Idea - Infiltration

Echus_Chasma · 2003-01-03 02:02:51

I was talking to my mate and he suggested that maybe we could inflitrate lower levels in politics, if we join forces with other space groups, and try to pull some strings. It's a bit absurd but I'm bored.

Just chucking around ideas.
What are your thoughts?

CalTech2010 · 2003-01-03 23:30:17

As in joining up with the Star Trek convention and using our voting influence to catch the politicians' eyes?

Echus_Chasma · 2003-01-04 16:59:56

Hmm maybe,

I was more meaning like getting some people who would advocate for space programmes into politics. Train up some politicians from the ranks of space organizations and send them into the world of politics and try to influcence the government.

Phobos · 2003-01-05 00:01:43

There's a couple of possible candidates in the Green Party who are very interested in funding space projects. Even though the GP doesn't stand a chance in hell of winning a lot of seats I'm going to start voting Green. As far as I'm concerned the two main parties aren't worth voting for anyway.

Palomar · 2003-01-05 08:54:51

*The best infiltration is exposure, obviously. Writing letters (the old-fashioned snail-mail type) to government representatives is a good idea. As I've stated before, I wish the MS would create a small pamphlet for distribution; perhaps 7 pages with a few illustrations, outlining the basic plans/objectives. They could be purchased by whomever wants to tuck them in with letters to gov't reps, etc.

And again, I wish the MS would generate for sale bumperstickers, keychains, baseball-type hats, etc., for purchase with its logo (which needs updating), a slogan, and its web site address on those items.

--Cindy

RobertDyck · 2003-01-05 12:50:29

I wish the MS would generate for sale bumperstickers, keychains, baseball-type hats, etc., for purchase with its logo (which needs updating), a slogan, and its web site address on those items.

Wish granted.

At the Mars Society Mall you can get Mars Gifts such as Hugg-A-Planet soft globe, a few Mars games, or the Red-Blue-Green flag. The "Mars Ball" that is advertised as (clearance) has been sold out for months. Mars Society T-Shirts and key chains can be purchased here. The link for hats is "temporarily" broken. At the last convention, Maggie was selling round mouse pads with the slogan "We must go for the knowledge, we must go for the future" and the web site address. I won one of those pads as a door prise. You can get it at the Mars Society Bookstore, but the ordering procedure hasn't been determined yet. That web site also has lots of books, the Stanford Convention shopping bag, the Ares CD and "Mars VR" CD, and a "Mars Direct" video.

Some local chapters also sell items. I could link you to my chapter's store, but I don't want to compete with the main Mars Society web store. I have available an ash-grey t-shirt with the MS logo on the left breast, as well as a sweat shirt, golf shirt, and women's T-Shirt with a provocative slogan. (I came up with the women's T-Shirt design myself.) I also designed a mouse pad, but Maggie's is better. I also have a tote bag and a cup, but the cup was designed for a project we were promoting and included a graphic used without permission. I intended to either ask the graphic owner to pay the Mars Society for advertising, or find another project name. The project has practically died but I haven't removed the cup yet; but I haven't sold any cups anyway. There are other items I could add to the store: wall calendar, poster calendar, greeting card, postcard, picture frame, infant/toddler T-Shirt, toddler button-up hoodie, sticker (rectangular or oval), lunch box, various mugs (ceramic, stein, frosted, stainless steel travel mug), tile coaster, round wall clock, "flying disk" (Frisbee), poster (16x20 or 23x35), bags with a 4"x2" imprintable patch (unistrap, backpack, or soft briefcase), or a license plate frame. All I need for any of these is a graphic to print on them.

There isn't a bumper sticker but all I need for the frame is a slogan. I don't want to steal Maggie's slogan without permission. Would you like one that simply says "The Mars Society" on top and the web site address on the bottom, perhaps with a Mars terrain background image from Mars Global Surveyor?

Echus_Chasma · 2003-01-05 14:26:14

There's a couple of possible candidates in the Green Party who are very interested in funding space projects. Even though the GP doesn't stand a chance in hell of winning a lot of seats I'm going to start voting Green. As far as I'm concerned the two main parties aren't worth voting for anyway.

The Greens are quite popular in New Zealand but not for their space policy.
They are more interested in getting stoned and protesting.

Would you like one that simply says "The Mars Society" on top and the web site address on the bottom, perhaps with a Mars terrain background image from Mars Global Surveyor?

That sounds cool, stick one on my guitar.

Josh Cryer · 2003-01-05 15:00:02

Actually, and I know this is going to sound wack, but the Mars Society needs to really do something functional with regards to space, and Mars itself. All they need is that little bit of exposure, and they will be flooded with all sorts of sponsers, I think. Something like Translife isn't going to really work. Sending a probe to Mars or something might, though.

soph · 2003-01-05 18:46:08

design a probe jointly with nasa, have the mars society name plastered all over the launch site and probe, and have it called the NASA-Mars Society Joint Exploration Initiative.

Palomar · 2003-01-05 19:50:21

Would you like one that simply says "The Mars Society" on top and the web site address on the bottom, perhaps with a Mars terrain background image from Mars Global Surveyor?

*Sounds good.

--Cindy

Adrian · 2003-01-06 05:11:04

It is actually pretty easy to make all sorts of merchandise available online via CafePress (which is I suspect exactly the same thing Robert is talking about). I recently set up a CafePress store for my MDRS Crew at http://www.cafeshops.com/mdrs9 - it's populated with all sorts of goodies at relatively affordable prices.

CafePress is set up such that they set a base price for all goods (which is how they make their money). You, the shop owner, can raise the price for goods above the base level, thus making a profit for yourself. The more you sell, the lower the base price gets. Furthermore, if you buy in bulk, you get special discounts. It's not bad, and while it's more expensive than, say, getting a hundred T-shirts screen printed, it's a hell of a lot more convenient for all concerned.

Even better, it doesn't cost anything to set up a shop. Nor should it, considering that CafePress want people to do that so they'll buy custom-made goods.

RobertDyck · 2003-01-06 05:59:13

Adrian has pointed out the problem with CafePress. They put so many links and advertisements to themselves that customers tend to just setup a "store" for themselves and avoid purchasing anything from anyone but themselves and CafePress. I did find a Canadian producer for t-shirts and created a web store myself so local customers can avoid cross-boarder taxes. The products I mentioned are, in fact, CafePress. I only added $1 per product as profit margin to support the local chapter, but still haven't sold a single item through CafePress. I was hoping the license plate frame for Cindy would be my first sale, but since Adrian has let the cat out of the bag, I expect no one will sell anything.
Winnipeg Store

Adrian · 2003-01-06 06:31:43

Yes, I did think that the standard Cafepress shops are very cluttered. Of course, the 'premium' shops are much more streamlined - in other words, if you around $7/month (or $60/year) then you can basically get rid of all of the Cafepress advertising and links, and it doesn't look too bad afterwards, e.g. http://www.cafeshops.com/wspa

Personally, I think the Mars Society should open up a paid Cafepress shop; it'd save them having to organise shipping and production (which, as a seller of Mars I can assure you, can suck up inconvenient amounts of time) and more importantly, it would allow them to make limited edition and 'topical' merchandise - e.g. T-shirts about the habs, about current landers and missions, conventions, etc etc.

RobertDyck · 2003-01-06 07:33:48

the Mars Society needs to really do something functional with regards to space, and Mars itself ... Sending a probe to Mars

This is a very big issue. We had discussed exactly this point on the previous message board, and that is where the Roadrunner project came from. I had contacted the director of the Small Shuttle Payloads Project about deploying a very small probe as a Get-Away-Special. The price was $8,000 for a US educational institution or $27,000 for anyone else, but only if you bring the payload back down with the Shuttle. If you deploy the same payload, the cost is $2 million. He also mentioned that if we could get a NASA agency to sponsor us we could get a free ride on the shuttle. We assembled a team, and started work on the ion engine for it. When Mars Scout 2002 came out I attempted to prepare a bid. As a Mars Scout, NASA would pay up to $325 million, but it would have to be launched on an expendable launcher. I got a price quote from Orbital Sciences for a Pegasus rocket: $25 million for direct injection into trans-Mars trajectory, but the kick stage would produce 25Gs of acceleration. For a total mission cost of $32.5 million, that would be 10% of the maximum NASA set and would leave us $7.5 million for construction and operation of the probe. We also arranged for an 18 metre dish ground receiving station at the cost of reception electronics. I could mention the highly qualified individuals on the team and organizations involved, but when I asked Robert Zubrin for permission to submit it as a Mars Society mission, he said no. He thought a multi-million dollar mission like that was too much. I don't want to sound like I'm criticizing our illustrious founder, but if you want to talk about sending something to Mars you will have to convince Dr. Zubrin to think big. That is what I sent to my contact on the steering committee last spring. (Hmm. I'm thinking bigger than Dr. Zubrin. Scary) To address this issue again we should return to the minimalist design and budget to fit well below the $15 million budget of a University Explorer (UNEX) class mission.

RobertDyck · 2003-01-08 10:46:28

I just got notification from NASA that the Announcement of Opportunity (AO) for the next missions in the Small Explorer (SMEX) program has been postponed. Depending on the availability of appropriated funds, the SMEX AO should be released shortly after NASA's FY03 budget is signed. I swear someone at NASA is reading this board; the UNEX class mission I mentioned is part of the SMEX program.

Those seriously interested in infiltration could join the Republican or Democratic party (preferably we would have members in each) and start lobbying to support the NASA budget from within the parties. Those who don't want to that much work can write the congressmen to support NASA. A paper letter carries a lot more weight than an email or a signature on a petition.

Echus_Chasma · 2003-01-08 18:13:04

I want to help ya know, but like New Zealand is one of the smallest western countries and if you even mention nuclear or GE or anything you get labeled a person who wants to destory the enviroment.

Our political situation sorta sucks, we have a left wing government (Labour) that isn't big enough to rule by itself or even with another party so we have a three way colalition with the Greens and United. The biggest oppostion party is National but they are very unpopular now so NZ First is the strongest oppostion party but their leader is a racist and they are a small party.
The thing is we have 3 year terms so thats 1 year to change everything from the last government to the new policies then another year to do stuff, then its the election campaign. Nothing really gets done.

I'm ganna start writing letters to the Greens' leader and the NZ Prime Minister. Probably won't have much effect but yeah, I dunno. Hmm, I got a mate whose a member of the Greens, maybe I could pull him to my views...
New Zealand will never get to space because we can't afford it, but maybe NZ could at least be a bit more sensible about GE/nuclear etc or maybe donate some dosh to NASA or something.

Josh Cryer · 2003-01-08 18:32:52

I'd over looked this post until it got bumped up.

Robert, fantastic stuff you're talking about there, truely. I hope that you guys will be able to work with SMEX level funds. Personally, I think that 15 million is one heck of a lot of money, and could be worked with. Maybe you can petition the nuclear folks to build you guys an engine so that the launch cost would be a lot cheaper. (Though you did say something about Ion, and I can't imagine nuclearwould be cheaper than that).

srmeaney · 2005-08-06 17:50:09

Our political situation sorta sucks, we have a left wing government (Labour) that isn't big enough to rule by itself or even with another party so we have a three way colalition with the Greens and United. The biggest oppostion party is National but they are very unpopular now so NZ First is the strongest oppostion party but their leader is a racist and they are a small party.
The thing is we have 3 year terms so thats 1 year to change everything from the last government to the new policies then another year to do stuff, then its the election campaign. Nothing really gets done.

Left wing Government....Hah!

The Helen Clarke Regime... left wing, Thats a good one!

Run for Government in your own right. Dont squander money on a space program, spend it on R&D for a reusable Passenger Launcher capable of traveling from the earth to the Moon. Achieve the systems breakthrough for AEROSPACE NEW ZEALAND and make every citizen a shareholder. That way they will all be interested in the outcome.

kaci_m · 2005-08-30 14:21:57

*The best infiltration is exposure, obviously... As I've stated before, I wish the MS would create a small pamphlet for distribution; perhaps 7 pages with a few illustrations, outlining the basic plans/objectives.

Hi everyone! This is my first post here. Trolls, please don't eat me

I created a small, letter-sized Word brochure that (very simply) talks about Mars Direct and why we should go to Mars. The text is mostly lifted from the first chapter of "The Case for Mars" by Zubrin and a Powerpoint presentation on the Mars Society's website (http://www.marssociety.org/content/presentations.asp), but I've added a bit about the potential economical & industrial benefits of Martian exploration. You can find my little brochure here : http://www.geocities.com/moonfrontier/M … ochure.doc

I make no claim as to the accuracy or ownership of anything in my brochure. I aimed it at American politicians or other people who could help getting Mars Direct into action, but don't care to learn about the technical aspects. I intentionally left out any mention of terraformation because I didn't believe it would . Feel free to edit it any way you like - just so long as you use it to get us to Mars

In doing this brochure, I became aware that there isn't a logo for the Mars Direct effort itself. There's a nice logo for the Mars Society, yes, but, in my opinion its visual references to robotic exploration and terraforming don't have much to do with the current goal of getting an extended human exploration/science presence on Mars. I thought of a cheesy logo of human figures rising from the red planet ( http://www.geocities.com/moonfrontier/M … t_logo.JPG ) but I'm sure someone else can do something more eye-catching.

Also, maybe the Mars Society can host a web site that simply explains what Mars Direct is to the average person? It doesn't need to be much, just 4-5 separate pages detailing the proposed process, its cost, its benefits, its more technical aspects, an FAQ section, etc. A pleasant-looking, well laid-out site that we can direct the public and/or people in power (politicians, potential sponsors, etc.) to visit. Add a link to the Mars Society's main page at the bottom, along with information on how to get a copy of "The Case for Mars". Also, maybe add a forum catergory for Public Outreach, since I don't think either Political or Educational Outreach quite fit with, bluntly put, what I see we need to do.

Thank you all, and I look forward to your imput!

- KCM

publiusr · 2005-11-03 10:53:46

I was talking to my mate and he suggested that maybe we could inflitrate lower levels in politics, if we join forces with other space groups, and try to pull some strings. It's a bit absurd but I'm bored.
Just chucking around ideas.
What are your thoughts?

I would put all the money that went to Devon island into private investigators, cameras and hookers. You tell the Senator you catch this:

"Vote for HLLV or your wife gets the pictures."

THAT"S how you get things done.

C M Edwards · 2005-11-04 13:32:24

Or get things done to you.

sdc2 · 2005-12-08 04:22:47

I was talking to my mate and he suggested that maybe we could inflitrate lower levels in politics, if we join forces with other space groups, and try to pull some strings. It's a bit absurd but I'm bored.
Just chucking around ideas.
What are your thoughts?

Do Un To Others As They Do Un To You! Good Idea! :-)

Infiltrate the big boys, when they already have you infiltrated!? ;-)

Getting other space groups to work together? Good Luck! :-(

Pulling strings? Be careful, as those strings are spring loaded!

Bored, what have you done to support the Space Effort?

Absurd, yep, because you would never infiltrate the big boys!
As I already said, they already have you infiltrated, so why
would that bother them in any way? They would just send you
on a wild goose chase or manipulate you.

Words are easy, but action, that is another matter all together!

Good Luck! And keep your head down! Lest it be chopped off! ;-)

New Mars Forums

Announcement

#1 2003-01-03 02:02:51

Re: Idea - Infiltration

#2 2003-01-03 23:30:17

Re: Idea - Infiltration

#3 2003-01-04 16:59:56

Re: Idea - Infiltration

#4 2003-01-05 00:01:43

Re: Idea - Infiltration

#5 2003-01-05 08:54:51

Re: Idea - Infiltration

#6 2003-01-05 12:50:29

Re: Idea - Infiltration

#7 2003-01-05 14:26:14

Re: Idea - Infiltration

#8 2003-01-05 15:00:02

Re: Idea - Infiltration

#9 2003-01-05 18:46:08

Re: Idea - Infiltration

#10 2003-01-05 19:50:21

Re: Idea - Infiltration

#11 2003-01-06 05:11:04

Re: Idea - Infiltration

#12 2003-01-06 05:59:13

Re: Idea - Infiltration

#13 2003-01-06 06:31:43

Re: Idea - Infiltration

#14 2003-01-06 07:33:48

Re: Idea - Infiltration

#15 2003-01-08 10:46:28

Re: Idea - Infiltration

#16 2003-01-08 18:13:04

Re: Idea - Infiltration

#17 2003-01-08 18:32:52

Re: Idea - Infiltration

#18 2005-08-06 17:50:09

Re: Idea - Infiltration

#19 2005-08-30 14:21:57

Re: Idea - Infiltration

#20 2005-11-03 10:53:46

Re: Idea - Infiltration

#21 2005-11-04 13:32:24

Re: Idea - Infiltration

#22 2005-12-08 04:22:47

Re: Idea - Infiltration

Board footer