How's the Society doing right now?

tahanson43206 · 2022-05-14 19:18:44

Executive Director James Burk will be a guest on TheSpaceShow with Dr. David Livingston:

Broadcast 3862 James Burk | Tuesday 17 May 2022 700PM PT
Guests: James Burk
James talks The Mars Society, his new leadership position and lots more

All Space Shows are free and open to the public.

The show will be recorded and made available from the Space Show archive.

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2022-05-18 18:39:08

MDRS Offering Special Mars Program for High School Students this October
The Mars Desert Research Station invites high school students who either attend public school or are home-schooled to apply for an exciting week-long program at the Mars Society's Utah-based analog facility from October 24-28, 2022.
Participants will spend five days in a simulation to live and explore the geology and biology around the station as if they were on Mars. While there will be some activities involving space engineering and rocketry, the majority of what participants will focus on is field science and exploration.
MDRS has never before offered this type of opportunity to high schoolers, so we are very excited about this on-site program. All participation fees have been waived, but students must cover their travel expenses to and from the MDRS campus.
Students who are interested in attending should submit three letters via email to MDRSapplications@marssociety.org. One letter should be from the student and should explain their interest in the program and how it aligns with their future goals. The next should be from a parent or guardian, introducing MDRS management to their child. The third should be from a teacher or the parent who is homeschooling the child, explaining how this experience will fit into their school requirements and plans for the future.
Please note that applicants will be accepted until May 22, 2022. Those selected will be notified by May 27th. If you have questions, please contact srupert@marssociety.org. Please do not request general information about the station, as those details available on our website and social media platforms, but specific questions about the program are welcome.
Thank you, and please feel free to forward this email to others who might be interested in the program.

The Mars Society
11111 West 8th Avenue, unit A
Lakewood, CO 80215 U.S.A.
www.marssociety.org
https://www.facebook.com/TheMarsSociety
@TheMarsSociety
Copyright (c) 2022 The Mars Society
All rights reserved.

(th)

SpaceNut · 2022-05-18 18:45:00

Gee if only I could turn back the hands of time as I would definitely want to go....

tahanson43206 · 2022-05-23 18:05:48

OK SpaceNut .... here's an opportunity!

Hiring: Assistant Director (for remote research station in Utah)
The Mars Society is seeking applications from highly qualified people for management positions at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Utah, the largest and longest-running Mars analog facility in the world. The station is set amid some of the most spectacular landscapes you will ever see, and researchers come from all over the world to work here.
We are looking for assistant directors beginning in October 2022. You must be able to work in the U.S. and possess a high level of written/spoken English fluency. This position is for in-person work only. We are looking for people who can commit to working at MDRS six months a year, although we might consider someone looking to work for three months each year. Work is generally assigned by the academic quarter.
MDRS is a remote research station. The nearest town of Hanksville, Utah is eight miles away and has very limited services. In addition, when researchers are working on campus, there is little interaction with them or other people so the job at times can be lonely and isolating. It is important that applicants understand this kind of lifestyle and know that it is a good fit for them before applying.
In addition, the work itself can at times be physically and mentally demanding, and staff frequently have to handle things alone. Proactivity in work habits is mandatory. In addition, the job requires wearing multiple hats on a daily basis, so flexibility and a positive attitude are a must.
Successful applicants should have the following skills and experiences:
Passion for the goal of getting humans to Mars and for space in general
A college degree, preferably in science or engineering
Experience in remote field work. While most research done at MDRS is Mars or space related, we welcome applications from people who have experience living and working in remote areas
Experience teaching or training groups for specific tasks or disciplines
A solid foundation in the maintenance of facilities, and the ability or willingness to learn to do to a variety of handyman type things
Previous analog astronaut, greenhouse or astronomy experience a plus
While this is not a job for the faint of heart, it is a very rewarding job. Housing and utilities are provided on campus, as is a truly magnificent sky at night.
Those interested in being considered should send their resumes and a letter of interest to mdrsapplications@marssociety.org. Questions about the positions should be addressed to Dr. Shannon Rupert at srupert@marssociety.org.

The Mars Society
11111 West 8th Avenue, unit A
Lakewood, CO 80215 U.S.A.
www.marssociety.org
https://www.facebook.com/TheMarsSociety
@TheMarsSociety
Copyright (c) 2022 The Mars Society
All rights reserved.

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2022-05-26 10:53:03

For NewMars members who may know a high school student ...

Mars Society Invites High School Students to Apply to its Mars Mission Design Class & Competition
The Mars Society is inviting high school students from around the world to apply to its Mars Mission Design Class & Competition this summer.
The virtual class will be a unique experience, allowing high school students from around the world to take part in an educational activity modeled on the design course now practiced by the best world-wide university engineering departments.
A university design class differs greatly from a typical college class. Instead of being taught some material by a professor and then being tested on it, students in an engineering design class are provided background and then asked to work together as a team – or group of teams - to try to design some new technology. For example, a class may be asked to design a new fighter aircraft that needs to meet a difficult set of requirements and be divided into sub-teams each responsible for a different area, such as aerodynamics, propulsion, structures, and weaponry.
Optimizing any of these necessarily conflicts with the rest. For example, stronger structures add weight, which takes away mass that could be used for propulsion or weapons and doing anything better nearly always adds to cost. So, in addition to handling their own area as well as they can, the sub-teams must try to work out the best possible compromise to produce the best overall result. Frequently a number of university engineering classes are given the same problem to solve, and compete against each other’s designs, which really makes the whole thing a great deal of fun.
This summer, the Mars Society is organizing a global competition along these lines, but open to high school students, and with the topic not being the design of a fighter aircraft or nuclear reactor, but of the first human exploration mission to the Red Planet.
Here’s how it is going to work. The 6-week course will be done online allowing participation from students anywhere in the world to take part. The class will consist of three elements:
1. Lectures by leading experts in areas of science and engineering relevant to the means and goals of human Mars exploration and assignment of supporting readings. This will prepare the students for the next parts.
2. The organization of students into design teams, comparable to those in a university engineering design class, charged with designing a human mission to Mars. The ground rules are that it is assumed that they have a mission enabled by the delivery of 30 metric tons of useful payload to the Martian surface, plus an ascent vehicle capable of returning up to five astronauts from the Martian surface to Earth. The students will need to design the surface mission, including its habitat, surface vehicles, scientific instruments, power system and other equipment and supplies, crew size and composition, mission location, scientific objectives, rations, duration, and exploration plan. The designs of each team will be written up in a report, which each team member responsible for authoring a section.
3. The teams will then compete their designs in a contest, involving live presentations in front of a panel of expert judges, with winners chosen based on technical and scientific merit. The course will run from the beginning of July through mid-August (2022). Tuition fee to the course will be nominal a $50, making it possible for students for all economic levels to participate. Students who contribute a section to a design report will receive a certificate attesting to their participation, useful for augmenting their college entry applications.
The best Mars mission designs will be published by the Mars Society in a book, which will be available for sale in both paperback and kindle forms on Amazon.com.
If you are a student and would like to sign up, you can do so by filling out this online form. Please note that the deadline for applying is Wednesday, June 15th, 5;00 pm MT.
A group of eminent instructors, including NASA scientists and commercial space executives, have already been lined up to give the talks, but we can use more! We also need coaches for the design teams and judges for the contest. If you are someone who would like to help out by serving as a lecturer, coach, or judge, please let us know by signing up here.
Students: This is your chance to not only have some fun while learning a lot, but also to get involved in Mars exploration and have your ideas on how we should explore Mars published!
Professionals: This is your opportunity to not only help a bunch of bright students get into science, but to make educational history by demonstrating the value of a new and much more creative way to teach science at the secondary school level than is currently being practiced.
So don’t wait! Sign up today!

The Mars Society
11111 West 8th Avenue, unit A
Lakewood, CO 80215 U.S.A.
www.marssociety.org
https://www.facebook.com/TheMarsSociety
@TheMarsSociety
Copyright (c) 2022 The Mars Society

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2022-05-30 19:01:57

New Mars Society Ambassador Program Launched to Promote Public Outreach
The Mars Society is pleased to announce the establishment of its new Mars Society Ambassador program in an effort to expand public awareness of the importance of planning human Mars exploration and settlement.
Led by veteran public speaker and author James Melton, the Mars Society Ambassador program is assembling a team of dedicated volunteers, beginning in North America and eventually moving beyond, to speak knowledgably about the concept of humans-to-Mars to organizations, schools, and public forums. This will include making use of professionally made PowerPoint and video presentations, as well as prepared scripts and talking points, to effectively connect with the public.
“Many people are not aware of the phenomenal, real-world missions now underway to the Moon, Mars, and other solar system destinations. We want our Mars Society Ambassadors to help boost the public’s understanding of the current plans for humanity to become a spacefaring civilization,” said James Melton, Chief Mars Society Ambassador.
Those interested in serving as a Mars Society Ambassador on behalf of the organization can apply by reviewing the program requirements in the Ambassador Manual Brief and completing the online application, both of which are found on our web site.
Once accepted, participants will receive virtual training by Mars Society Ambassador program management on how to create a powerful presentation by using the Ambassador Manual. As the title - “Extreme Urgency” - states, it will become evident as to why humanity must go to Mars and why it should be now.
Mars Society Executive Director James Burk added regarding this new initiative, “It's important that we get out there and tell the story of human beings exploring and settling Mars, for the benefit of all humanity... It's an inspiring, adventure-filled journey that resonates with people of all ages, cultures, and backgrounds. Our Mars Society Ambassadors will reach new audiences and recruit new supporters for our mission to create a permanent human presence on the red planet.”
Assist the Mars Society in igniting a spark among people to become more curious and excited about humanity’s future in space, starting on the planet Mars, by getting involved in our Mars Society Ambassador program today!
For full details on how you can participate in this new and exciting public outreach initiative organized by the Mars Society, please click here. To learn more about the Mars Society and its mission, visit: https://www.marssociety.org.
The Mars Society
11111 West 8th Avenue, unit A
Lakewood, CO 80215 U.S.A.
www.marssociety.org
https://www.facebook.com/TheMarsSociety
@TheMarsSociety
Copyright (c) 2022 The Mars Society
All rights reserved.

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2022-05-31 17:54:20

Sponsorship Opportunities with the 2022 Mars Society Convention
The Mars Society will be holding its 25th Annual International Mars Society Convention October 20-23, 2022, this year in-person, at Arizona State University in Tempe (outside Phoenix).
The Mars Society has held its international convention every year since 1998. Our last on-site event was convened in 2019 at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, with approximately 400 people in attendance and 100 speakers over the course of the four-day event.
Facing the global pandemic, Mars Society leadership decided to go virtual for its 2020 and 2021 conventions. In addition to hearing key scientists, commercial space executives, government officials, and members of the media discuss Mars and space exploration, attendees were able to network with each other and the speakers using a variety of virtual tools including a conference session scheduling application, chat and collaboration tools, and virtual networking tools.
This year's convention, marking a quarter of a century, will be a combination of both formats, with both in-person and virtual attendees, allowing for continued expansion of our public and online audience, with the same state-of-the-art virtual options and networking tools.
Last year, we had over 5,000 people joining us to watch the convention online, and we expect more this October, in addition to the usual hundreds of people attending the event in-person in Arizona.
Sponsors involved in supporting our international convention will receive a first-class presence in our event experience and will also be mentioned across our print and online materials leading up to and during the conference. There will be three primary levels of sponsorship - Gold, Silver, and Bronze - $5,000, $2,500 and $1,000 respectively.
For more details about this year's convention sponsorship options, please visit: https://bit.ly/39JE3Tn, and for general information about the convention and the Mars Society, go to: https://www.marssociety.org. Please email James Burk, Mars Society Executive Director, at: jburk@marssociety.org with any questions.
The Mars Society
11111 West 8th Avenue, unit A
Lakewood, CO 80215 U.S.A.
www.marssociety.org
https://www.facebook.com/TheMarsSociety
@TheMarsSociety
Copyright (c) 2022 The Mars Society
All rights reserved.

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2022-06-05 17:16:33

University of Michigan wins URC Competition at MDRS

U of Michigan Wins URC Competition at MDRS!
Yahoo
The Mars Society <info@marssociety.org>
Sun, Jun 5 at 6:11 PM
MARS SOCIETY ANNOUNCEMENT
U of Michigan Wins URC Competition at MDRS!
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that the Michigan Mars Rover Team (University of Michigan) has won the 2022 University Rover Challenge, the world’s premier Mars robotics competition for college students, with 388.97 points! Way to go, Wolverines!
Coming in second place was the Monash Nova Rover (Monash University, Australia) with 380.55 points, and third place was taken by the Mars Rover Design Team (Missouri University of Science & Technology) with 370.71 points.
All 36 student teams did a wonderful job in remaining highly competitive while managing with the difficult southern Utah heat over the course of the three-day rover challenge held at the Mars Desert Research Station.
The Mars Society would like to express its sincere appreciation to the URC management & volunteer team led by Kevin Sloan, along with the event's generous corporate sponsors, including Protocase, Mastercam, Relativity, Symbotic, and the KISS Institute for Practical Robotics, for helping to make this annual rover challenge possible.
For full details about this year’s URC, including the scores of all student teams involved, please visit https://urc.marssociety.org.
The Mars Society
11111 West 8th Avenue, unit A
Lakewood, CO 80215 U.S.A.
www.marssociety.org
https://www.facebook.com/TheMarsSociety
@TheMarsSociety
Copyright (c) 2022 The Mars Society
All rights reserve

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2022-06-08 20:22:42

MARS SOCIETY ANNOUNCEMENT
View this email in your browser
ONE WEEK LEFT for High School Students to Register for the Mars Mission Design Class & Competition
The Mars Society is inviting high school students from around the world to apply to its Mars Mission Design Class & Competition this summer.
The virtual class will be a unique experience, allowing high school students from around the world to take part in an educational activity modeled on the design course now practiced by the best world-wide university engineering departments.
A university design class differs greatly from a typical college class. Instead of being taught some material by a professor and then being tested on it, students in an engineering design class are provided background and then asked to work together as a team – or group of teams - to try to design some new technology. For example, a class may be asked to design a new fighter aircraft that needs to meet a difficult set of requirements and be divided into sub-teams each responsible for a different area, such as aerodynamics, propulsion, structures, and weaponry.
Optimizing any of these necessarily conflicts with the rest. For example, stronger structures add weight, which takes away mass that could be used for propulsion or weapons and doing anything better nearly always adds to cost. So, in addition to handling their own area as well as they can, the sub-teams must try to work out the best possible compromise to produce the best overall result. Frequently a number of university engineering classes are given the same problem to solve, and compete against each other’s designs, which really makes the whole thing a great deal of fun.
This summer, the Mars Society is organizing a global competition along these lines, but open to high school students, and with the topic not being the design of a fighter aircraft or nuclear reactor, but of the first human exploration mission to the Red Planet.
Here’s how it is going to work. The 6-week course will be done online allowing participation from students anywhere in the world to take part. The class will consist of three elements:
1. Lectures by leading experts in areas of science and engineering relevant to the means and goals of human Mars exploration and assignment of supporting readings. This will prepare the students for the next parts.
2. The organization of students into design teams, comparable to those in a university engineering design class, charged with designing a human mission to Mars. The ground rules are that it is assumed that they have a mission enabled by the delivery of 30 metric tons of useful payload to the Martian surface, plus an ascent vehicle capable of returning up to five astronauts from the Martian surface to Earth. The students will need to design the surface mission, including its habitat, surface vehicles, scientific instruments, power system and other equipment and supplies, crew size and composition, mission location, scientific objectives, rations, duration, and exploration plan. The designs of each team will be written up in a report, which each team member responsible for authoring a section.
3. The teams will then compete their designs in a contest, involving live presentations in front of a panel of expert judges, with winners chosen based on technical and scientific merit. The course will run from the beginning of July through mid-August (2022). Tuition fee to the course will be nominal a $50, making it possible for students for all economic levels to participate. Students who contribute a section to a design report will receive a certificate attesting to their participation, useful for augmenting their college entry applications.
The best Mars mission designs will be published by the Mars Society in a book, which will be available for sale in both paperback and kindle forms on Amazon.com.
If you are a student and would like to sign up, you can do so by filling out this online form. Please note that the deadline for applying is Wednesday, June 15th, 5;00 pm MT.
A group of eminent instructors, including NASA scientists and commercial space executives, have already been lined up to give the talks, but we can use more! We also need coaches for the design teams and judges for the contest. If you are someone who would like to help out by serving as a lecturer, coach, or judge, please let us know by signing up here.
Students: This is your chance to not only have some fun while learning a lot, but also to get involved in Mars exploration and have your ideas on how we should explore Mars published!
Professionals: This is your opportunity to not only help a bunch of bright students get into science, but to make educational history by demonstrating the value of a new and much more creative way to teach science at the secondary school level than is currently being practiced.
So don’t wait! Sign up today!

The Mars Society
11111 West 8th Avenue, unit A
Lakewood, CO 80215 U.S.A.
www.marssociety.org
https://www.facebook.com/TheMarsSociety
@TheMarsSociety
Copyright (c) 2022 The Mars Society
All rights reserved.

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2022-06-13 18:25:01

48 HOURS Left to Apply for Mars Society's Virtual Mars Mission Design High School Summer Class
The Mars Society is inviting high school students from around the world to apply to its Mars Mission Design Class & Competition, which begins in early July.
The virtual class, with a June 15th deadline for applying, will be a unique experience, allowing high school students from around the world to take part in an educational activity modeled on the design course now practiced by the best world-wide university engineering departments.
A university design class differs greatly from a typical college class. Instead of being taught some material by a professor and then being tested on it, students in an engineering design class are provided background and then asked to work together as a team – or group of teams - to try to design some new technology. For example, a class may be asked to design a new fighter aircraft that needs to meet a difficult set of requirements and be divided into sub-teams each responsible for a different area, such as aerodynamics, propulsion, structures, and weaponry.
Optimizing any of these necessarily conflicts with the rest. For example, stronger structures add weight, which takes away mass that could be used for propulsion or weapons and doing anything better nearly always adds to cost. So, in addition to handling their own area as well as they can, the sub-teams must try to work out the best possible compromise to produce the best overall result. Frequently a number of university engineering classes are given the same problem to solve, and compete against each other’s designs, which really makes the whole thing a great deal of fun.
This summer, the Mars Society is organizing a global competition along these lines, but open to high school students, and with the topic not being the design of a fighter aircraft or nuclear reactor, but of the first human exploration mission to the Red Planet.
Here’s how it is going to work. The 6-week course will be done online allowing participation from students anywhere in the world to take part. The class will consist of three elements:
1. Lectures by leading experts in areas of science and engineering relevant to the means and goals of human Mars exploration and assignment of supporting readings. This will prepare the students for the next parts.
2. The organization of students into design teams, comparable to those in a university engineering design class, charged with designing a human mission to Mars. The ground rules are that it is assumed that they have a mission enabled by the delivery of 30 metric tons of useful payload to the Martian surface, plus an ascent vehicle capable of returning up to five astronauts from the Martian surface to Earth. The students will need to design the surface mission, including its habitat, surface vehicles, scientific instruments, power system and other equipment and supplies, crew size and composition, mission location, scientific objectives, rations, duration, and exploration plan. The designs of each team will be written up in a report, which each team member responsible for authoring a section.
3. The teams will then compete their designs in a contest, involving live presentations in front of a panel of expert judges, with winners chosen based on technical and scientific merit. The course will run from the beginning of July through mid-August (2022). Tuition fee to the course will be nominal a $50, making it possible for students for all economic levels to participate. Students who contribute a section to a design report will receive a certificate attesting to their participation, useful for augmenting their college entry applications.
The best Mars mission designs will be published by the Mars Society in a book, which will be available for sale in both paperback and kindle forms on Amazon.com.
If you are a student and would like to sign up, you can do so by filling out this online form. Please note that the deadline for applying is Wednesday, June 15th, 5;00 pm MT.
A group of eminent instructors, including NASA scientists and commercial space executives, have already been lined up to give the talks, but we can use more! We also need coaches for the design teams and judges for the contest. If you are someone who would like to help out by serving as a lecturer, coach, or judge, please let us know by signing up here.
Students: This is your chance to not only have some fun while learning a lot, but also to get involved in Mars exploration and have your ideas on how we should explore Mars published!
Professionals: This is your opportunity to not only help a bunch of bright students get into science, but to make educational history by demonstrating the value of a new and much more creative way to teach science at the secondary school level than is currently being practiced.
So don’t wait! Sign up today!
The Mars Society
11111 West 8th Avenue, unit A
Lakewood, CO 80215 U.S.A.
www.marssociety.org
https://www.facebook.com/TheMarsSociety
@TheMarsSociety

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2022-06-17 19:45:08

Deadline Extended for Mission to Mars Design Course & Competition
The Mars Society is extending the deadline to register for our Mars Mission Design Class & Competition, which begins in early July.
The virtual class will be a unique experience, allowing high school students from around the world to take part in an educational activity modeled on the design course now practiced by the best world-wide university engineering departments.
A university design class differs greatly from a typical college class. Instead of being taught some material by a professor and then being tested on it, students in an engineering design class are provided background and then asked to work together as a team – or group of teams - to try to design some new technology. For example, a class may be asked to design a new fighter aircraft that needs to meet a difficult set of requirements and be divided into sub-teams each responsible for a different area, such as aerodynamics, propulsion, structures, and weaponry.
Optimizing any of these necessarily conflicts with the rest. For example, stronger structures add weight, which takes away mass that could be used for propulsion or weapons and doing anything better nearly always adds to cost. So, in addition to handling their own area as well as they can, the sub-teams must try to work out the best possible compromise to produce the best overall result. Frequently a number of university engineering classes are given the same problem to solve, and compete against each other’s designs, which really makes the whole thing a great deal of fun.
This summer, the Mars Society is organizing a global competition along these lines, but open to high school students, and with the topic not being the design of a fighter aircraft or nuclear reactor, but of the first human exploration mission to the Red Planet.
Here’s how it is going to work. The 6-week course will be done online allowing participation from students anywhere in the world to take part. The class will consist of three elements:
1. Lectures by leading experts in areas of science and engineering relevant to the means and goals of human Mars exploration and assignment of supporting readings. This will prepare the students for the next parts.
2. The organization of students into design teams, comparable to those in a university engineering design class, charged with designing a human mission to Mars. The ground rules are that it is assumed that they have a mission enabled by the delivery of 30 metric tons of useful payload to the Martian surface, plus an ascent vehicle capable of returning up to five astronauts from the Martian surface to Earth. The students will need to design the surface mission, including its habitat, surface vehicles, scientific instruments, power system and other equipment and supplies, crew size and composition, mission location, scientific objectives, rations, duration, and exploration plan. The designs of each team will be written up in a report, which each team member responsible for authoring a section.
3. The teams will then compete their designs in a contest, involving live presentations in front of a panel of expert judges, with winners chosen based on technical and scientific merit. The course will run from the beginning of July through mid-August (2022). Tuition fee to the course will be nominal a $50, making it possible for students for all economic levels to participate. Students who contribute a section to a design report will receive a certificate attesting to their participation, useful for augmenting their college entry applications.
The best Mars mission designs will be published by the Mars Society in a book, which will be available for sale in both paperback and kindle forms on Amazon.com.
If you are a student and would like to sign up, you can do so by filling out this online form. Please note that the deadline for applying is Wednesday, June 22nd, 5;00 pm MT.
A group of eminent instructors, including NASA scientists and commercial space executives, have already been lined up to give the talks, but we can use more! We also need coaches for the design teams and judges for the contest. If you are someone who would like to help out by serving as a lecturer, coach, or judge, please let us know by signing up here.
Students: This is your chance to not only have some fun while learning a lot, but also to get involved in Mars exploration and have your ideas on how we should explore Mars published!
Professionals: This is your opportunity to not only help a bunch of bright students get into science, but to make educational history by demonstrating the value of a new and much more creative way to teach science at the secondary school level than is currently being practiced.
So don’t wait! Sign up today!
The Mars Society
11111 West 8th Avenue, unit A
Lakewood, CO 80215 U.S.A.
www.marssociety.org
https://www.facebook.com/TheMarsSociety
@TheMarsSociety
Copyright (c) 2022 The Mars Society
All rights reserved.

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2022-06-17 19:47:07

MARS SOCIETY ANNOUNCEMENT
Mars Society to Participate in 2022 Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas
The Mars Society has accepted an invitation from The 56-Year Mission Las Vegas (previously Star Trek Las Vegas) to participate in this year’s event, scheduled for August 25-28 at Bally’s Hotel & Casino.
Organized and managed by Creation Entertainment, the Las Vegas-based annual Star Trek convention will include a line-up of approximately 100 actors, such as William Shatner (“Captain Kirk”), involved in the historic science fiction television and film series.
Supervised by Mars Society staff and volunteers, the organization will manage its own vendor booth during the four-day conference, which will include Mars Society brochures, program info sheets and organizational swag, as well as Mars-related displays and interactive presentations.
By participating in The 56-Year Mission, the Mars Society is seeking to educate and excite a wider public audience about the importance of long-term human Mars exploration and settlement.
In addition to its planned exhibit, the Mars Society is working in conjunction with program supervisors to arrange several public talks and panel discussions, to coincide with the four-day event, about space exploration, plans for humanity’s future on Mars and other space-related subjects.
To learn more about The 56-Year Mission: Las Vegas, including how to register, please click here. A few more volunteers to help oversee the Mars Society’s planned four-day exhibit are also welcomed and can sign up by contacting Michael at mstoltz@marssociety.org.
We hope you’ll be able to join us this August in Las Vegas for this fun event, and remember… Live Long & Prosper and On to Mars!
The Mars Society
11111 West 8th Avenue, unit A
Lakewood, CO 80215 U.S.A.
www.marssociety.org
https://www.facebook.com/TheMarsSociety
@TheMarsSociety
Copyright (c) 2021 The Mars Society
All rights reserved.

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2022-06-17 19:52:05

Participate in our 2022 Mars Society Poster Contest
Use Your Creativity to Commemorate the 25th
Annual International Mars Society Convention!
The Mars Society held its first international forum a quarter of a century ago in Colorado bringing together dozens of leading scientists and members of the global space community to discuss plans for a human mission to the planet Mars.
This year, the Mars Society will be holding its 25th Annual International Mars Society Convention at Arizona State University on October 20-23, recruiting similar high-level space and science experts to participate in plenary talks, panel discussions, and public debates in order to lay out where we are now and what the future holds in terms of human Mars exploration and settlement.
To help mark this special occasion, Mars Society management is inviting members, friends, students, space advocates, and the general public from around the world to submit a design for consideration as part of its annual Mars Society poster competition.
The winning poster design will serve, as always, as the primary graphic to help Mars Society staff promote the organization’s annual international conference.
The theme of this year’s conference is “Searching for Life with Heavy Lift.” Current heavy lift spaceflight options include NASA’s SLS and SpaceX’s Starship, both capable of carrying large payloads into orbit, to the Moon and on to Mars. This expanded capacity opens the door to a wide range of robotic and human exploratory missions to the red planet, significantly increasing the chances of finding ancient or present life on Mars.
The deadline for submitting a poster design is Thursday, June 30th, 5:00 pm MST. Artwork submissions should be sent via email to: postercontest@marssociety.org. Please also use this address for any questions related to the contest and/or the submission process.
Technical requirements for the contest are as follows: 1) The poster size should be 11″ x 17″, 2) There are no restrictions with regard to use of color, 3) If your poster is selected, the designer will need to submit a full color poster as well as a gray-scale copy, and 4) Poster designs can be submitted in Photoshop or as a .pdf file (the former is preferred). The winning poster design will be announced by the Mars Society during the week of July 11th.
Thank you for your involvement, good luck, and we hope you’ll be able to join us at this year’s international convention! For details, please visit: www.marssociety.org.
Use of Image: Artist gives permission to The Mars Society to use digital images(s) of art work in online and print media. Poster Contest Disclaimer: The Poster Contest Artist, by submitting an application, agrees to defend, indemnify and hold harmless The Mars Society from and against any and all claims, demands or expenses (including attorney’s fees) for libel, slander, invasion of privacy, infringement of copyright, personal injury, damages, or any other claims, demand or expenses resulting from performance in connection with this agreement.
Winning design (Olivier Gourdon)
2021 Mars Society Poster Contest

The Mars Society
11111 West 8th Avenue, unit A
Lakewood, CO 80215 U.S.A.
www.marssociety.org
https://www.facebook.com/TheMarsSociety
@TheMarsSociety
Copyright (c) 2022 The Mars Society
All rights reserved.

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2022-06-20 18:04:39

Sponsorship Opportunities with the 2022 Mars Society Convention
The Mars Society will be holding its 25th Annual International Mars Society Convention October 20-23, 2022, this year in-person, at Arizona State University in Tempe (outside Phoenix).
The Mars Society has held its international convention every year since 1998. Our last on-site event was convened in 2019 at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, with approximately 400 people in attendance and 100 speakers over the course of the four-day event.
Facing the global pandemic, Mars Society leadership decided to go virtual for its 2020 and 2021 conventions. In addition to hearing key scientists, commercial space executives, government officials, and members of the media discuss Mars and space exploration, attendees were able to network with each other and the speakers using a variety of virtual tools including a conference session scheduling application, chat and collaboration tools, and virtual networking tools.
This year's convention, marking a quarter of a century, will be a combination of both formats, with both in-person and virtual attendees, allowing for continued expansion of our public and online audience, with the same state-of-the-art virtual options and networking tools.
Last year, we had over 5,000 people joining us to watch the convention online, and we expect more this October, in addition to the usual hundreds of people attending the event in-person in Arizona.
Sponsors involved in supporting our international convention will receive a first-class presence in our event experience and will also be mentioned across our print and online materials leading up to and during the conference. There will be three primary levels of sponsorship - Gold, Silver, and Bronze - $5,000, $2,500 and $1,000 respectively.
For more details about this year's convention sponsorship options, please visit: https://bit.ly/39JE3Tn, and for general information about the convention and the Mars Society, go to: https://www.marssociety.org. Please email James Burk, Mars Society Executive Director, at: jburk@marssociety.org with any questions.

The Mars Society
11111 West 8th Avenue, unit A
Lakewood, CO 80215 U.S.A.
www.marssociety.org
https://www.facebook.com/TheMarsSociety
@TheMarsSociety
Copyright (c) 2022 The Mars Society
All rights reserved.

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2022-06-28 17:41:59

New Mars Society Ambassador Program Launched to Promote Public Outreach
The Mars Society <info@marssociety.org>
Mon, Jun 27 at 12:12 PM
MARS SOCIETY ANNOUNCEMENT
View this email in your browser
New Mars Society Ambassador Program Launched to Promote Public Outreach
The Mars Society announced last month the establishment of its new Mars Society Ambassador program in an effort to expand public awareness of the importance of planning human Mars exploration and settlement.
Led by veteran public speaker and author James Melton, the Mars Society Ambassador program is assembling a team of dedicated volunteers, beginning in North America and eventually moving beyond, to speak knowledgably about the concept of humans-to-Mars to organizations, schools, and public forums. This will include making use of professionally made PowerPoint and video presentations, as well as prepared scripts and talking points, to effectively connect with the public.
“Many people are not aware of the phenomenal, real-world missions now underway to the Moon, Mars, and other solar system destinations. We want our Mars Society Ambassadors to help boost the public’s understanding of the current plans for humanity to become a spacefaring civilization,” said James Melton, Chief Mars Society Ambassador.
Those interested in serving as a Mars Society Ambassador on behalf of the organization can apply by reviewing the program requirements in the Ambassador Manual Brief and completing the online application, both of which are found on our web site.
Once accepted, participants will receive virtual training by Mars Society Ambassador program management on how to create a powerful presentation by using the Ambassador Manual. As the title - “Extreme Urgency” - states, it will become evident as to why humanity must go to Mars and why it should be now.
Mars Society Executive Director James Burk added regarding this new initiative, “It's important that we get out there and tell the story of human beings exploring and settling Mars, for the benefit of all humanity... It's an inspiring, adventure-filled journey that resonates with people of all ages, cultures, and backgrounds. Our Mars Society Ambassadors will reach new audiences and recruit new supporters for our mission to create a permanent human presence on the red planet.”
Assist the Mars Society in igniting a spark among people to become more curious and excited about humanity’s future in space, starting on the planet Mars, by getting involved in our Mars Society Ambassador program today!
For full details on how you can participate in this new and exciting public outreach initiative organized by the Mars Society, please click here. To learn more about the Mars Society and its mission, visit: https://www.marssociety.org.
The Mars Society
11111 West 8th Avenue, unit A
Lakewood, CO 80215 U.S.A.
www.marssociety.org
https://www.facebook.com/TheMarsSociety
@TheMarsSociety
Copyright (c) 2022 The Mars Society
All rights reserved.

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2022-07-03 13:01:24

Celebrate our 25th Annual International Mars Society Convention!
As the world’s largest space advocacy group dedicated to humans-to-Mars, the Mars Society has been bringing together key scientists, researchers, commercial space executives, government representatives, and journalists to discuss the latest news about human Mars exploration and settlement, as well as cutting-edge topics in space exploration, science, and technology.
For the last two years, due to the pandemic, our international conference has been virtual only, resulting in a significant online audience. Earlier this year, Mars Society leadership announced a return to our usual in-person public convention, to be held Thursday-Sunday, October 20-23, 2022 at Arizona State University in Tempe (outside Phoenix).
For those unable to join us in person in Arizona, we will have an option to attend the convention virtually for a modest fee. The event organizers will ensure that similar virtual tools used in the two most recent conventions will be available to allow remote attendees to watch the sessions, ask questions of the speakers in real time, and network with other attendees in new ways.
In addition to being our first in-person event in two years, we will also be marking the 25th year of convening our International Mars Society Convention, with exciting plenary talks, panel discussions, and public debates, as well as our special Saturday evening banquet.
The conference will also feature the face off of the ten finalists of the Telerobotic Mars Expedition Design Competition, whose teams were challenged to design a robotic flotilla that could be carried out using a human-class Mars surface lander with a 10-ton payload capacity, allowing the maximum possible science return while doing the most to prepare for human Mars missions to follow.
The theme of this year’s international convention will be “The Search for Life on Mars”, with many discussions on how this can best be carried out by both robotic and human explorers in the coming decade.
“We are so excited to be commemorating our 25th annual Mars Society convention this October, with leading members of the space, science, business, academic, and government communities talking about all the hot topics concerning Mars, the search for life in our solar system, the latest spaceflight technology, and much more,” said Mars Society Executive Director James Burk.
To register online for our 2022 International Mars Society Convention, please click here. Also those interested in serving as a convention sponsor should contact jburk@marssociety.org for more details.
Call for Papers
Presentations for the 25th Annual International Mars Society Convention are invited, dealing with all matters associated with the exploration and settlement of the Red Planet, including science, technology, engineering, politics, economics, public policy, etc.
Abstracts between 100-300 words can be uploaded on our convention web site (https://forms.gle/FgA5zohhdeWfeVpQ8). Please note that the deadline for abstract submissions is August 31, 2022.

The Mars Society
11111 West 8th Avenue, unit A
Lakewood, CO 80215 U.S.A.
www.marssociety.org
https://www.facebook.com/TheMarsSociety
@TheMarsSociety
Copyright (c) 2022 The Mars Society
All rights reserved.

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2022-07-16 13:40:37

MARS SOCIETY ANNOUNCEMENT
View this email in your browser
Mars Society President Sees Potential for South Korea & Mongolia in Space
Last month, Mars Society President Dr. Robert Zubrin visited Asia as part of an extended tour of South Korea and Mongolia. The trip allowed Dr. Zubrin to learn more about each country and their involvement in space exploration, as well as their growing interest in the planet Mars.
To learn more about Dr. Zubrin's Asia visit, we invite you to check out his two-part commentary series in The Cosmopolitan Globalist, which details his time in South Korea and Mongolia and the meetings he held with scientists, government representatives, and members of the public, many of whom are advocates of humans to Mars.
The visit to Mongolia, in particular, helped to open doors between the Mars Society (via Dr. Zubrin) and Mars-V, a local group that supports Mars exploration and has plans to develop its own Mars analog station in the country.
To read Dr. Zubrin's article about visiting South Korea, please go to: Opening a Korean New Space Era (07.10.22).
To learn about Dr. Zubrin's touring of Mongolia, please visit: Space Nomads (07.13.22).
If you are interested in learning more about the Mars Society, its mission, and chapter activities around the world, please visit: https://marssociety.org.

R.Zubrin in South Korea
R.Zubrin in Mongolia
The Mars Society
11111 West 8th Avenue, unit A
Lakewood, CO 80215 U.S.A.
www.marssociety.org
https://www.facebook.com/TheMarsSociety
@TheMarsSociety
Copyright (c) 2022 The Mars Society
All rights reserved.

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2022-07-23 09:52:37

[Op-Ed] How to Search for Life on Mars - First, Stop Refusing to Look
By Robert Zubrin, Steve Benner & Jan Špaček
The New Atlantis, 07.22.22
Was the appearance of life on Earth likely or was it an anomaly? Did this same event also happen on billions of other planets that had similar conditions to ours, or was it the result of freak chance? Are the “universal” features of life on Earth, like the twenty amino acids to build proteins and the DNA and RNA used for genetic information, truly universal, or are they just one example of a vast tapestry of possibilities for how life can be?
These are how people today pose fundamental questions — What is the nature of life? Are we alone in the universe? — that thinking men and women have wondered about for thousands of years. We may be able to find the answers by exploring Mars.
In fact, of all the worlds in the cosmos, Mars may actually be the best one for seeking answers to these questions. The early Mars was similar to the early Earth. Both were warm and wet rocky planets with an atmosphere dominated by carbon dioxide. Both had volcanoes releasing gases that contained the elements of organic chemistry: carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen. Meteor impacts on both worlds could have created the atmospheric conditions necessary to turn these atoms into the building blocks of life. If life could originate and evolve on one planet, it might have done so on the other as well, even if not in the exact same way.
So life might well have emerged on Mars, yet not be so exotic as to escape our recognition, as we could more easily imagine being the case on planets formed in other solar systems. Further, Mars is accessible to the best life-finding agent we have: humans.
The search for life ought to be the great passion animating Mars exploration. But it has not been a goal for NASA. In fact, NASA’s public relations department frequently claims that the agency’s Mars exploration program is meant to “seek signs of life.” They say this because they know that it is what the public is — rightly — interested in. Unfortunately, the claim just isn’t true. NASA’s Mars robotic exploration program is actually focused on geological research, while its planned human Mars exploration program — inasmuch as it exists at all — is not being designed to properly support scientific exploration of any kind.
The last time our space agency conducted experiments to identify signs of living microbes on the planet was in 1976. The 2012 Curiosity rover was meant only to find out “if Mars was ever able to support microbial life,” and the 2021 Perseverance mission was to collect geological samples for later retrieval and perhaps find signs of ancient life — neither aimed at finding living things on the planet today.
Despite what it says, NASA has actually made the decision not to look for present life on Mars, even though tools that could identify life have been available to the agency for twenty years. Even worse, NASA’s existing rovers operating on Mars are being directed to avoid areas most likely to harbor life, and its plans for future human exploration are being designed in a way that would minimize their exploratory capability.
What in the world is NASA thinking? And how can we get the agency back on the path to finding life?
A major impediment to an effective search for life on Mars is the idea of “planetary protection” — that we need to protect Earth from spaceborne plagues, and other planets from Earth germs. Those who advocate strict regulations often point to a line in the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, which requires that any exploration of celestial bodies be conducted in such a way “as to avoid their harmful contamination and also adverse changes in the environment of the Earth resulting from the introduction of extraterrestrial matter.”
NASA’s Planetary Protection office has interpreted that line to mean that we need extremely restrictive regulations, which make all robotic missions to Mars significantly more complicated and expensive, adding delays and limiting their ability to return good science.
The Mars Society
11111 West 8th Avenue, unit A
Lakewood, CO 80215 U.S.A.
www.marssociety.org
https://www.facebook.com/TheMarsSociety
@TheMarsSociety
Copyright (c) 2022 The Mars Society

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2022-07-25 19:47:27

Honeybee Robotics VP Kris Zacny to Address 2022 Mars Society Convention
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Dr. Kris Zacny, Vice President of Exploration Systems and Senior Research Scientist at Honeybee Robotics, will give a plenary talk about robotic space exploration and mining at the 25th Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 20-23, 2022 at Arizona State University (Tempe).
Honeybee Robotics is a prominent R&D engineering company that creates advanced robotic systems for the most demanding environments and applications, both on Earth and in space. Industries served include spacecraft, planetary exploration, defense robotics, medical devices, mining, oil and gas, and utility infrastructure.
Dr. Zacny’s interests focus on space mining, In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), extraterrestrial drilling and sampling, and planetary geotechnical engineering. Previously, he managed mining projects and production in South Africa.
Dr. Zacny earned a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley in Geotechnical Engineering, a M.E. from UC Berkeley in Petroleum Engineering, and B.Sc. cum laude from the University of Cape Town in Mechanical Engineering. He also has over 15 NASA New Technology Records and three NASA Group Achievement Awards.
For more details about the 2022 Mars Society convention, including online registration, call for papers, and volunteer and sponsorship opportunities, please visit our web site (www.marssociety.org). A list of confirmed speakers will also be posted in the coming days.

Dr. Kris Zacny

The Mars Society
11111 West 8th Avenue, unit A
Lakewood, CO 80215 U.S.A.
www.marssociety.org
https://www.facebook.com/TheMarsSociety
@TheMarsSociety
Copyright (c) 2022 The Mars Society
All rights reserved.

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2022-07-27 08:21:01

MARS SOCIETY ANNOUNCEMENT
View this email in your browser
Mars Society Conducting Mission to Mars: Design Course & Competition for High School Age Students
This summer, the Mars Society has been conducting a truly groundbreaking educational program for 40 high school students from around the world, modeled on the approach taken in engineering design courses at some of the best universities in the world.
With this six-week virtual program, which began on July 5th and will conclude in mid-August, the Mars Society looks to make educational history by demonstrating the value of a new and much more creative way to teach science and engineering at the secondary school level than is currently being practiced.
Tuition fee for the course was a nominal $50, making it possible for students of all economic levels to participate, while the worldwide nature of the program resulted in a diverse and multicultural group of high school students.
During the program, the students have been encouraged to communicate and collaborate using whatever tools and methods they were most comfortable with. They were organized into five separate teams based on the time zone each student resided in, as well as the desired working times they self-reported.
The participants are currently working to develop their own unique first human exploration missions to the Red Planet, after having been provided background lectures via Zoom video conferencing by some of the most prominent Mars experts in the world on a wide variety of topics. These include how to search for life on Mars, how to design spacesuits and other critical mission elements, and the science and technologies behind Mars exploration.
Guest lecturers included:
Dr. James Bell, principal investigator of the Mastcam-Z camera system on NASA’s Perseverance rover, who shared the latest techniques and approaches for exploring Mars with rover-based science instruments.
Dr. Steven Benner, an expert microbiologist who covered the nature of DNA and RNA and how to detect life signatures.
Dr. Carol Stoker, a NASA Ames scientist who discussed concepts and approaches for searching for life on Mars, as well as past attempts.
Dr. Chris McKay, a NASA Ames researcher who covered his work in searching for life on the Red Planet and in extreme environments on Earth.
Homer Hickam, the author of “Rocket Boys” (which was made into the movie “October Sky”), who shared his experiences with rocketry as a high schooler in the 1950s and as a NASA employee during the Space Shuttle era in support of astronaut training.
Dr. Lawrence Kuznetz, a former Apollo mission controller who is also an expert on lunar & Mars surface EVA suits.
Dr. Greg Autry, a space policy expert with Arizona State University who provided a professional roadmap for students interested in pursuing space careers.
Dr. Reut Sorek Abramovich, founder of the D-MARS analog program based in Israel, who is an expert on field science and astrobiology.
Dr. Geoffrey Landis, NASA scientist and science fiction author, who discussed his work on NASA’s Mars Pathfinder and Mars Polar Lander missions.
Dr. Madhu Thangavelu, an expert on lunar exploration from the University of Southern California.
Dr. David Poston, formerly with Los Alamos National Laboratory and an expert on the use of nuclear power in space.
Dr. Nathaniel Putzig, a scientist from the Planetary Science Institute and expert on mapping water ice on Mars.
Ashwini Ramesh, an aerospace engineer and educator, who has researched the approaches to grow and create all types of food on Mars.
Dr. Ken Brandt, a NASA Solar System Ambassador, who covered past failures and successes of Mars missions as well as landing site selection criteria.
Caleb Eastman, an engineering expert, who focuses on both hardware and software robotics technologies.
The Mars Society has made nearly all of these educational lectures available to the general public via our YouTube Channel.
The high school students are now designing their Mars surface mission, including its habitat, surface vehicles, scientific instruments, power system and other equipment and supplies, crew size and composition, mission location, scientific objectives, rations, duration, and exploration plan. They have 30 metric tons of useful payload that has already been delivered to the Martian surface, plus an ascent vehicle capable of returning up to six astronauts from Mars to Earth.
The students are also creating mission design elements with four major factors in mind: Science, Engineering, Human Operational Challenges, and Cost. Optimizing any of these necessarily conflicts with the rest. For example, more science equipment will add weight, which takes away mass that could be used for additional exploration range or sacrificing the amount of support equipment and doing anything better nearly always adds to cost. So, in addition to handling their own area as well as they can, the students must try to work out the best possible compromises to produce the best overall result.
The designs of each team will be written up in a report, with each team member responsible for authoring a section. In addition, eight coaches/mentors are also assisting and supporting the students with their design work and presentation preparation activities.
In a couple of weeks, the five teams will be virtually presenting their mission design elements in verbal, visual and written form to an expert panel of judges who will rate their designs based on their technical and scientific merit and how they address the four major factors.
The Mars mission designs will be published by the Mars Society in a book, which will be available for sale on Amazon.com.
Students who are participating in the design activities will receive a certificate attesting to their participation, useful for augmenting their college entry applications. In addition, the winning design team will be invited to present their proposal at the 2022 International Mars Society Convention this October at Arizona State University.
The International Mission to Mars: Design Class & Competition wraps up in mid-August, with the Mars Society hoping to repeat and even expand this program next year.
The Mars Society
11111 West 8th Avenue, unit A
Lakewood, CO 80215 U.S.A.
www.marssociety.org
https://www.facebook.com/TheMarsSociety
@TheMarsSociety
Copyright (c) 2022 The Mars Society
All rights reserved.

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2022-07-29 19:54:04

Finalists Chosen in Mars Society’s Telerobotic Mars Expedition Design Competition
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that six finalists have been chosen in the Telerobotic Mars Expedition Design Competition (TMEDC), an international contest announced in January which asked the entrants to design the best set of robotic exploration hardware using a 10 metric ton payload Mars lander.
The finalists include teams from the U.S., Canada, and Europe and are listed below:
+ MIFECO - Robert Mills - U.S. (Michigan)
+ Carol Greenbaum - U.S. (South Dakota)
+ Moran_TMEDC_Team - U.S. (Virginia)
+ Innspace Team - Poland (Lodzkie)
+ Spaceship EAC - Europe (Germany & multiple team members)
+ Northern Shores Innovation Institute (NSII) - Canada (Ontario)
The teams will now present in-person and virtually before the global community at the 25th Annual International Mars Society Convention at Arizona State University, scheduled for October 20-23, 2022, where the top winners will be selected.
In January 2022, the Mars Society announced the holding of an international contest for the best design plan of a robotic flotilla using a 10 metric ton Mars lander.
An essential requirement for any human Mars exploration mission is a system capable of landing payloads of 10 metric tons or more on the Martian surface. Such systems could first be demonstrated by being used to deliver expeditions consisting of platoons of robots, including wheeled or treaded ground rovers, helicopters, airplanes, balloons, or other types of flight vehicles, and legged robots, including those in humanoid, cat-like, or insectoid forms. Expeditions of this type could return scientific bonanzas while preparing Mars landing sites for human arrival.
The TMEDC is open to people from every country. Entrants could work alone or as part of a team. Each contestant submitted a report of no more than 20 pages presenting their plan. A down select was then made to the top six proposals, whose authors have been invited to present them in front of a panel of judges chosen by the Mars Society during the next International Mars Society Convention this October.
There will be a prize of $10,000 for first place, $5,000 for second, $2,500 for third, $1,000 for fourth, and $500 for fifth. In addition, the papers will be published in a new Mars Society book “Telerobotic Mars Expeditions: Exploring the Red Planet with Platoons of Robots.”
In scoring telerobotic expedition designs, points will be allocated on the following basis:
+ 25 points – Engineering design: How credible are the engineering designs of the proposed systems?
+ 20 points – Science return: What will be the scientific return of the expedition?
+ 20 points – Exploration preparation: What will the expedition do to prepare for future human exploration, both at the landing site itself and across Mars in general?
+ 20 points – Cost: Not counting the systems used to deliver the expedition, how much will the mission cost?
+ 15 points – Schedule: How soon could the mission be made ready for flight? How credible is the claim that it could be launched by 2033? How credible is the claim that it could be ready in time for an earlier launch date?
Congratulations to all the finalists, and good luck on the final round!
The exact date and time of the final round TMEDC presentations and winning announcement at the International Mars Society Convention will be posted on our website (www.marssociety.org) in the coming weeks. Also visit our website for more details about the convention, including how to register online as well as volunteer and sponsorship opportunities.

The Mars Society
11111 West 8th Avenue, unit A
Lakewood, CO 80215 U.S.A.
www.marssociety.org
https://www.facebook.com/TheMarsSociety
@TheMarsSociety
Copyright (c) 2022 The Mars Society
All rights reserved.

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2022-08-02 17:24:08

Plenary Talk about Russia & the Limits of Global Space Cooperation at the Mars Society Convention
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Dr. William Bianco, a Professor of Political Science at Indiana University (Bloomington) and a former Fulbright Senior Scholar, will address the topic of “Russia and the Limits of Global Space Cooperation” during a plenary talk at the 25th Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 20-23, 2022 at Arizona State University (Tempe).
Receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Rochester in 1987, Dr. Bianco has held tenured positions at Indiana University, Penn State University, and Duke University, and visiting positions at Harvard University, Stanford University, and the Brookings Institute. His current research centers on American politics and legislative institutions, in particular the study of political influence on innovation and scientific research, as well as the politics of U.S.-Russian space cooperation.
He is the author of “Trust: Representatives and Constituents”, as well as numerous scholarly articles, and was PI or Co-PI on six National Science Foundation grants and a grant from the National Council for Eurasian and Eastern European Studies. In addition, Dr. Bianco was Fulbright Senior Scholar at National Research University - Higher School of Economics in Moscow in 2011-12.
For more details about this year's Mars Society convention, including online registration, call for papers, and volunteer and sponsorship opportunities, please visit our web site (www.marssociety.org). A list of confirmed speakers will also be posted in the coming days.

Dr. William Bianco, Indiana U.
The Mars Society
11111 West 8th Avenue, unit A
Lakewood, CO 80215 U.S.A.
www.marssociety.org
https://www.facebook.com/TheMarsSociety
@TheMarsSociety
Copyright (c) 2022 The Mars Society
All rights reserved.

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2022-08-07 11:25:12

AU’s Marcia Rieke to Present Latest News about Webb Telescope at Mars Society Convention
With booming world-wide interest in NASA’s now operational James Webb Space Telescope, the Mars Society is pleased to announce that Dr. Marcia Rieke, Principal Investigator for the Webb’s near-infrared camera NICRam, will give an address – “The Webb Telescope’s First Months: A Treasure Trove of Results” – during the 25th Annual International Mars Society Convention October 20-23 at Arizona State University (Tempe).
Currently a Regents Professor of Astronomy at the University of Arizona, Dr. Rieke focuses her research activities on infrared observations of the center of the Milky Way and of other galactic nuclei. These interests have driven her to characterize and develop large-format, low-noise infrared detector arrays used in deep-space observations.
She has served as the Deputy Principal Investigator of NICMOS (the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer for the Hubble Space Telescope) and the Outreach Coordinator for the Spitzer Space Telescope. In addition, she has been active in using Arizona’s ground-based telescopes and is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Rieke received her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She came to the University of Arizona in 1976 as a postdoctoral fellow and has been there ever since.
For more details about this year’s Mars Society convention, including online registration, call for papers, and volunteer and sponsorship opportunities, please visit our web site (www.marssociety.org). Also please note that early bird ticket prices are available until Wednesday, August 31st, 5:00 pm MT.

Dr. Marcia Rieke
The Mars Society
11111 West 8th Avenue, unit A
Lakewood, CO 80215 U.S.A.
www.marssociety.org
https://www.facebook.com/TheMarsSociety
@TheMarsSociety
Copyright (c) 2022 The Mars Society
All rights reserved.

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2022-08-16 13:27:15

NASA Deputy Admin. Pamela Melroy to Address 2022 Int’l Mars Society Convention
The Mars Society is very pleased to announce that NASA Deputy Administrator Pamela Melroy will give a keynote talk titled “The Human-Machine Teaming Path to Get Us There” during the 25th Annual International Mars Society Convention at Arizona State University on Friday, October 21st (11:00 am local time).
As Deputy Administrator, Ms. Melroy performs the duties and exercises the powers delegated by the Administrator, assists the Administrator in making final agency decisions, and acts for the Administrator in his absence by performing all necessary functions to govern NASA operations. She is also responsible for laying the agency’s vision and representing NASA to the Executive Office of the President, Congress, heads of federal and other appropriate government agencies, international organizations, and external organizations and communities.
Ms. Melroy was commissioned through the Air Force Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program in 1983. As a co-pilot, aircraft commander, instructor pilot, and test pilot, she logged more than 6,000 flight hours in more than 50 different aircraft before retiring from the Air Force in 2007. She is a veteran of Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm and Operation Just Cause, with more than 200 combat and combat support hours.
Ms. Melroy was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in December 1994. Initially assigned to astronaut support duties for launch and landing, she also worked advanced projects for the Astronaut Office. She also performed Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM) duties in mission control. In addition, she served on the Columbia Reconstruction Team as the lead for the crew module and served as Deputy Project Manager for the Columbia Crew Survival Investigation Team. In her final position, she served as Branch Chief for the Orion branch of the Astronaut Office.
One of only two women to command a space shuttle, Ms. Melroy logged more than 38 days (924 hours) in space. She served as pilot on two flights, STS-92 in 2000 and STS-112 in 2002, and was the mission commander on STS-120 in 2007. All three of her missions were assembly missions to build the International Space Station.
After serving more than two decades in the Air Force and as a NASA astronaut, Ms. Melroy took on a number of leadership roles, including at Lockheed Martin, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Nova Systems Pty, Australia, and as an advisor to the Australian Space Agency. She also served as an independent consultant and a member of the National Space Council’s Users Advisory Group.
Ms. Melroy holds a bachelor’s degree in Physics and Astronomy from Wellesley College and a master’s degree in Earth and Planetary Sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
For more details about this year’s Mars Society convention, including online registration, call for papers, and volunteer and sponsorship opportunities, please visit our web site (www.marssociety.org). Also please note that early bird ticket prices are available until Wednesday, August 31st, 5:00 pm MT.

The Mars Society
11111 West 8th Avenue, unit A
Lakewood, CO 80215 U.S.A.
www.marssociety.org
https://www.facebook.com/TheMarsSociety
@TheMarsSociety
Copyright (c) 2022 The Mars Society
All rights reserved.

This email was sent to tahanson@ameritech.net
why did I get this? unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences
The Mars Society, Inc. · 11111 W 8th Ave, Suite A · Lakewood, CO 80215 · USA

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2022-08-18 15:13:33

MARS SOCIETY ANNOUNCEMENT
View this email in your browser
Mars Society Concludes Int'l Mission to Mars Design Class & Competition for High School Students
The Mars Society, the world’s largest nonprofit organization dedicated to sending humans to Mars, has recently concluded its first cohort of a groundbreaking educational program “International Mission to Mars”, an engineering design competition for high school students. The program is modeled on the approach taken in engineering design courses at some of the leading universities in the world. In conducting this program, the Mars Society sought to demonstrate the value of a new and much more creative way to teach science and engineering at the secondary school level than is currently being practiced.
The first cohort represented a diverse and multicultural group of 40 high-school age students from around the world who were organized into five teams based on their time zones. Students hailed from the U.S., Canada, Germany, Poland, the United Arab Emirates, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore and India.
The team scoring highest in the competition was Team 2, who named themselves “N.E.W. E.R.A.”, and consisted of students from across Asia and the Americas. We also provided individual winners for each of the four scoring categories: Team 5 won for Science, Team 3 won for Engineering, Team 2 won for Human Factors, and Team 1 won for Cost. All five of the teams created excellent design concepts and are being recognized for their achievements in multiple ways.
The students were provided background lectures via Zoom video conferencing by some of the most prominent Mars experts in the world on a wide variety of topics. These included how to search for life on Mars, how to design spacesuits and other critical mission elements, and the science and technologies behind Mars exploration.
Guest lecturers included:
Dr. James Bell, principal investigator of the Mastcam-Z camera system on NASA’s Perseverance rover, who shared the latest techniques and approaches for exploring Mars with rover-based science instruments.
Dr. Steven Benner, an expert microbiologist who covered the nature of DNA and RNA and how to detect life signatures.
Dr. Carol Stoker, a NASA Ames scientist who discussed concepts and approaches for searching for life on Mars, as well as past attempts.
Dr. Chris McKay, a NASA Ames researcher who covered his work in searching for life on the Red Planet and in extreme environments on Earth.
Homer Hickam, the author of “Rocket Boys” (which was made into the movie “October Sky”), who shared his experiences with rocketry as a high schooler in the 1950s and as a NASA employee during the Space Shuttle era in support of astronaut training.
Dr. Lawrence Kuznetz, a former Apollo mission controller who is also an expert on lunar & Mars surface EVA suits.
Dr. Greg Autry, a space policy expert with Arizona State University who provided a professional roadmap for students interested in pursuing space careers.
Dr. Reut Sorek-Abramovich, co-founder of the D-MARS analog program based in Israel, who is an expert in field science and astrobiology.
Dr. Geoffrey Landis, NASA scientist and science fiction author, who discussed his work on NASA’s Mars Pathfinder and Mars Polar Lander missions.
Dr. Madhu Thangavelu, an expert on lunar exploration from the University of Southern California.
Dr. David Poston, formerly with Los Alamos National Laboratory and an expert on the use of nuclear power in space.
Dr. Nathaniel Putzig, a scientist from the Planetary Science Institute and expert on mapping water ice on Mars.
Ashwini Ramesh, an aerospace engineer and educator, who has researched the approaches to grow and create all types of food on Mars.
Dr. Ken Brandt, a NASA Solar System Ambassador, who covered past failures and successes of Mars missions as well as landing site selection criteria.
Caleb Eastman, an engineering expert, who focuses on both hardware and software robotics technologies.
The Mars Society has made nearly all of these educational lectures available to the general public via its YouTube Channel.
The program succeeded in teaching these high school students advanced concepts about science, engineering, technology and mission design. The participants then designed their own Mars surface mission, including its habitat, surface vehicles, scientific instruments, power system and other equipment and supplies, crew size and composition, mission location, scientific objectives, rations, duration, and exploration plan. They had 30 metric tons of useful payload that had already been delivered to the Martian surface, plus an ascent vehicle capable of returning up to six astronauts from Mars to Earth.
The students created mission design elements with four major factors in mind: Science, Engineering, Human Operational Challenges, and Cost. These factors were the key elements of the scoring rubric, and teams were organized to have students focused specifically on these areas, so that the proper discussion and tradeoffs could be made in their final designs. In addition to handling their own area as well as they can, the students worked out the best possible compromises to produce the best overall result.
The designs of each team were written up in a report, with each team member responsible for authoring a section. In addition, eight coaches/mentors were also assisting and supporting the students with their design work and presentation preparation activities.
The final shootout occurred in three rounds. During the first rounds, each team had 30 minutes to present their designs of a human Mars expedition to a panel of eminent judges. During the second round, each of the teams had 30 minutes to make criticisms of the other teams’ designs. For the third round, the participating teams had 30 minutes to defend their design by rebutting the criticism advanced by the other teams, as well as to present a final “closing argument” on why their design was the best. All three rounds can be viewed on our Youtube Channel.
An expert panel of judges rated the participants’ designs, presentations and rebuttals based on their technical and scientific merit and how they address the four major factors.
The Mars mission designs will be published by the Mars Society in a book, which will be available for sale on Amazon.com. Students who participated in the design activities will receive a certificate attesting to their participation, useful for augmenting their college entry applications.
In addition, the winning design team has been invited to present their proposal at the 25th Annual International Mars Society Convention this October at Arizona State University. The Mars Society will also organize a special panel at the event with several of the program participants (including students) to discuss the overall learnings from this program.
The Mars Society would like to thank the following individuals for participating in the program as a mentor, judge, or volunteer: Sherry Bell, Sabine Heinz, Trudi Hoogenboom, Tobias Koch, Gary Madonna, Haritina Mogusanu, Jonathan Nalder, Kent Nebergall, Emmanuel Olobae, Ashwini Ramesh, Mara Santos, Reut Sorek-Abramovich, Julia Alvarez Vallero, Bryan White, Nicole Willett, and Emma Young. The program was conceived by Dr. Robert Zubrin and coordinated by James Burk, the Executive Director of the Mars Society.
The Mars Society is now seeking educational grants and other funding sources in order to continue and even expand this program next year. Inquiries can be directed to Mars Society Executive Director James Burk at jburk@marssociety.org.
The Mars Society
11111 West 8th Avenue, unit A
Lakewood, CO 80215 U.S.A.
www.marssociety.org
https://www.facebook.com/TheMarsSociety
@TheMarsSociety
Copyright (c) 2022 The Mars Society
All rights reserved.

(th)

New Mars Forums

Announcement

#126 2022-05-14 19:18:44

Re: How's the Society doing right now?

#127 2022-05-18 18:39:08

Re: How's the Society doing right now?

#128 2022-05-18 18:45:00

Re: How's the Society doing right now?

#129 2022-05-23 18:05:48

Re: How's the Society doing right now?

#130 2022-05-26 10:53:03

Re: How's the Society doing right now?

#131 2022-05-30 19:01:57

Re: How's the Society doing right now?

#132 2022-05-31 17:54:20

Re: How's the Society doing right now?

#133 2022-06-05 17:16:33

Re: How's the Society doing right now?

#134 2022-06-08 20:22:42

Re: How's the Society doing right now?

#135 2022-06-13 18:25:01

Re: How's the Society doing right now?

#136 2022-06-17 19:45:08

Re: How's the Society doing right now?

#137 2022-06-17 19:47:07

Re: How's the Society doing right now?

#138 2022-06-17 19:52:05

Re: How's the Society doing right now?

#139 2022-06-20 18:04:39

Re: How's the Society doing right now?

#140 2022-06-28 17:41:59

Re: How's the Society doing right now?

#141 2022-07-03 13:01:24

Re: How's the Society doing right now?

#142 2022-07-16 13:40:37

Re: How's the Society doing right now?

#143 2022-07-23 09:52:37

Re: How's the Society doing right now?

#144 2022-07-25 19:47:27

Re: How's the Society doing right now?

#145 2022-07-27 08:21:01

Re: How's the Society doing right now?

#146 2022-07-29 19:54:04

Re: How's the Society doing right now?

#147 2022-08-02 17:24:08

Re: How's the Society doing right now?

#148 2022-08-07 11:25:12

Re: How's the Society doing right now?

#149 2022-08-16 13:27:15

Re: How's the Society doing right now?

#150 2022-08-18 15:13:33

Re: How's the Society doing right now?

Board footer