Four Alumni of the Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program Share how the Experience Led to a Once-in-a-Lifetime Mars Simulation
MDRS Crew 245 (Julio Hernandez, Shravan Hariharan, Shayna Hume, Dylan Dickstein, Alex Coultrup, and Olivia Ettlin) on the surface of "Mars" before the simulation began. Now they can only venture beyond the Station while fully protected by their EVA suits.
The Matthew Isakowitz Fellows are currently on Mars! Well, sort of! A team of six young professionals—including four of our Alumni Fellows—are currently on a two-week mission to an analog Mars habitat in a remote area of Utah, called the Mars Desert Research Station.
The Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) is an analog astronaut habitat owned and operated by the Mars Society. An analog astronaut mission is one which aims to mimic human space exploration for the goal of helping future astronauts avoid pitfalls the analog astronauts find along the way. NASA, DLR (The German Space Agency), and other space organizations often run missions like these. The Mars Society, which runs MDRS, is the world’s largest and most influential space advocacy organization dedicated to the human exploration and settlement of the planet Mars. It was founded by Robert Zubrin, and not only conducts Mars analogs in Utah and the Canadian Arctic, but also runs university engineering challenges, advocates for space support in Washington, D.C., and manages extensive STEM outreach worldwide.
2018 Fellow Dylan Dickstein began assembling a team of young leaders and brilliant engineers back in 2019 for an MDRS mission. He drew from his cohort of the Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program, past internships in the aerospace industry, and his alma maters to bring together talented young professionals whose dreams and futures lay among the stars. Their proposal was accepted – and they became Crew 245 of the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS). After much uncertainty in 2020, they finally got the green light in early 2021 and became one of two crews scheduled to visit the Mars analog station this year. On April 10, they arrived in Grand Junction, CO, where they joined the MDRS Director and were transported to the habitat – far away from civilization.
Read on to meet the four MIFP Alumni Fellows on Crew 245 and learn about the impact of the Fellowship on their journeys:
Dylan Dickstein, Mission Commander (MIFP ‘18): “Space is just a vacuum without a community to share it. The Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program fills this void in spectacular fashion by bringing together a diverse slice of America with a niche mutual goal: get humanity off the ground! I am proud to be part of this network and our astronaut analog team is just one example of how this growing family can make the vacuum of space feel full.”
Shayna Hume, Executive Officer (MIFP ‘18): “I knew I wanted to make a difference in this universe, but it took me a long time to realize that the space industry had room for me. When I found the vibrance of commercial space and the support of communities like the Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program who believed in my mission for ethical exploration and setting the foundation for future settlement, I knew I had found my mission.”
Shravan Hariharan, Crew Engineer (MIFP ‘19): “I have wanted to be an astronaut my entire life, but only after meeting my incredible Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program peers did I find a community that would take that sentiment seriously, and provide encouragement every step of the way. Now, with three other fellows on this mission, and dozens of others providing support, we are looking to prove Carl Sagan right through our journey to ‘Mars’: ‘somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.’”
Alex Coultrup, Health & Safety Officer and Media Officer (MIFP ‘20): “What I enjoy most about being a Matthew Isakowitz Fellow is the true sense of camaraderie among us in the fellowship cohort. It’s important to have a strong peer group of people from different academic backgrounds that you can get excited about space with, and I’m so glad to be on an MIFP-dense analog crew! The Isakowitz family cares so much about nurturing our growth in commercial space, and I feel honored to join in sharing Matthew’s memory with others.”
These four MIFP Alumni are also joined by Crew Scientist Olivia Ettlin and Botany Officer Julio Hernandez. For updates on their exciting mission, make sure to follow @RedPlanetPeople on Instagram and check out Shayna’s blog. You can also contact the crew for daily mission updates by emailing redplanetpeople@gmail.com.