The Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS) is the first of two simulated Mars habitats (or Mars Analog Research Stations) established and maintained by the Mars Society.The station is located on Devon Island, a Mars analog environment and polar desert, approximately 165 kilometres (103 mi) north east of the hamlet of Resolute in Nunavut, Canada. The station is situated on Haynes Ridge, overlooking the Haughton impact crater, a 23 kilometres (14 mi) diameter crater formed approximately 39 million years ago.
FMARS is operated by Mars Society researchers and is made available to NASA and selected scientists, engineers and other professionals from a variety of institutions worldwide to support science investigations and exploration research at the Mars analog site.
As an operational testbed, the station serves as a central element in support of parallel studies of the technologies, strategies, architectural design, and human factors involved in human missions to Mars. The facility also brings to the field compact laboratories in which in-depth data analysis can begin before scientists leave the field site and return to their home institutions.
The station helps develop the capabilities needed on Mars to allow productive field research during the long months of a human sojourn. The facility will evolve through time to achieve increasing levels of realism and fidelity with the ultimate goal of supporting the actual training of Mars-bound astronauts.