Mars misc: Crowd-funded mock Mars mission + Extracting Mars water + Curiosity update

Some misc. Mars items:

A reader points me to this successful crowd-funding campaign to back artist Ian Etters stay at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) and his plan to create a

Manned Mock Mars Mission (M.M.M.M.) that incorporates performance, sculpture, painting, drawing, printmaking, photography and a simulation of living on Mars.

– Manned Mock Mars Mission by Ian Etter — Kickstarter

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Here’s an article about how water might be extracted from the Martian ground: Incredible Technology: How to Mine Water on Mars – Space.com.

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Here’s a recent update on the Curiosity rover on Mars: Curiosity Team Upgrades Software, Checks Wheel Wear – NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Rocky Mars Ground Where Curiosity Has Been DrivingNASA’s Mars rover Curiosity captured this 360-degree view using its
Navigation Camera (Navcam) after a 17-foot (5.3 meter) drive on
477th Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s work on Mars (Dec. 8, 2013).
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS. 
Full image and caption