mars, and the dream of human exploration, rovers like nasa s perseverance and its ingenuity helicopter have offered a new insight into the red banner s surface, reigniting our fascination but there is another mission under way, a little closer to home that may also prove bushel or getting humans to mars and beyond, as tanya dent rios reports. bounding on the red planet, a captivating dream that has long mesmerised us, but this is not mars. this is the israeli desert. we have researchers from 25 nations gathering here to simulate the first human mission on mars, so we have a carefully selected crew of six astronauts from various countries, who are mimicking our first steps of society on the red planet. for the next month, the ramon crater, selected for its unique geological features, will be centre stage for research into human mars missions.