The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Dr. Michael Hecht, Principal Investigator for NASA Perseverance’s MOXIE (Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment) instrument, will give a virtual address about the project to the 24th Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 14-17, 2021. As part of the growing list of “firsts” for NASA’s Perseverance rover on the surface of Mars, MOXIE successfully converted air from the Red Planet’s thin, carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere into oxygen in April, laying the… READ MORE >
News & Announcements
May 3rd, 2021
Mars City State Designs Book Published!
The Mars Society is proud to announce that its book, “Mars City States: New Societies for a New World”, has now been published. The book, edited by Frank Crossman, contains the twenty top designs for a one million person Mars City State, is now on sale in both paperback and kindle formats. People will soon be able to go to the Red Planet. But that very possibility opens a still more interesting – indeed truly grand – question: What will we… READ MORE >
May 1st, 2021
Participate in the 2021 Mars Society Poster Contest
Support Mars Advocacy & Show Us Your Creativity The Mars Society, the world’s largest space advocacy group dedicated to the human exploration and settlement of the Red Planet, invites members, friends, students, space advocates, and the general public to submit a creative poster for consideration as part of its annual design competition. As always, the winning poster design will be used as the primary promotional graphic for the organization’s main event of the year – the 24th Annual International Mars… READ MORE >
April 26th, 2021
History as a Bridge Between Worlds
The scope and scale of Mars settlement is so significant that it can defy our intuitions. Generally speaking, thinking about endeavours on this scale does not come naturally to us. Especially for those that are new to the idea, it can feel detached from practical reality. The trick to shrinking this unwieldy concept down into an accessible format, is found by thinking a little bigger. We have to consider it within the broader context of history. In the Northwest corner… READ MORE >
April 7th, 2021
Build a Robot Base on Mars [Zubrin]
By Dr. Robert Zubrin, SpaceNews, 04.07.21 The key is developing a 10-ton lander The triumphant landing of the Perseverance rover has inspired all Americans, and indeed much of the world. President Biden should follow it up by launching the program to send humans to Mars. While robotic rovers are wonderful, they cannot resolve the fundamental scientific questions that Mars poses to humanity, which relate to the potential prevalence and diversity of life in the universe. The early Mars was very much like… READ MORE >
April 6th, 2021
2021 Mars Society Convention – Dates, Registration & Abstracts
Register Today! The 24th Annual International Mars Society Convention October 14-17, 2021 (A Virtual Event) The Mars Society was founded more than two decades ago to further the exploration and settlement of the Red Planet. The International Mars Society Convention presents a unique opportunity for those interested in the planet Mars to come together and discuss the science, technology, social implications, philosophy and a multitude of other aspects of Mars exploration. Last year, in the face of the COVID epidemic,… READ MORE >
March 25th, 2021
President Biden Should Push for the Human Exploration of Mars [Zubrin]
By Dr. Robert Zubrin, Mars Society President, Scientific American, 03.25.21 The triumphant landing of the Perseverance rover has inspired all Americans, and indeed much of the world. President Biden should follow it up by launching a program to send humans to Mars. While robotic rovers are wonderful, they cannot resolve the fundamental scientific question that Mars poses to humanity, which relate to the potential prevalence and diversity of life in the universe. The early Mars was very much like the… READ MORE >
March 20th, 2021
No, Mars is not a Hellhole [Blog]
For the past few weeks, an article has been circulating throughout the Mars science and exploration community that serves as a sharp reminder of how much work remains to be done in educating the public (and apparently journalists) on the subject of the red planet. ‘Mars Is a Hellhole’ seemingly aims to characterize the objective of a long term human presence on Mars as folly. By couching scary-sounding Mars factoids within a blatantly ad hominem swipe at Elon Musk, it… READ MORE >
