Explore a full-fidelity virtual reality simulation of the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) campus, modeled after the real-life facility in southern Utah run by the Mars Society. This early access education sim lets anyone tour the station's exterior and surrounding environment, offering access that researchers and astronauts-in-training typically face long waitlists for. Built since 2018 as a digital twin, it highlights analog science, technology, and procedures tied to human Mars exploration.
The pre-release version centers on outdoor spaces, with interior exploration and optional training scenarios planned for the full release soon. Crew members will practice real-life Mars analog simulations in these future updates. Space enthusiasts and aspiring explorers gain a direct look at habitat operations and Mars mission prep.
The Mars Society, the world's largest nonprofit organization dedicated to the human exploration of Mars, operates the Mars Virtual Reality (MarsVR) program to create engineering-grade virtual reality simulations of future human Mars exploration. The MarsVR team has been working since 2018 on a digital twin of the real-life Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) facility located in southern Utah. As the world’s largest and longest-running analog facility, MDRS has been in operation since 2001, with 235 crews and over 1,500 individual crew members having stayed at the MDRS during the two decades since its establishment.
MarsVR is a full-fidelity simulation of the MDRS (Mars Desert Research Station) campus, including the station’s exterior and interior spaces. In the real world, only researchers and astronauts-in-training are able to visit the MDRS, and the wait list can be over a year. Consequently, the Mars Society has built this first Steam release to allow everyone the chance to tour the MDRS and better understand analog science, technology, and procedures. While this version is a pre-release taster focused mainly on the environment and building exteriors, the final version (expected to be released within a few months) will include the ability to explore the interior spaces, and conduct optional training scenarios where crew members learn to conduct a Mars analog simulation in real life. Our end goal is to give everyone a taste of what it will take to visit, build a habitat, and thrive on Mars.
