The Mars Society announced in February 2020 the holding of an international contest for the best design plan of a Mars city state of 1,000,000 people. No less than 175 teams have entered the global competition. 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 top 21 papers will be published in a new book “Mars City States: New Societies for a New… READ MORE >
News & Announcements
Dr. Mark Panning, Project Scientist and Co-Investigator for NASA’s Mars InSight lander, currently operating on the Martian surface, will be joining us virtually to provide a mission update during the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 15-18. After spending almost a decade at the University of Florida in the geological sciences division, Dr. Panning joined JPL in 2017 to focus on planetary interiors using seismology. He is also Co-Investigator on the Dragonfly mission to Titan, currently in… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that the winner of the 2020 Mars Society Poster Contest is Samer El-Sayary of Lebanon. Our winning designer is an assistant professor for the Faculty of Architecture at Beirut Arab University and also serves as an ambassador for Mars City Design. Graphic artists who competed in the annual contest were asked to submit a poster using the theme “Rising Together” for the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, a virtual conference that will… READ MORE >
By Dr. Robert Zubrin, The Space Review, July 6, 2020 The following memo was sent by the author to NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine and Scott Pace, executive secretary of the National Space Council, on June 30, 2020. A mission equivalent to Apollo 8—call it “Artemis 8”—could be done, potentially as soon as this year, using Dragon, Falcon Heavy, and Falcon 9. The basic plan is to launch a crew to low Earth orbit in Dragon using a Falcon 9. Then… READ MORE >
Dr. Tom Williams, Element Scientist for NASA’s Human Factors and Behavioral Performance division, will give a plenary talk during the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 15-18. Since 2015, Dr. Williams has directed a multi-disciplined team of NASA scientists at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, focusing on human factors in the areas of habitability, mission processes and tasks, human automation robotic interactions, dynamic loads and training. The primary task of this team is to mitigate critical… READ MORE >
By Robert Zubrin & Homer Hickam, Washington Post, 06.22.20 The success last month of the SpaceX Dragon’s flight to the International Space Station was the first time in nearly a decade that Americans traveled into space aboard an American vehicle launched from U.S. soil. That is important, but we think the flight actually means even more. This commercially developed spacecraft has given our nation the means to carry crews to the moon — and perhaps beyond — much faster and cheaper than has… READ MORE >
Reddit AMA R/SpaceX Announcement How to Get to Mars – AMA with Mars Society President Dr. Robert Zubrin – Saturday, June 27th (2:00 pm ET, 18:00 GMT) We’re pleased to announce that Dr. Robert Zubrin will be returning to r/SpaceX for another AMA on Saturday in conjunction with the Mars Society. While we’re sure that Dr. Zubrin needs no introduction for most of us here, for those of you who are new, Dr. Zubrin is of course the Mars Society President and… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is glad to welcome Dr. John M. Grunsfeld, a former NASA astronaut and Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, as a virtual plenary speaker during the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, set for October 15-18, 2020. Serving 17 years as a NASA astronaut, Dr. Grunsfeld is a veteran of five space shuttle flights and visited the Hubble space telescope three times during these missions to near Earth orbit. He logged more than 58 days in… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Barbara Belvisi, Founder and CEO of Interstellar Lab, Inc. will give a virtual plenary talk during the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 15-18, 2020. Established in 2018, Interstellar Lab’s mission is to develop and build bio-regenerative habitats and life-support solutions to make human life sustainable on Earth, as well as on Mars and other planets in our solar system. Ms. Belvisi started her career as an investment manager… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to welcome Dr. Alan Stern, NASA’s Principal Investigator for its New Horizons mission that successfully explored Pluto and its moons and is currently navigating the Kuiper Belt, as a virtual plenary speaker during its 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, set for October 15-18. A respected planetary scientist and author, Dr. Stern serves as Associate Vice President at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. His academic research has focused on the Kuiper Belt and… READ MORE >
Taber MacCallum, Chairman of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) and co-founder and CTO of World View Enterprises, will give a virtual plenary talk during the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, set for October 15-18. Prior to World View, Mr. MacCallum served as co-founder, CEO and CTO of Paragon Space Development Corporation, a designer and manufacturer of hazardous environment life support equipment. During his tenure at Paragon, Mr. MacCallum served as the CTO and safety officer for Alan Eustace’s world… READ MORE >
The Mars Society announced the launch of an international dual design competition for creating a logo to be used as a patch and t-shirt by crew members at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Utah, the largest and longest-running Mars analog program in the world. The theme of the customized logo is to represent what MDRS stands for – advocating and preparing for human exploration and settlement of Mars – but must be obvious and self-explanatory to all, including… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to welcome Dean Cheng, a Senior Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, as a virtual plenary speaker during the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 15-18. Specializing in China’s space program and international relations, Mr. Cheng is part of the Heritage Foundation’s Asian Studies Center – Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy. He has written extensively on the technological implications of China’s space program and ‘dual use’ issues associated with… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that the 2020-21 field season at the Mars Desert Research Station will be held this fall as previously planned. MDRS is the largest and longest-running Mars simulation facility in the world involving U.S. and international crews. MDRS management, led by its director, Dr. Shannon Rupert, has worked tirelessly on plans and precautions to ensure protection of each visiting crew and is confident in moving forward with the upcoming field season. Some individual MDRS… READ MORE >
Dr. Abigail Fraeman, a planetary scientist and deputy project scientist for NASA-JPL’s Curiosity rover mission, will provide an update about the space agency’s Mars rover missions during the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 15-18. Her experience with NASA-JPL missions to the solar system are extensive, including having served as co-investigator for the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM), principal investigator for NASA Development & Advancement of Lunar Instrumentation, co-investigator for NASA Planetary Data Analysis &… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Rick Tumlinson, Founding Partner of Space Fund, a major venture capital firm for space technology companies, and a prominent space activist, will give a virtual presentation during our 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 15-18. Named one of the top 100 most influential people in the space field by Space News, Mr. Tumlinson is credited by many with helping start the NewSpace revolution – which has led to commercial… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Dr. David Poston, leader of the Compact Fission Reactor Design Team at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, will give a virtual plenary talk during the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 15-18. Dr. Poston’s research team at Los Alamos is responsible for the design and development of nuclear fission reactors for NASA, civilian and defense applications in space. As part of this, he serves as the Chief Reactor Designer… READ MORE >
Dr. Sarah Milkovich, lead Science Systems Engineer for NASA-JPL’s Mars Perseverance rover, scheduled to launch this July, will give a virtual update about the mission to the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, set for October 15-18. During her 14 years at JPL, Dr. Milkovich has specialized in science planning and operations for landed and orbital spacecraft, geomorphology and planetary science research, science communication and the ability to handle nebulous problems. Prior to the Mars 2020 rover mission, she served… READ MORE >
Presentations for the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention in October are invited dealing with all matters (science, engineering, politics, economics, technology, public policy, etc.) associated with the exploration and settlement of the planet Mars. Abstracts of no more than 300 words should be sent by Friday, July 31st (5:00 pm MT). Those submissions received after the deadline may not be included in the convention literature and are lower priority for adding to the final schedule. Those intending to submit an abstract… READ MORE >
Dr. Chris McKay, a senior planetary scientist at NASA Ames Research Center and one of the co-founders of the Mars Underground, will give a virtual plenary talk during the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 15-18. A renowned astrobiologist and expert on planetary atmospheres and terraforming, Dr. McKay’s research focuses on the evolution of the solar system and the origins of life. He is also involved in planning for future Mars missions including human exploration. He has… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to welcome Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Founder and Executive Chairman of the X PRIZE Foundation, as one of its plenary speakers at the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled to be held virtually October 15-18, 2020. Named several years ago by Fortune as one of the “World’s 50 Greatest Leaders,” Dr. Diamandis is an international pioneer in the fields of innovation, commercial space and incentive-based competitions. His X PRIZE initiative is best known for… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Dr. S. Pete Worden, Executive Director of Breakthrough Starshot, will be joining us virtually as a plenary speaker during our 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention set for October 15-18, 2020. Breakthrough Starshot is a $100 million research and engineering program aiming to demonstrate proof of concept for a new technology, enabling ultra-light unmanned space flight at 20% of the speed of light and to lay the groundwork for a flyby mission to Alpha Centauri within… READ MORE >
The 2020 Mars Society Poster Contest begins today! Members, friends and space enthusiasts are all invited to submit a creative poster for consideration, with the winning design to be used as the primary promotional tool for the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled to be held around the world via the Internet on October 15-18. Those artists intending to design a poster for this first-time virtual global event are asked to incorporate the theme of this year’s conference –… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention will be convened Thursday-Sunday, October 15-18, 2020 all over the world via the Internet! Through the use of unique technology provided by the TMRO company (Anaheim, CA), it will be possible not only hold debates, panel discussions and presentations, but to allow people from all countries to participate, posing questions and interacting with each other, creating a global teleconvention of a type never before seen…. READ MORE >
Support the Mars Society while shopping on Amazon during these difficult times. Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of AmazonSmile purchases to the Mars Society. To learn more, please visit smile.amazon.com (and remember to select the Mars Society as your charity of choice). Thank you (and Amazon) and stay safe!… READ MORE >