THE 2022 HUMANS TO MARS SUMMIT
May 17-19, 2022
The George Washington University
Washington D.C.
An avid outdoorsman, polyglot, and pilot-in-training, in 2020 Marcellino joined the international community of analog astronauts as the Crew Documentarian and later, Executive Officer of Crew 238 at the Mars Desert Research Station, in Utah. Delayed by COVID-19, the mission would eventually happen in early 2022, after two years of preparation. With the mission laser-focused on astronauts' mental health, communication protocols, and public narratives on space and Mars-exploration, Marcellino played dual logistical and communications roles, facilitating the crew's testing of experimental technologies by aerospace start-ups Braided Communications (Scotland) and Stardust Technologies (Canada). Over the course of the mission, he published over three dozen media reports focusing particularly on crew functionality, personal rationales, the paradox of personality, and how storytelling and explorer narratives power public support for space exploration. He is currently in post-production of a short film about the experience, entitled "On the Edge of Mars". Since his return to Terra, Marcellino has been actively involved in the organization of four upcoming analog rotations in various stations. He is also slotted to do his first parabolic flight later this year.