It’s an experience that can be “overwhelming” for some, but you can miss Earth even without ever leaving it.
It’s day 25. You wake up in your cabin in a snow-covered Martian landscape, far from civilization. Outside, the temperature is -30 degrees Celsius. After meditating and eating a breakfast of freeze-dried muffins, you and your crew of six don space suits over thermals and head out on a sandstorm mission.
This is not a fever dream. It’s a month-long survival challenge deep in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert designed to simulate life on Mars – for tourists.
The project, called MARS-V Project, is being developed by MARS-V, a non-governmental organization based in the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar. They are working to build a fully equipped Mars analogue station in the Gobi in order to prepare for the human journey to the red planet – and hope to welcome the first tourists to the simulated Mars camp by 2029.
MARS-V crew tests analog space suit prototypes (MARS-V)
Why Mongolia?
No other place on Earth mimics the geography and climate of Mars as closely as the Gobi in Mongolia. An arid and barren landscape, with extreme temperature variations, ranging between 45 and -40 degrees Celsius. The iron oxide-tinged soil has a reddish hue, making it eerily similar to Mars.
This combination of isolation, altitude and temperature is what makes the site so scientifically valuable as a training ground for scientists and astronauts – and as a testing site for equipment and rovers.
For MARS-V, there is also another potential offer: tourism.
“Their goal is to survive in a very, very isolated environment,” says Enkhtuvshin Doyodkhuu, executive director of MARS-V. “They have to have this simulation mentality that they are on another planet: they have to feel that if they don’t follow the protocol, they will die.”
Survive the simulation
Each participant will have to pass physical, psychological and mental agility tests and then undergo a three-month virtual astronaut training program on everything from oxygen protocol to isolation psychology.
When you arrive in Mongolia, it’s three days of face-to-face exercises in Ulaanbaatar with your new teammates, before handing over your cell phone and beginning the ten-hour journey over a bumpy road to the location, heading away from civilization through expanses of pale red dust.
A digital representation of one of the MARS-V habitat concepts (MARS-V)
“It’s surreal,” says Doyodkhuu. “This feeling of vastness, of endless empty space – the Gobi really gives you that ‘Mad Max’ feeling – it’s beautiful if you think about it, but it can be overwhelming for some.”
Your home for this month? The “habitats” of Mars – modular capsules interconnected with living quarters, a laboratory and a greenhouse. Each day starts with the same rigorous daily regimen that real astronauts might face: vitamins, meditation, exercise, breakfast and a team meeting for the next day.
“Meditation has to be an important part of the program”, emphasizes Doyodkhuu. “One very risky thing when it comes to Mars pioneers is that we don’t really know what’s going to happen to their psychology, because no other people have been away from Earth for that long.”
Doyodkhuu says simulating Mars for tourists could have a similar psychological effect.
“They will have a kind of claustrophobia, they will miss Earth.”
A MARS-V crew scientist observes the outer terrain (MARS-V)
The days at the Mars-V camp are full of challenges and tasks: for example, the crew can take the rover to do geological mapping or collect soil samples. Communication with “Earth” (the support team for the Mars-V mission) is done with a timed delay to imitate the interplanetary delay. The simulations take place between October and March, in brutal winter conditions, when the Gobi freezes over.
“Minus 27 degrees Celsius would be a hot day”, laughs the executive director. Crews wear thermal undershirts, coveralls and analog space suits when working outside.
To make the situation as realistic as possible, the Mars-V team hides all external support.
“Compared to an Arctic expedition, this is controlled,” says Doyodkhuu. “If there was any real chance of death, we would stop the simulation.”
Meals will include freeze-dried Mongolian dishes — like rehydrated dumplings or lamb stews — designed to mimic astronaut rations while honoring local culture.
Rehydrated beef and fries, with fresh vegetables from the on-site greenhouse (MARS-V)
Freeze-Dried Food Month Will Include Rehydrated Fried Beef and Vegetables (MARS-V)
There is even a design echo between the Mongolian nomadic ger – the traditional felt tent sometimes referred to as yurts – and the Martian dome prototypes being developed by the MARS-V engineering team.
“We have thousands of years of history living in isolated places, with very limited resources”, explains Doyodkhuu. “We’re just taking this idea to another planet.”
Part of the story
The idea of testing planetary life on Earth is not new. NASA and ESA have long used similar sites for experiments and training.
But MARS-V’s plan to merge scientific research with tourism comes at a crucial time: private space travel is finally becoming fashionable. SpaceX and Blue Origin are attracting celebrities like Katy Perry, Tom Hanks and Kim Kardashian to a new era of luxury space tourism.
The botanist responsible for the health and safety of the MARS-V crew taking notes in a greenhouse in the Mars habitat (MARS-V)
But for those who can’t afford a $28 million ticket to Space, Mongolia’s MARS-V camp will offer a more affordable way to experience that cosmic allure at a fraction of the cost, which is expected to be around €5,100 per person for a month at the camp, and pre-camp training and assessment.
It’s Mars tourism, without the cost of launch — or the suffocating risk of decompression.
Digital representation of a habitat concept for the MARS-V Project, with transparent capsules (MARS-V)
A digital representation of a habitat concept for the MARS-V project, which is still under development (MARS-V)
The MARS-V analogue station is in the early phase of development, with designs for habitat, space suits and food completed. Doyodkhuu says the habitats are expected to be ready and open to the public in the next two to three years.
For those attracted to the idea of other planets, MARS-V promises a glimpse of a Martian future.
“We have a lot of time to think outside,” says Doyodkhuu. “Being in this otherworldly place for a month trying to survive with five other people gives us a renewed perspective on life.”
“If we believe that humans will become a multi-planetary species in the future, being part of this story, going to a similar astronaut training center and challenging ourselves, will leave a big impact on people.”
The soil of the Gobi Desert is rich in iron oxide, which gives it a reddish hue similar to that of the Martian landscape (MARS-V)
For the right traveler – be they a thrill-seeker, an explorer or a space enthusiast – it can be the ultimate vacation. But if the idea of freezing isolation and bunk beds sounds more like punishment than adventure, Mongolia’s Gobi already offers glimpses of the other world in a much more comfortable environment.
During the summer, at Gobi’s luxurious Three Camel Lodge, travelers can swap thermal pants for a spa towel and freeze-dried stews for a wide selection of whiskey. However, you need to prepare your seat belt for the journey as it takes seven to eight hours to reach the accommodation from Ulaanbaatar. After all, this is one of the most remote places on Earth – and perhaps the closest you can get to Mars without leaving the planet.
