The second C-130 landed in Vancouver this afternoon from Long Island, NY. After a resting overnight in Vancouver the Air National Guard will load cargo tomorrow and then around midday head for Resolute Bay.

Posted by Marc Boucher at 6:54 PM

Led by HMP Research Station manager John Schutt, the Mars Institute team arrived at the station yesterday and is busy getting the station ready for researchers expected later this coming week.

Today a C-130 from the the 106th Rescue Wing from the Long Island Air National Guard Rescue Unit is heading to Vancouver, BC. Tomorrow morning the C-130 will load cargo and personnel with a mid-morning departure scheduled headed for Resolute Bay.

UPDATE 6:03 PM CDT: A total of six Twin Otter flights from Resolute to the HMP Research Station in favorable conditions occurred yesterday bringing in all necessary cargo and four people to the station including HMP Research Station manager John Schutt, cook Mike Langenhan, technician and mechanic Jesse Weaver and carpenter Mark Melcon.

Posted by Marc Boucher at 2:24 PM

Yesterday John Schutt, HMP Base Camp Manager and HMP Director Pascal Lee started the initial recon of the HMP Research Station. The station looks to be in good shape although at least one polar bear has visited the station. Damage was minor with a few tears to the mess tent, nothing that can't be fixed in short order.

If the weather cooperates then the plan for today is to get the initial setup team from the Mars Institute brought over by Twin Otter to make the station ready for the field season.

On Monday another another C-130 from the the 106th Rescue Wing from the Long Island Air National Guard Rescue Unit will leave Vancouver for Resolute Bay with more cargo and personnel. And on Tuesday personnel from that flight will head over to the station.

This is the longest field deployment the Haughton-Mars Project has ever conducted with research ongoing until mid-August.

Posted by Marc Boucher at 11:14 AM

Yesterday the 102nd Rescue Squadron, part of the 106th Rescue Wing from the Long Island Air National Guard Rescue Unit, transported cargo and Mars Institute personnel from Vancouver to Resolute Bay in support of the Haughton-Mars Project. This is the first of three logistics flights that 106th Rescue Wing will provide this year.

On Monday, another flight will leave Vancouver destined for Resolute Bay with more cargo and personnel onboard.

Today John Schutt, HMP Base Camp Manager and HMP Director Pascal Lee will fly by Twin Otter from Resolute Bay to the HMP Research Station to evaluate the station after the long arctic winter. If all goes well then the first Mars Institute team will arrive at the station tomorrow to prep it for the field season and the arrival of researchers expected later next week.

• Photo's from yesterday's cargo loading in Vancouver

Posted by Marc Boucher at 11:21 AM

Today an Air National Guard C-130 Hercules is making it's way to Moffett Field at NASA Ames to be loaded with gear destined for the HMP Research Station (HMP-RS) on Devon Island, high arctic.

This will be one of three support flights that the Air National Guard will provide to the HMP this year. After taking on supplies today, the Herc will fly to Vancouver, BC tomorrow to pick up additional gear and passengers for a flight on Thursday to Resolute Bay on Cornwallis Island. Resolute Bay is the staging point for all field deployments for projects in the Canadian high arctic.

Once in Resolute the Herc will unload it's gear and the Mars Institute core team will make preparations to ferry over to the HMP-RS on Devon Island. Optimally the team will deploy to the HMP-RS on Saturday, June 28th if weather conditions permit. In the high arctic and in particular Resolute Bay, weather is always a factor for deployment, whether it's wind, fog or snow.

Posted by Marc Boucher at 12:24 PM

In just over two weeks the first group of Mars Institute staff will make their way to Resolute Bay on Cornwallis Island and then onward to the HMP Research Station located at the edge of the Haughton impact crater on Devon Island for the start of HMP-2008.

Once the research station has been opened up for this years field season over 80 participants from over 15 institutions and two space agencies will make their way to Haughton Crater to conduct an exciting science and exploration research program. This years field season is expected to run through to mid-August, our longest deployment to date and will include the total solar eclipse on August 1st.

This year we plan to keep you even better informed on a daily basis using a variety of online social networking tools including:

• Blogging though this site
• Microblogging updates through our Twitter account
• Image updates on our new Flickr account
• Video updates on our new YouTube channel

As well we're planning webcasts of various events which may include the eclipse itself. Stay tuned for me details on the webcast schedule. And of course when full communications have been setup we'll turn on our live webcams.

Posted by Marc Boucher at 12:07 PM