It's been amazing, and no amount of words can truly describe the tremendous experience. It's been fantastic overall and though there were struggles, they were not without their rewards. I experienced life in the Arctic Circle on Devon Island with the Haughton-Mars Project in the attempt to mirror life on Mars, experienced what it means to work side by side and learn from top engineers and scientists in their respective fields, and experienced personal development that has allowed me set a greater focus on my academic and career goals; all in the attempt to establish something that will further Astronomy and her interests around the world: The SMART Project.
The SMART project goals of this field season consisted primarily of observational site evaluations. I scouted five sights of interest, though to be brief; Resolute Bay seems to be the ideal site for a remote telescope considering the necessity of human intervention if functional issues arise during its’ operation, its’ relative isolation for light pollution purposes, an intact power grid for operational purposes, and community interactions that will foster a great relationship with the partners and the Resolute Bay Inuit community. Ongoing discussions with the community will be needed before we make the absolute claim, but a visit to leaders of the Resolute Bay community endowed us with a sense of success and allowed us to leave Resolute Bay the next morning with quite a feeling of accomplishment. We still have much work to do!
Here are some last day pictures.
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| Inukshuk overlooking the Haughton Impact Crater |
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| The Haughton Impact Crater behind me |
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| Just before we head off |
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