The Mars Society announced recently the launching of a new international contest to design a telerobotic Mars expedition. 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 best 20 papers submitted will be published in a new Mars Society book, “Telerobotic Mars Expeditions: Exploring the Red Planet with Platoons of Robots.” An essential requirement for any human Mars exploration mission is a system capable of… READ MORE >
News & Announcements
March 15th, 2022
Public Welcomed to CHASM Analogue Forum at Cambridge
Members of the public are invited to meet with analogue astronauts and mission specialists at the Conference on Human Analogue Space Missions (CHASM) on Sunday, April 3rd (14:30-18:00 BST) at the Lucy Cavendish College on the Cambridge University campus. Organized by Mars Society UK, one of the Mars Society’s global chapters, CHASM involves talks by UK and international analogue space mission crews and staff about their missions and goals. One of the key speakers will be Dr. Shannon Rupert, Director of the Mars… READ MORE >
March 4th, 2022
Mars Society Peru & Spain Chapter Experiment to be Flown to Chinese Space Station
The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) have selected a joint project by Mars Society Peru and Mars Society España, two of the Mars Society’s international chapters, as part of their Access To Space For All initiative. Organized by university students from both countries, the combined Peruvian and Spanish research project is intended to study the effect of microgravity on the growth and biofilm production of disease-causing bacteria. Thanks to UNOOSA… READ MORE >
February 21st, 2022
Public Displays for The Big Dream Space Art Initiative Begin Today (2.22.22)
World-wide presentations for The Big Dream space art initiative begin TODAY (2.22.22), with 15 public displays of 500 (+) pieces of artwork based on people’s dreams for humanity’s future in space, including the planet Mars! Partnering with Dreame, the Mars Society has called on its global membership and friends to submit their visions for the human settlement of Mars and beyond to The Big Dream project for transformation into inspiring art. The enclosed graphic lists the locations for all 15 sites around the world where the… READ MORE >
February 20th, 2022
Mars Society’s MarsVR Now Available for Public Beta on Steam Digital Platform
What you need to know: The first Early Access release of MarsVR, showcasing the Mars Society’s Mars Desert Research Station, is now available to the general public. MarsVR is listed in the Steam directory of VR applications, the main VR content platform, and supports most major brands of VR headsets. This version of MarsVR is a guided tour of the campus and surrounding terrain. Future versions will add building interiors including objects used in analog space missions as well as… READ MORE >
February 8th, 2022
Executive Director’s Report (02.22) – The Mars Society
We invite you to watch a video report by James L Burk, our new Executive Director, about his first full month in the role. The five-minute video lists a number of key accomplishments achieved since January 1st, such as the announcement of our Telerobotic Mars Expedition Design Competition (TMEDC). James also outlines plans and initiatives for next month, including the official public release of our Mars VR Virtual Reality project. To watch the new video report, please click here. This… READ MORE >
February 6th, 2022
MDRS in Español
Estamos muy emocionados de anunciar que en enero del 2023 realizaremos nuestras primeras misiones análogas completamente en español en el Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) en Utah. Todas las posiciones para las dos tripulaciones están abiertas. Los aplicantes deben tener fluidez en español hablado y escrito. Además, deben tener, como mínimo, habilidades de conversación en inglés. También estamos buscando personal de apoyo remoto para la misión como Oficial de Comunicación o CapCom. Comuníquese con Atila Meszaros, Director Asistente de MDRS,… READ MORE >
February 1st, 2022
Red Planet Live to Host MDRS Director Shannon Rupert
Please join us on Monday, February 14th at 6:00 pm PT / 9:00 pm ET as we welcome Dr. Shannon Rupert to Red Planet Live, the Mars Society’s monthly video podcast! A trained ecologist with more than two decades of experience in Mars analog studies, Dr. Rupert has been the Director of the Mars Desert Research Station since 2009. MDRS is the largest and longest-running Mars surface simulation facility in the world, where 6-7 person crews participate in two-week field… READ MORE >
