Iceland Has Its Sights Set On Mars

In September, Iceland took one giant leap closer to becoming an active partner in future Moon and Mars landings — so why is nobody talking about it?

A cold wind sweeps across the plain, gently teasing fine grains of volcanic sand and sodium from the riverbank. This landscape, carved by glacial flows millions of years ago, is stark, alien. But this isn’t Mars, nor the Moon.

For decades, visitors have travelled to Iceland to marvel at its unique geography, to bask in the warmth of its geothermal vents and to experience its seemingly alien geologies — and it’s not just tourists. For some time, this island has also drawn a very different kind of explorer: those plotting a course much farther off the beaten path than Landmannalaugar..

Use of Iceland as a base for space research and training is nothing new. As early as 1965, NASA was sending astronauts here in preparation for the Moon landings. But last month, an event took place that could change Iceland’s role in the space race forever.

During the first week of September, 50 representatives from 15 space agencies — including NASA and the ESA — gathered in Reykjavík for the annual summit of the International Mars Exploration Working Group (IMEWG) to share findings, coordinate research and plot a way forward for future Martian expeditions.

Formed in 1993, the IMEWG has been meeting regularly to coordinate research and exploration of Mars. The fact that Iceland hosted its annual face-to-face just two years after becoming a participating member of IMEWG is impressive enough. Beyond that, it marks a major shift from Iceland being merely a supporter of space research, to an active participant in the race to return to the Moon and to eventually land humans on Mars.

Despite being arguably the most significant and consequential space-related meeting in the country’s history — it was even opened with a keynote speech from Icelandic President Halla Tómasdóttir — the summit was met with almost no domestic fanfare.

Mývatn or Mars?

“We are working hard to sing the song of space exploration, so that Icelanders better understand our own value and how we can contribute in a meaningful ways to space science and innovation, but it has not always been easy to have that song heard,” says Daniel Leeb, CEO and cofounder of the Iceland Space Agency (ISA) — the Icelandic government’s official representative organisation within the IMEWG and one of the cohosts of the summit. “Everyone outside of Iceland understands the significance of the country for space research. But not everyone seems to appreciate the opportunities that are now at our doorstep.”

We have proven ourselves when it comes to geothermal energy and gender equality, so why not in space?

Initially founded by Daniel and his colleague Gunnar Guðjónsson in 2018, the ISA has quickly grown into a core part of the country’s burgeoning space science ecosystem. It is primarily a facilitator of Iceland-based research initiatives, providing operational and logistics support to foreign scientists, space agencies, academics and private companies working across the country. Although a privately organised initiative, the ISA is in continual dialogue with the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, as well as a partner of Háskóli Íslands in developing space research and innovation initiatives.

So far, the ISA and its partners have helped conduct a number of significant missions in Iceland. Its first expedition took place in 2019 and it has since supported a huge range of field research efforts.

Most recently, this includes the NASA Habitable Worlds-funded ‘HABMARS’ research project which took place in June, where Principal Investigator Dr. Roy Price examined and sampled hydrothermal vents in Iceland to better understand how life could have existed on Mars 3.5 billion years ago; as well as site visits for a long term space medicine programme in development between the ISA and doctors from Colorado University affiliated with NASA’s Exploration Medical Capabilities element.

Additionally, the ISA is also supporting the Mars Sample Return project with long term collaborator Dr. Mike Thorpe of NASA Goddard, which hopes to inform the ESA / NASA mission to bring Martian soil samples back to Earth for analysis in the next decade. On top of all that, the ISA eventually hopes to establish a permanent space research hub in Iceland which will provide the infrastructure necessary to grow these efforts over the coming years, supporting collaboration between Icelandic academia and international researchers.

That begins with catching the attention and interest of foreign space agencies. Fortunately the work of the ISA and its partners around the IMEWG summit has immediately borne fruit in this regard, following a successful Martian analogue field trip with the 15 different space agencies during the summit. Dr Claire Parfitt, who leads Mars exploration research efforts at the European Space Agency and chairs the IMEWG, says that this trip was “invaluable.”

“A day was spent visiting field sites that could be representative of Mars exploration sites, including glaciers, lava tubes and volcanic terrain,” she says. “Iceland has a unique and dramatic landscape that reflects those of Mars and it was a great pleasure to be able to spend the day visiting these beautiful and important research sites.

“From a mission design perspective, the opportunity to see inside of a real lava tube was invaluable and having access to such sites certainly will help us to envisage similar terrains on Mars more easily.”

Challenging environments

With intense wind and weather that can change at any time, Iceland may never be a practical location for rocket launches or commercial spaceports. Instead, what drives scientific interest in Iceland from a research point of view is the same thing that makes it such a fascinating place for tourists: the land itself.

“Iceland possesses a more diverse set of terrestrial analogues of the Moon, Mars, Venus and other icy worlds — and in closer proximity to one another — than anywhere else on Earth,” Daniel explains. “We have terrain here — geochemistry, geology, geomorphology — that does not exist in such abundance and diversity anywhere else. When we took the IMEWG delegates to some of these locations, they were blown away by the possibilities both in terms of planetary research and from a technology development and testing perspective.”

From a mission design perspective, the opportunity to see inside of a real lava tube was invaluable and having access to such sites certainly will help us to envisage similar terrains on Mars more easily.

For example, engineers may need one kind of environment if they’re developing a rover, an instrument, or a habitat, but on the other hand, astrobiologists may be looking for very specific locations that have similar geochemistry or energy sources that can inform habitability on Mars. Other countries might only have a couple of locations suited to these purposes; with a mix of volcanic plains, glaciers and geothermal vents within reach, Iceland has these in spades.

Once a research team has a site in mind, the ISA helps them find the right location. Often, these are some of the most remote places in Iceland — places that have barely been visited by Icelanders, let alone tourists. It’s then up to the ISA’s chief field officer, Gunnar, to help get research teams to these locations.

As a glacier guide, Gunnar is used to working in some of the most challenging environments that Iceland has to offer. But, he says, these research trips are some of “the craziest jobs of all.” For the first ISA expedition back in 2019 to test the MS1 Mars Spacesuit simulator, Gunnar led the team to possibly one of the most remote and fascinating areas in Iceland, Grimsvötn volcano.

Located in the heart of Vatnajökull, Grimsvötn is not only Iceland’s most active volcano; it’s also the first place on Earth where life was found in a subglacial lake. This fact makes Grimsvötn an especially important location for future ISA research projects that could inform missions to explore icy worlds such as Jupiter’s moon, Europa. And, when researchers from NASA collaborated with the ISA on the DIGMARS project, Gunnar took scientists to Sandvatn lake in the Highlands, which acted as an analogue for studying groundwater processes in Mars’ Jezero Crater.

As well as providing practical logistical support, the ISA then also plays an active role as a participant in the research being conducted, as evidenced by Dr. Mike Thorpe’s DIGMARS research publications which cite both Daniel and Gunnar as coauthors.

Making the most of it

Given the challenges of navigating to remote, hostile environments, it is no coincidence that the expertise of Icelandic glacier guides and mountaineers aligns so closely with the needs of astronauts and field researchers.

But the way that Icelanders in general have adapted to living on a rock in the middle of the North Atlantic means Iceland also has some remarkable competencies when it comes to survival in these environments.

One of the key requirements for any future settlement on the Moon or Mars is something called in-situ resource utilisation (ISRU); in other words, using what’s around you to survive. It’s the key to sustaining life and research operations in extremely hostile environments. It’s also something Icelanders have been doing for generations — whether through harnessing geothermal and hydroelectric power, or using the volcanic rocks for concrete. With any Martian or lunar colonies facing the need to source the vast majority of their own energy and building materials, this is an absolutely critical part of humanity’s interplanetary journey.

“If you want to mitigate risk to your billion dollar space programme, you have got to test the technology and develop it in high-fidelity environments — and that is what Iceland has in spades,” says Daniel. “That, in a nutshell, is Iceland and our space programme; that is where we need to invest our time and that’s why 15 of the leading space agencies came to Iceland.”

So with all of this in mind, why is nobody talking about this? There were almost no news stories about the summit and much of the interest in Iceland as a player in space exploration is international, rather than domestic.

“I think the potential for space research in Iceland is really big, but we haven’t yet been met with a lot of understanding from within Iceland itself,” says Gunnar. “There is so much tradition around the fishing industry and tourism is the biggest industry. In my opinion, politics is politics and it tends to follow the money. But I truly believe this is going to be a huge economic driver.”

Maybe it’s the current small size of the space sector, or perhaps there is just general disbelief that a country as small as Iceland could contribute anything great to such a cosmic, species-defining mission as humanity reaching Mars.

Everyone outside of Iceland understands the significance of Iceland for space research. But here, not everyone does.

This is something that the President touched upon in her opening address to the IMEWG. “Some [may] question the role of our small nation when it comes to the grand mission you have come together to ferment. I do not,” she told the summit. “It is my humble view that Iceland can and has punched above its size and weight when it comes to solving challenges. Indeed, I believe our purpose here in Iceland is to be the land of solutions. We have proven to be so when it comes to geothermal energy and gender equality, so why not in space?”

For future generations

Last month’s IMEWG meeting of course marks a significant milestone in Iceland’s developing space sector and with the country’s signing of the Artemis Accords in 2023, Iceland is headed for the stars. Signing the Accords allow Iceland to formally participate in the Artemis program; an international effort to return humans — including the first woman — to the Moon by the end of the decade and lay the groundwork for future exploration of Mars. This opens up new opportunities for Iceland to collaborate with other space agencies and even possibilities for future Icelandic astronauts.

But something critical is still missing for the next steps of this journey: infrastructure and investment.

“Right now, people are coming here for research. But they’re not staying,” says Daniel. “I want to see the government empowered to put more energy and resources into the space sector. There’s an enormous opportunity here for Iceland and with this meeting, we’ve been able to demonstrate that we’re charting a path forward for future generations here. We now need to create the infrastructure for Iceland to truly be an international partner in space exploration.”

Follow along with  Iceland Space Agency’s initiatives and progress by visiting icelandspaceagency.is.