By Jeff Foust, SpaceNews, 04.28.16 WASHINGTON — SpaceX announced April 27 it plans to send an uncrewed Dragon spacecraft to the surface of Mars as soon as 2018 on a technology demonstration mission aided by expertise, but not funding, from NASA. The company said it planned to launch a Dragon 2 spacecraft dubbed “Red Dragon” to Mars on a Falcon Heavy launch vehicle as soon as the next launch window for Mars missions, which opens in the spring of 2018…. READ MORE >
Month: April 2016
Two senior scientists involved with the Kepler Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope will present timely updates about the two observatory missions at the 19th Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for September 22-25 at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Dr. Paul Hertz, Director of NASA’s Astrophysics Division Science Mission Directorate, will discuss the latest news from the troubled Kepler observatory spacecraft, launched in 2009 with the goal of discovering Earth-size planets orbiting other stars…. READ MORE >
The following is the final report of Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) Crew 167. A full review of this year’s activities at MDRS will be given at the 19th Annual International Mars Society Convention, which will be held September 22-25, 2016 at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. The call for papers can be viewed on the Mars Society web site. MDRS Crew 167 (April 3-17, 2016) – End of Mission Summary McLennan Community College (TX) sent two… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Michael Stoltz, who currently serves as the group’s Director of Media & Public Relations, has been appointed Vice President for Development. In this role, Mr. Stoltz will be responsible for the organization’s fundraising activities, including major gifts, grant writing, corporate sponsorship, planned giving and direct mail. With 15 years of non-profit fundraising experience, Mr. Stoltz has worked for several colleges in the U.S. as a senior development officer, as well as in… READ MORE >
Dr. Jennifer L. Eigenbrode, a NASA researcher, will give a plenary talk about the Curiosity-MSL rover mission and efforts to investigate possible bio-signatures on the surface of the Red Planet at the 19th Annual International Mars Society Convention, to be held September 22-25, 2016 at the Catholic University in Washington, D.C. Working at Goddard Space Flight Center’s Planetary Environments Laboratory as a bio-geochemist and geologist with an interest in astrobiology, Dr. Eigenbrode is part of the research team working with MSL’s… READ MORE >
60 teams have registered for the Third Annual European Rover Challenge (ERC). They hail from 12 countries, including Canada, Italy, Poland, Peru and the U.S. The final round of the competition will take place in Jasionka, Poland, September 10-13, 2016. In addition to participating in this major Mars rover competition, one of the main cores of the Rover Challenge series sponsored by the Mars Society, teams this year will participate in a mentoring workshop, according to ERC Director Lukasz Wilczynski…. READ MORE >
The Mars Society is saddened to announce the passing of Fredrick Gary Hareland, the founder and head of the organization’s China Lake-Upper Mojave Desert chapter, after a long illness. Known to Mars Society staff and friends as “Gary”, he was a strong advocate of a human mission to the planet Mars, as well as human spaceflight in general. Gary approached the Mars Society in September 2012 about the possibility of setting up a local chapter in the China Lake-Ridgecrest area… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce a new mission, Mars 160, using both of the organization’s analog research stations. This program will involve the same seven person crew doing similar science operations for the same period of time – 80 days – initially at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in southern Utah in the fall of 2016 and then continuing at the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS) in northern Canada in the summer of 2017. The multi-national… READ MORE >
The following is the final mission report of Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) Crew 166 (Mission to Mars UCL). A full review of this year’s MDRS activities will be presented at the 19th Annual International Mars Society Convention, to be held September 22-25, 2016 at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Stationed at MDRS from March 19th thru April 3rd, Crew 166 consisted of six students from the UCL (Université Catholique de Louvain), a Belgian university. It was… READ MORE >
Don McCoy, Project Manager of the European Space Agency’s ExoMars 2016 mission, will present a full update about the spacecraft’s journey to the Red Planet and long-term mission at the 19th Annual International Mars Society Convention, to be held September 22-25, 2016 at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Scheduled to arrive at the planet Mars this October, this first part of the ExoMars program, consisting of an orbiter and lander, will search for gases in the Martian… READ MORE >