Analogue sites for Mars missions: NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory and beyond – Overview of an international workshop held at The Woodlands, Texas, on March 5–6, 2011

Recent research results from analogue sites, with a strong focus on astrobiology-related investigations, are presented in this special issue on ‘Analogue sites for Mars missions’. In addition, this article describes workshop discussions and a resulting improved framework for reporting, evaluating, and comparing analogue sites. Developed through consideration of a broad range of sites, including many of those described in this special issue, this framework comprises an analogue site abstract, a rubric for the scientific evaluation of analogue sites, and a rubric for logistical information. An overview of the Mars Analogues Workshop is provided, and the rubrics are presented for further discussion.