Space Analog for the Moon and Mars

The Space Analog for the Moon & Mars (SAM) is a hermetically sealed and pressurized terrestrial analog site. This hi-fidelity research vessel is located at the University of Arizona Biosphere 2 research campus at the base of Santa Catalina Mountains near Oracle, Arizona, USA. Following two and a half years in construction led by Director of Research and principal designer Kai Staats, in April 2023 SAM joined the list of over a dozen active analog stations that enable human analog missions, field tests to “validate architecture concepts, demonstrate technologies” and “test robotics, vehicles, habitats, communication systems, in situ resource utilization (ISRU) and human performance as it relates to human space exploration”. Supported by an international team of specialists with the University of Arizona, NASA, the National Geographic Society, and commercial partners, the core foci of SAM are scientific research objectives related to human space exploration, long-duration other-world habitation, and sustainability of Earth systems and human quality of life. In 2025, SAM will participate in The World's Biggest Analog (WBA), “an international collaboration of researchers, scientists, educators and entrepreneurs working to unite the world’s analogs through a unique and historical mission”.

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