The Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) Crew 109 has been selected by the Mars Society; this crew will run from Dec 17-Jan 1. Leandro was chosen to be the Chief Engineer and Robotics Specialist. He will responsible for maintaining all systems necessary for routine Habitat operations including power, water, electrical, plumbing, ATV, and Green Habitat systems.

He will also work with the remote engineering team to ensure safe and functional operations of the mission.

More information can be found at the MDRS website.

The patch incorporates the 109 crew number in Roman numerals (CIX) as a gold border for the different areas of the logo.  The C contains an astronaut helmet with a red and blue background being “Mars on Earth”. You can also see the sun and the moon in the background. The light from the sun casts a complete shadow on the face of the astronaut. On the right, the two flags stand for the nationalities of the crew members 4 from US and 2 from Belgium. The four stars on the US flag to indicate the four Americans on the team.