Devon Island:
NASA uses Devon Island to study Mars, primarily because it’s barren and its freezing, polar desert conditions allow researchers to test next-generation rovers.
- It is located in the Canadian arctic archipelago, within the zone classified as the High Arctic.
- It is the world’s largest uninhabited island.
- Ellesmere Island lies to the north of Devon Island and Baffin Bay lies to its east.
- Although completely devoid of human settlements, a few species reside on the island.
- Winters are extremely harsh with temperatures being as low as −50 °C.
- The “out-of-the-world-like” landscape here is cold, dry, and rocky. Snow and ice blanket the island’s ice cap for the entire year.
- NASA uses Devon Island to study Mars, primarily because it’s barren, and its freezing, polar desert conditions allow researchers to test next-generation rovers.
- It is home to a 14-mile-wide Haughton Crater. It was formed when a meteorite struck millions of years ago, leaving behind terrain that resembles the surface of Mars.
