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This topic is offered for reports or comments about the upcoming Convention.
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From the Mars Society main website: "PLEASE NOTE ALL TALKS WILL BE IN-PERSON THIS YEAR. THERE IS NO VIRTUAL OPTION TO PRESENT."
With everything the current US government is doing, I do not feel safe travelling to the US. News reports of a Canadian actress who was sent to film a scene in Mexico, but when she tried to return was arrested by border security. She's white, speaks English, has a Canadian passport, and a work visa to work in the US. She crossed the border at a regular border crossing and reported to US customs. Yet she was arrested, incarcerated in a concrete cell for 11 days.
I do not feel safe travelling to the US. And virtual presentation is not an option. Too bad. :'(
CBC: Canadian detained for 11 days by U.S. immigration speaks out for others stuck in limbo
Jasmine Mooney's smile went viral after the 35-year-old Canadian was taken into U.S. custody at the Mexican border in March, but her story is now whispered in fear.
On March 3, Mooney tried to get her work visa renewed, entering at an immigration office at the Mexico-San Diego border, against a U.S. lawyer's advice. Instead she ended up being denied, and then, all of a sudden, detained.
Mooney spent 11 days in custody — off and on in cement cells she says are dubbed "ice boxes" — with little more than a thin foil emergency blanket. Mooney says she faced numerous transfers, humiliating medical tests, degrading treatment and no answers — despite pleas to let her pay for her own flight home.
She at first refused food and couldn't sleep but then forced herself to get up and help others.
"It breaks you. That place breaks you into a million pieces. It is so disgusting what goes on in there," Mooney told CBC News in an interview on Thursday.
Her case is one of a series of instances involving non-U.S. travellers that has travellers and legal experts concerned.
There's more to the news story. This is the first short bit.
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It's not just foreigners. American citizens have been detained just for+ the color of their skin. I suspect they have tried to deport more than one. Pretty soon it won't be skin color, it will be for opposing Trump. Which means me. And I fear for my wife, who was born in Japan, but made a naturalized citizen as an infant. The parallel to the Nazification of Germany in the 1930's is just too eerily close!
I think you are right, Rob. Do not risk coming here. Not until and unless we can get rid of this dictator, and all the minions who support him and keep him in power.
GW
86 47
GW Johnson
McGregor, Texas
"There is nothing as expensive as a dead crew, especially one dead from a bad management decision"
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The Guardian: Some tourists and business travelers may face up to $15,000 bond to enter US
How many Mars Society members will not attend Convention this year?
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This post is about the convention itself ... I note that Google seems to think there will be "virtual" aspects to the event...
The 2025 International Mars Society Convention will be held from October 9-11 at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles, according to The Mars Society. The convention is the premier global gathering for Mars exploration, human settlement, and space technologies.
This year's convention will be the 28th annual event and will feature a range of speakers, including:
Dr. Orson Sutherland: Programme Manager for Mars Exploration at ESA, who will discuss ESA's Mars plans.
Dr. Vora: Focusing on synthetic biology for Mars.
Dex Hunter-Torricke: Will discuss AI's role in Mars settlement.
Hoppy Price: Chief Engineer for NASA's Robotic Mars Exploration Program, speaking on future robotic missions, according to The Mars Society.2025 Mars Society Convention: Dr. Vandi Verma on Space ...
The event will include both in-person and virtual sessions, allowing participation from anywhere in the world. The Mars Society's website has more information on registration and volunteering opportunities.
The earlier announcement of in-person only attendance appears to have been reversed:
The Mars Society
July 20 at 10:00AM
·
Mark your calendars, Martian fans!
The 28th Annual International Mars Society Convention is landing at USC, October 9–11, 2025—and you can beam in live or show up in person.
Get ready for three jam-packed days of space talk with scientists, engineers, industry pros, and fellow Mars nerds diving deep into the latest Red Planet news.
Join the mission at marssociety.org!
This is from a web site that appears to be from Mars Society itself (via Facebook)
https://www.facebook.com/TheMarsSociety … 594163081/
Now I'll try the Mars Society web site...
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It appears that virtual attendance is indeed available for the 2025 Mars Society Convention in October ...
With both in-person and virtual sessions, participants can engage in real-time discussions and ask direct questions, as well as network with fellow Mars advocates no matter where you are. Online registration is now open, and tickets for the special Saturday evening banquet are available for purchase.
https://mkt.marssociety.org/convention-registration
I found that the Mars Society has a link to check a member's status.
https://app.joinit.com/o/marssociety
It appears that the way to check status is to log in.
https://app.joinit.com/o/marssociety/members
I logged in and found that my membership still has a year to run.
I updated the address and other information. The web site sent an email for confirmation.
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This post is intended to show information about the upcoming convention:
Register for the
2025 Mars Society Convention
"Mars: The Time has Come"October 9th - 11th
University of Southern California
Main Campus - Los Angeles, CA
We have significantly lowered our rates this year for registration, to encourage in-person attendance.
Act Now! Early Bird Rates End July 1st, 2025.Member and Non-Member Tickets include a single adult ticket to the Saturday Evening Banquet which will include a special guest speaker.
Use the Member rate only if your annual membership is current; check your membership status at Join.MarsSociety.org
Student/Senior does not include banquet. Student status requires full-time enrollment in a degree program or K-12. Senior status is 60+.
Additional banquet tickets can be purchased here.
Summary
Annual Convention Registration - Member Rate
$125.00Adult Banquet Ticket
$60.00Total (USD)
$185.00
I'll look for information about how to attend virtually. I am guessing that perhaps virtual attendance becomes available if a person has registered for the event.
I filled out the "Contact" form and asked for clarification about virtual attendance.
Everyone on NewMars is likely to want to attend virtually. Travel to and from the United States appears to be unwise at this time.
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This post is about a speaker for the upcoming convention:
Message Body
MARS SOCIETY ANNOUNCEMENT
View this email in your browserGet Your Ticket Today! JPL Chief Engineer Rob Manning to Headline 2025 Friday Convention Banquet!
Rob Manning, one of NASA JPL’s most accomplished and respected engineers, will deliver the keynote presentation during the Friday banquet at the 28th Annual International Mars Society Convention. The event will take place October 9-11, 2025, on the USC campus in Los Angeles, with his address set for the evening of Friday, October 10th.
With a career spanning more than three decades at JPL, Rob has helped shape nearly every phase of modern Mars exploration. He served as Chief Engineer for Mars Pathfinder, where he led the Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) team for the first-ever airbag lander and rover on another planet. He went on to co-create and help lead the Mars Exploration Rovers (Spirit and Opportunity) and later played a key role in developing the now-famous sky crane landing technique used to deliver the Curiosity rover to the Martian surface in 2012.
As Chief Engineer for the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), Rob oversaw the design and testing of one of NASA’s most complex planetary missions to date. He is currently Mars Program Engineering Manager at JPL and leads the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) project, which is testing new technologies for future Mars landers.
Rob is also the author of Mars Rover Curiosity: An Inside Account from Curiosity’s Chief Engineer, and has received numerous accolades for his work, including four NASA medals, two honorary doctorates, and induction into the Aviation Week Space Laureate Hall of Fame at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. A graduate of Caltech and Whitman College, Rob lives in La Cañada, CA with his wife Dominique and daughter Caline.
During the Friday banquet, Rob will share reflections on his engineering journey, the evolution of Mars missions, and the technological challenges and opportunities ahead for robotic and human exploration.
To register for the 2025 international convention, purchase banquet tickets, or sign up as a volunteer, visit marssociety.org.
Don’t miss the chance to hear from one of the key minds behind Mars exploration!
The Mars Society
1100 Johnson Road, Suite 18257
Golden, CO 80402 U.S.A.
www.marssociety.org
https://www.facebook.com/TheMarsSociety
@TheMarsSocietyCopyright (c) 2025 The Mars Society
All rights reserved.
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This post is about a speaker for the upcoming convention:
MARS SOCIETY ANNOUNCEMENT
Charting Mars’ Future: MEPAG Chair Dr. Victoria Hamilton to Speak at Mars Society Convention
Dr.Victoria E. Hamilton, Chairperson of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG), will be a plenary speaker during the 2025 International Mars Society Convention, to be held October 9-11, at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
A distinguished planetary geologist with the Southwest Research Institute, Dr.Hamilton’s expertise spans the mineralogy of planetary surfaces, meteorites, and returned samples—specializing in infrared spectroscopy of Mars, Earth, and Venus.
After earning her degree in geology as a junior at Occidental College, she found her calling during a transformative summer internship at JPL, mapping Venus’s radar images for the Magellan mission. She went on to earn her Ph.D. through work involving lab spectroscopy and Mars Odyssey’s THEMIS instrument, followed by roles as a participating scientist on the Mars Science Laboratory mission and deputy instrument scientist for a New Frontiers thermal‑infrared instrument.
In her capacity as MEPAG Chair, Dr. Hamilton orchestrates the community-based, interdisciplinary process that defines scientific objectives and guides strategic planning for current and future Mars missions. Her forthcoming plenary session will offer attendees a compelling look into how MEPAG prioritizes high‑value targets, steers the Mars Sample Return architecture, and fosters global scientific collaboration.
Don’t miss this rare chance to hear from one of Mars exploration’s foremost leaders. For registration information and volunteer opportunities, please visit marssociety.org.
The Mars Society
1100 Johnson Road, Suite 18257
Golden, CO 80402 U.S.A.
www.marssociety.org
https://www.facebook.com/TheMarsSociety
@TheMarsSocietyCopyright (c) 2025 The Mars Society
All rights reserved.
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This post is about the Itinerary for the upcoming Mars Convention:
Mars Society Unveils Program Itinerary for 2025 International Convention at USC
The Mars Society is pleased to announce the release of the program itinerary for its 28th Annual International Mars Society Convention, which will be held October 9–11, 2025 at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
Widely recognized as the premier international conference on Mars and space exploration, the convention will bring together an extraordinary roster of scientists, engineers, aerospace leaders, policymakers, and advocates for three days of discussion about humanity’s future in space. The program will cover a broad spectrum of topics, from preparing for human missions to Mars and exploring the solar system, to the development of new space technologies and strategies for building a sustainable presence beyond Earth.
Among the many distinguished speakers scheduled to take part are Rob Manning, Chief Engineer, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who will serve as the convention’s banquet speaker; Dr. Victoria Hamilton, Chair of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group; Casey Dreier, Chief of Space Policy at The Planetary Society; Dr. Bhavya Lal, Professor of Policy Analysis at the RAND School of Public Policy; Orson Sutherland, Mars Program Manager, European Space Agency; Dex Hunter-Torricke, Head of Global Communications, Google DeepMind; Dr. Erika Alden DeBenedictis, CEO of Pioneer Labs; Dr. Kris Zacny, Vice President of Exploration, Honeybee Robotics; and Dr. Robert Zubrin, President of The Mars Society.
The convention will be accessible to participants around the world, offering both in-person and virtual sessions. Attendees will have the chance to hear directly from leading voices in the space community, engage in live discussions, and connect with fellow Mars advocates no matter where they are. While online registration remains open, tickets for the Friday evening banquet are limited and going fast.
This year’s convention promises to be a dynamic and timely conversation about the challenges and opportunities of sending humans to Mars. To register and view the full program itinerary, please visit www.marssociety.org.
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This post is about James Burke, Executive Director of the Mars Society, and long time Webmaster for this forum, before he turned over that responsibility to kbd512.
MARS SOCIETY ANNOUNCEMENT
Inside the Mars Movement: A Conversation with James Burk on RPL
Join us on Tuesday, September 16th at 5:00 pm PT for an exciting episode of Red Planet Live, hosted by Ashton Zeth, featuring James Burk, Executive Director of the Mars Society.
A veteran analog astronaut and crew commander at our Mars Desert Research Station in Utah, a former Microsoft project leader, and co-founder of our growing Mars Technology Institute, James will provide an in-depth update on the Mars Society’s work and initiatives.
From the latest Mars Society analog missions in southern Utah and on Devon Island in Nunavut Territory to behind-the-scenes news about the 2025 International Mars Society Convention (October 9–11 at USC in Los Angeles), you’ll get the inside scoop straight from the source.
Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from one of the leading voices in the Mars movement. Sign up today to join the live 60-minute show and submit your questions in real time!
If you can’t attend RPL live on September 16th, the full episode will be available afterward on the Mars Society’s YouTube channel, and soon after on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, and RSS feed.
Red Planet Live is a semi-monthly live podcast from The Mars Society – Ashton Zeth interviews the people instrumental in exploring and settling Mars. The show will focus on a wide variety of topics, including Mars and space exploration, STEM education, technology, women in science, astrobiology, the growing aerospace industry, and much more, with exciting and open discussions involving experts in these respective fields.
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