project boreas was named for the greek god of the north wind. concepts for polar bases had been discussed in earlier papers the station was designed with the assumption that it would be occupied by 10 people. although the station could be constructed at any time, the study used a timeframe of 2037 to 2042 to provide a backdrop for the design. it is likely that in the coming decades robots will explore the martian polar caps, which were first observed by italian astronomer, giovanni cassini in 1666. project boreas considered long-term human polar exploration on mars.