The Mars Society is pleased to announce that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the International Network for Terrestrial Research and Monitoring in the Arctic (EU-INTERACT) to use the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS) on Devon Island in northern Canada, approximately 900

FMARS is a unique Mars analog research station established by the Mars Society in July 2000 to serve as a key element in support of various studies of technologies, strategies, architectural design and human factors involved in proposed human missions to the Red Planet. As part of this, the Mars Society announced on Monday that it is initiating an effort to conduct a one-year simulated human Mars exploration mission at the FMARS facility. (Those wishing to support the new FMARS program can contribute online today.) 

To lead this effort with EU-INTERACT, the Mars Society has set up a high-level climate research team consisting of Dr. Ghassem R. Asrar (World Climate Research Program/World Meteorological Organization), Dr. Chris McKay (NASA), Dr. Alexander Kumar (Oxford, UK) and Dr. Bruno D.V. Marino (Planetary Emissions Management, Inc.). The team is currently discussing the feasibility of a climate program at FMARS and potential program design.  

“FMARS has always been a test bed for Mars analog studies. It makes perfect sense to extend our program to terrestrial climate research, from which we may discover important clues as to the history not only of Earth’s climate, but that of Mars as well,” said Mars Society (Acting) Executive Director Susan Holden Martin. 

[Latest News: Mars Society President Dr. Robert Zubrin will speak publicly about the planning for the new FMARS program at the 32nd International Space Development Conference (ISDC) in San Diego, California on Saturday, May 25th at 10:00 a.m.] 

The Mars Society announced today that it is initiating an effort to conduct a one-year simulated human Mars exploration mission in the Canadian high Arctic at its Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS). Situated at 75 degrees north, roughly 900 miles from the North Pole, FMARS is located adjacent to a 20 kilometer meteor impact crater in the midst of a polar desert that is known to represent one of the most Mars-like environments on Earth. By conducting a Mars surface mission simulation at FMARS of the same duration as is needed for an actual expedition to the Red Planet, the Mars Society will take a major step forward towards learning how humans can most effectively explore the new interplanetary frontier. 

The Mars Society plan, called Mars Arctic 365 (MA365), is divided into two phases. Scheduled to commence this July, the first phase will accomplish the refit of

FMARS and enhance the facility’s equipment, enabling it to support an effective one-year mission, which will require wintering at the station through six months of deep sub-zero temperatures. Phase 2 will be the one-year simulated Mars mission itself. 

Costs of the MA365 program are estimated at $130,000 for Phase 1 and $1,000,000 for Phase 2. As Mars Society President Dr. Robert Zubrin explained, “The Mars Society has already received a $30,000 cash pledge, as well as the free loan of the services of two Arctic-capable aircraft and their expert pilots, worth (at least) $50,000 to support the mission. Thus we now have in hand $80,000 of the $130,000 necessary to fully accomplish MA365 Phase 1, and therefore we are starting the program. We still need, however, another $50,000 if we are to complete Phase 1 this summer, which has to happen in order to initiate Phase 2 in 2014. Therefore I am calling on everyone who wishes to see human explorers on Mars in our time to contribute whatever you can now to make this bold plan a reality.” 

Zubrin continued; “The Mars500 mission recently completed in Moscow achieved much good scientific data and attracted worldwide attention. MA365 will go much further. We will also deal with isolation issues, but instead of sitting safe and sound in a nice warm room in the middle of a city, our crew at FMARS will be required to conduct a sustained program of geological, microbiological and climatological field exploration in a cold and dangerous remote environment while operating under many of the same constraints that a human crew would face on Mars.” 

“It is only under these conditions,” Zubrin continued, “where the crew is trying hard to get real scientific work done, while dealing with bulky equipment, cold, danger, discomfort, as well as isolation, that the real stresses of a human Mars mission can be encountered, and the methods for dealing with them mastered.  It is only under these conditions that all sorts of problems that Mars explorers will face can be driven into the open so they can be dealt with. Only by doing these missions can we make ourselves ready to go to Mars. Nothing like this has ever been done before. It needs to be done, and we intend to do it." 

Among the goals of the MA365 Phase 1 mission will be to refit and better insulate the hab, build an equipment storage shed and add two new generators, a thermal heating system, four all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), four snowmobiles (skidoos), a weather station, a ham radio station backup com system, a small electric range and an upgraded lab.  Those contributing $5,000 or more will be given the right to name any one of the 16 aforementioned major units (the hab was named after Flashline.com in July 2000) as they choose, on a first come, first choice basis. Please indicate your top three preferences with your donation. 

To carry the fundraising for the MA365 mission, the Mars Society is making use of the online fundraising system Crowdtilt. Those wishing to donate online are kindly asked to visit our Crowdtilt page. In addition, those interested in contributing by check should send their donation to The Mars Society, 11111 W. 8th Avenue, unit A, Lakewood, CO 80215. 

All donations to the Mars Society, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, are tax deductible. Our organization’s federal tax ID number is 31-1585646. Please express your support for Mars exploration by giving generously. 

A complete report on the MA365 Phase 1 mission will be given by members of its crew at the 16th Annual International Mars Society Convention, August 15-18, 2013 at the University of Colorado in Boulder. For more information about this year’s Mars Society convention, including registration details, please visit our web site.

Chris Voorhees, Vice President of Spacecraft Development at Planetary Resources, Inc., will speak about NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover and Mars Science Laboratory missions, as well as current planning for asteroid mining by Planetary Resources at the 16th Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for August 15-18, 2013 at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Mr. Voorhees has played an integral role in both the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) and Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) projects.  He served as Chief Engineer for mechanical assembly, integration and testing for NASA’s $2.5 billion MSL rover and was also responsible for the integrated system design of the MSL rover’s mechanical and structural sub-systems. 

At Planetary Resources, Mr. Voorhees leads the technical team in implementing the detailed design, development, integration and operation of the company’s spacecraft line of products. 

In addition, Mr. Voorhees received NASA’s Exceptional Achievement Medal for the design and development of the Mars Exploration Rover’s mobility system.  He graduated summa cum laude from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering.

For more information about the 2013 Mars Society Convention, including registration details, speaker list and sponsorship opportunities, please click here.

[Image: Planetary Resources]

The following is the final report of Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) Crew 129, composed of scientists and engineers from Russia, which just completed its tour.  A full review of this year's activity at MDRS will be given at the 16th Annual International Mars Society Convention, which will be held August 15-18, 2013 at the University of Colorado at Boulder.  Online registration is now available.

Final MDRS Crew 129 (Team Russia) Mission Report

Written 05/03/2013 by Nikolay Dzis-Voynarovskiy

This report will end our 14 days of Mars simulation. Our team was the first Russian team at MDRS. It is honorable to be the first but leads to some problems. Initially our crew consists of six specialists – commander, executive officer, engineer, biologist, geologist and journalist. Getting US visas turned to be much more difficult task than we expected. Our journalist arrived to MDRS since four days after the beginning of our rotation. Crew’s biologist still has no visa. We hope that she will analyze collected data at home.

Our program for research at MDRS included:

• + Test of walking robot prototype
• + Model rocket launches
• + Human factors research
• + Geology research including ‘Water on Mars’ experiment
• + Astronomy observations

To read the full report, please click here.

The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Inspiration Mars Executive Director Dennis Tito will give a plenary talk at the 16th International Mars Society Convention, which will be held at the University of Colorado, Boulder, August 15-18, 2013. Inspiration Mars is planning to fly a two-person flyby mission in 2018. Tito’s talk will kick off a special August 16 morning plenary session of the conference devoted to discussing the mission, during which he will be joined by other leading members of the Inspiration Mars team.  Then, during the afternoon, workshops will be held to form working groups to assist the Inspiration Mars project with engineering support, fundraising, public outreach, and other key areas.

Dennis Tito is a US engineer and multimillionaire, most widely known as the first space tourist to fund his own trip into space. In mid-2001, he spent nearly eight days in orbit as a crew member of ISS EP-1, a visiting mission to the International Space Station. This mission was launched by the spacecraft Soyuz TM-32, and was landed by Soyuz TM-31.  He holds a Bachelor of Science in Astronautics and Aeronautics from New York University, 1962 and a Master of Science in Engineering Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute , received an honorary doctorate of engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2002, and is a former scientist of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory where he was involved in designing the trajectories that guided several of the Mariner probes to Mars and Venus.

In 1972, he founded Wilshire Associates, a leading provider of investment management, consulting and technology services in Santa Monica, California. Dennis Tito serves an international clientele representing assets of $12.5 trillion.                                                                                                    

Through an arrangement with space tourism company Space Adventures, Ltd., Tito joined the Soyuz TM-32 mission on April 28, 2001, spending 7 days, 22 hours, 4 minutes in space and orbiting Earth 128 times. Tito paid a reported $20 million for his trip.

In February 2013, Tito launched Inspiration Mars, and announced his intention to send a privately financed spaceflight to Mars by 2018.