance and emissions test cells.
He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Universidad del Valle de Guatemala and is
currently enrolled in the Aerospace Engineering Masters Degree program at the University of
Central Florida. He is currently working on acoustically levitated nanofluid droplet evaporation;
he has published the results of his research in journals such as APL and JAP.
Erick has worked as the hardware design lead in the UCF UNESCO Satellite Earth Observing
Payload program. He has designed arterial flow simulating pumps for Nagoya University in Japan
as well as leading the Guatemalan Marine Biology Society underwater ROV design team. His
background includes machining and helicopter maintenance. Erick also served his community in
Guatemala as a volunteer firefighter.
John Reynolds
John Reynolds was born in Seattle, Washington, and has lived within numerous cities in
the US and Japan. After graduating from Washington State University with a BA in Education, he
worked in Isfahan, Iran training Iranian army helicopter pilots during the last days of the Shah’s
regime in the late 1970’s.
From there he began a career as a professional airline pilot and flew with various international
airlines in Africa, the Middle East, Germany, Belgium and for the longest period in the UK. All
long-haul operations were working in various environments with international and local crews
of varying degrees.
His spare time is spent doing DIY, fixing and refurbishing various rental properties as a business,
reading, and doing FOREX as a day trader. When not busy with work, he likes to travel, visiting
family and friends and being involved with The Mars Society. The short story.
Diane Turnshek
Diane is an astronomer and a science fiction author whose short fiction has been published in
Analog Magazine and elsewhere. She teaches astronomy and experimental physics lab in the Physics
Department at Carnegie Mellon University.
She also teaches at the University of Pittsburgh (“The Physics of Science Fiction” as well as astronomy).
She's a contributing author of Many Genres/One Craft, a 2011 award-winning book on writing.
She has taught college writing classes, helped organize science fiction conferences, founded Alpha, the
genre workshop for young writers, and ran the 2007 SFWA Nebula Awards in NYC. Diane has four stellar
sons and an out-of-this-world boyfriend.
April Davis
April is a student at MiraCosta College, where she works as a program assistant for the
MiraCosta Astronomy Department. At the age of 18 she enlisted in the US Army, spending most
of her enlistment in Mannheim, Germany as a truck driver in the Army’s only active duty bulk
fuel company. She did one tour of duty in Iraq, as part of the invading force attached to the
Third Infantry Division.
After returning home, April worked as an engineering technician at Infineon Technologies,
providing inline quality control for all stages of 200mm/300mm wafer production.
Last summer, April drove from the Atlantic Ocean coastline to the Pacific Ocean coastline, in a
month long camping adventure chasing America’s most interesting and beautiful geology. She is
now pursuing a degree in planetary geology with an emphasis in geophysics, in hopes of one day
applying that education from a habitat on Mars.
Derek Pelland
Derek was motivated to join the MDRS team because of his background as an explorer
and pursuit of scholarship. He is an Eagle Scout and U.S. Marine, familiar and fascinated with
nature. Survival skills, leadership and service are ingrained. After military service, Derek earned
a scholarship and a bachelor’s degree in social sciences at the University of Michigan in Ann
Arbor where he helped launch the national Student Veteran program. (SVA)
He began a career in education as a high school teacher and model UN coach in Metro Detroit.
Derek won a scholarship to pursue a Masters in Education at the University of Southern
California. He began working on a multi university education outreach program that interacts
with local school administrations in California.
He is a currently studying at Pepperdine University’s Graduate School of Education and
Psychology in the Social Entrepreneurship and Change Program. He plans to earn an Ed.D. in
Organizational Leadership. Derek is engaged in a school gardening initiative in Los Angeles, and
an international non-profit outreach in Nepal.
Nora Swisher
Nora is a first-year physics graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. She helps teach an astronomy class for non-scientists and is currently taking
classes and deciding what field of research to pursue for her thesis.
As an undergraduate physics student she did experimental research in granular materials
at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She has spent the last summer doing
computational cosmology research at Carnegie Mellon University. She has been involved with
the Society of Physics Students and high school outreach, and is particularly interested in
decreasing the gender gap in STEM fields and retaining physics and astronomy students of all
genders and backgrounds.
Nora looks forward to participating in MDRS to gain more varied professional experiences,
contribute to space exploration research, and go on an adventure!
Erick Tijerino
Erick currently works as Combustion, Performance and Emissions engineer for Cummins
Inc. His current role involves both thermo-fluid analytical and experimental work in vehicles as
well as in performance and emissions test cells.
He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Universidad del Valle de Guatemala and is
currently enrolled in the Aerospace Engineering Masters Degree program at the University of
Central Florida. He is currently working on acoustically levitated nanofluid droplet evaporation;
he has published the results of his research in journals such as APL and JAP.
Erick has worked as the hardware design lead in the UCF UNESCO Satellite Earth Observing
Payload program. He has designed arterial flow simulating pumps for Nagoya University in Japan
as well as leading the Guatemalan Marine Biology Society underwater ROV design team. His
background includes machining and helicopter maintenance. Erick also served his community in
Guatemala as a volunteer firefighter.
John Reynolds
John Reynolds was born in Seattle, Washington, and has lived within numerous cities in
the US and Japan. After graduating from Washington State University with a BA in Education, he
worked in Isfahan, Iran training Iranian army helicopter pilots during the last days of the Shah’s
regime in the late 1970’s.
From there he began a career as a professional airline pilot and flew with various international
airlines in Africa, the Middle East, Germany, Belgium and for the longest period in the UK. All
long-haul operations were working in various environments with international and local crews
of varying degrees.
His spare time is spent doing DIY, fixing and refurbishing various rental properties as a business,
reading, and doing FOREX as a day trader. When not busy with work, he likes to travel, visiting
family and friends and being involved with The Mars Society. The short story.
Diane Turnshek
Diane is an astronomer and a science fiction author whose short fiction has been published in
Analog Magazine and elsewhere. She teaches astronomy and experimental physics lab in the Physics
Department at Carnegie Mellon University.
She also teaches at the University of Pittsburgh (“The Physics of Science Fiction” as well as astronomy).
She's a contributing author of Many Genres/One Craft, a 2011 award-winning book on writing.
She has taught college writing classes, helped organize science fiction conferences, founded Alpha, the
genre workshop for young writers, and ran the 2007 SFWA Nebula Awards in NYC. Diane has four stellar
sons and an out-of-this-world boyfriend.
