WESTHAMPTON BEACH, NY The 106the Rescue Wing will support NASA’s Haughton-Mars Project Research Station located in the Canadian high arctic by flying in research equipment, personnel and supplies next week.

WHAT: Opportunity to interview Colonel Kevin Reilly,106th Rescue Wing, Operations Group Commander and personnel involved in missions supporting NASA’s Haughton-Mars Project.

WHO: Military personnel and C-130 aircraft from the 102nd Rescue Squadron, 106th Rescue Wing, New York Air National Guard.

WHEN: 1:30 p.m., Friday, June 27, 2008

WHERE: 106th Rescue Wing, 150 Old Riverhead Road, Francis S. Gabreski Airport, Westhampton Beach, NY 11978

BACKGROUND: Aircraft and personnel will launch their second of three missions on June 28th for NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California at which time they will provide transportation for scientists and researchers from various universities and agencies and cargo destined for Resolute Bay on Cornwallis Island. Resolute Bay is a weather station and military airfield designated as the staging point for all field deployments for projects in the Canadian high arctic. The 102nd Rescue Squadron, part of the 106th Rescue Wing will be transporting in excess of 45,500 pounds of cargo and 28 passengers between Resolute Bay, Moffett Federal Airfield, Calif. and Vancouver International Airport, British Columbia.

Mars Institute staff will travel through Resolute Bay on Cornwallis Island onward to the Haughton-Mars Project Research Station located at the edge of the Haughton impact crater on Devon Island for the start of HMP-2008. Once the research station is opened, over 80 participants from over 15 institutions and two space agencies will make their way to Haughton Crater to conduct science and exploration research.

The Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) is an international interdisciplinary field research project centered on the scientific study of the Haughton impact structure and surrounding terrain, viewed as a terrestrial analog for the Mars.

For more information contact: Col. Kevin F. Reilly (631) 723-7403