The Mars Society announced today that it is beginning a nationwide grassroots campaign to get Congress to pass legislation compelling the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to produce a plan to get humans to Mars within a decade. As part of the campaign, the Mars Society has drawn up a draft Mars Exploration Act requiring NASA to produce a plan, and mobilizing its chapters across the nation to meet with their representatives and Senators in their home offices to explain… READ MORE >
News & Announcements
The Mars Society is excited to announce that Kirsten Whittingham, President of Max Space and a distinguished veteran in the aerospace industry, will be the featured guest on the September 3rd episode of Red Planet Live. Hosted by Ashton Zeth, this 60-minute RPL broadcast will explore the cutting-edge developments in space habitats and the future of space exploration. Max Space is at the forefront of designing and manufacturing affordable, high-fidelity expandable space habitats. These innovative structures are set to revolutionize… READ MORE >
My name is Nicole Willett, Director of Education Programs at the Mars Society, the world’s largest humans-to-Mars advocacy group. We are excited to offer a comprehensive STEM curriculum designed for all grade levels (K-12) and are looking for teachers to implement these projects and activities in their classrooms—completely free of charge! Understanding the challenges of tight budgets, we’re providing these resources at no cost. All we ask in return is for your feedback on the activities via a brief Google… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is proud to announce that Team Aspera, an exceptional multi-national student team, has claimed the top spot in the Third Annual International Mission to Mars Engineering Design Competition. The winning team, comprised of Anay Ashwin (Australia), Tanay Naik (U.S.), Nidhi Mandrekar (U.S.), and Leonardo Berlinski (Italy), achieved an outstanding score of 91.67/100 in this prestigious global challenge. This year’s competition, which took place from June 3rd to July 12th, 2024, challenged high school students aged 13-19 to… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that the next episode of its Red Planet Live podcast will air on Wednesday, August 21st, at 5:00 PM PT / 8:00 pm ET. This show will feature interviews with two prominent leaders in the organization’s educational outreach: Nicole Willett, the Mars Society’s Director of Education Programs, and Jen Carver-Hunter, master teacher and crew commander of the NASA-funded Spaceward Bound Utah program. Nicole Willett has been the driving force behind the Mars Society’s… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is delighted to announce that celebrated opera soloist Oscar Castellino will debut the new composition “Mars Pensiero” at the upcoming 2024 International Mars Society Convention. This highly anticipated event will be held at the University of Washington Seattle, with the performance taking place during the Saturday evening banquet on August 10th. The composition, set to music by legendary Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi, features lyrics co-authored by Mr. Castellino and Mars Society President Dr. Robert Zubrin. The Stuti… READ MORE >
Science, tech & space enthusiasts, unite! Join us for an out-of-this-world evening at the Space & Time Networking Night 🚀, part of the 2024 International Mars Society Convention at UW Seattle. Co-hosted by the Mars Society and Seattle Space Happy Hour, this event will take place on Friday, August 10th, from 7:00-9:00pm at the Burke Museum of Natural History & Culture, an intimate setting surrounded by pre-historic dinosaur fossils. It’s your chance to rub elbows with fellow space geeks, chat… READ MORE >
Get ready for an exciting episode of Red Planet Live! On Tuesday, August 6th (5pm PT / 8pm ET), join us for an in-depth look into the Mars Society’s Ambassador Program, led by its newly appointed director and RPL host Ashton Zeth. This 60-minute live broadcast will feature a panel of esteemed guests including James Melton, the founder of the program and Chief Ambassador Emeritus, along with international program representatives Nasir Rizwan (Pakistan), Jonathan Adler (Australia), and Emmanuel Kyei Twumasi… READ MORE >
We are very excited to share that our own Sergii Iakymov, Director of the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS), has been chosen to join a 45-day NASA simulated Mars mission (Aug. 9 – Sept. 23) at the HERA analog facility at Johnson Space Center in Houston. Congratulations, Sergii! We wish you and your crew an incredible experience on your mission “to Mars!” NASA Research Volunteers to Begin Next Simulated Mission to Mars [NASA Announcement, 07.22.24] NASA selected a new team… READ MORE >
The Annual International Mars Society Convention features plenary talks and panel discussions with top experts in Mars and space exploration, the commercial space industry, technological development, and space advocacy. To give more enthusiastic professional & non-professional speakers a chance to participate, the Mars Society also includes 30-minute track talk presentations during afternoon sessions. This year’s event will showcase several dozen track talk speakers, such as: – Angelina Tsuboi: Architecting Marsnet: Interplanetary Internet Design for Mars and Beyond – Jay Garg:… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is excited to announce that a major panel discussion on NASA’s current and future Mars exploration plans will take place (virtually) on Friday, August 9th at 10:00 am PT / 1:00 pm ET as part of the 27th Annual International Mars Society Convention. Amid the growing complexities of Mars exploration, NASA is concentrating on several key areas: deploying robotic exploratory systems (rovers, landers, and orbiters), returning Martian rock and soil samples to Earth, and designing infrastructure for… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is excited to announce that Dr. Agnieszka Wendland, an Assistant Professor at Warsaw University of Technology, will be delivering a (virtual) plenary talk at the 27th Annual International Mars Society Convention this August. Her presentation, titled “The First Tree on Mars,” is part of a new multi-authored research project led by NASA’s Dr. Chris McKay. The project explores the possibility of warming the Red Planet by increasing its CO2 density and introducing greenhouse gases like perfluorocarbons (PFCs),… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is very pleased to announce the safe return of Crew 16 (Arctic Wolves), an international team of seven scientists, who have completed their mission at the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station on Devon Island. Following several days of weather delays, the crew finally departed the island and arrived safely in Resolute Bay, Nunavut Territory earlier today. Taking advantage of their brief time in Resolute Bay, the crew enjoyed much-needed showers and a hearty meal before boarding a… READ MORE >
On July 9th, Crew 16 concluded their final full day of simulation at the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station on Devon Island with two extended analog expeditions, marking a significant milestone in their mission. In the morning, the crew focused on geological and environmental tasks. They successfully collected breccia rocks, which are known for their fragmented texture, and water samples from various locations around the Haughton Crater. These samples will be essential for studying the geological history and current environmental conditions… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Dr. Michaela Musilova will be joining the 60-minute Red Planet Live podcast, hosted by Ashton Zeth, on Tuesday, July 16th, at 6:30 PM PT / 9:30 PM ET – 90 minutes later than the usual time slot. Dr. Musilova is a distinguished astrobiologist, explorer, analog astronaut (including Commander of MDRS Crew 173), science communicator, keynote speaker, and author. Her impressive resume includes conducting space-related research at NASA, ESA, CalTech, University College London,… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Jeremiah Pate, Founder and CEO of Lunasonde, will deliver a plenary address on “Mining Space Rocks” at the 27th International Mars Society Convention this August at the University of Washington in Seattle. An entrepreneur and visionary in space resource exploration, Mr. Pate and his team are pioneering ways to secure critical minerals for humanity while preserving our planet from the impacts of traditional mining. Lunasonde is paving a new path for accessing… READ MORE >
Crew 16 (Arctic Wolves) officially began their simulation on Saturday (July 6th) at the Mars Society’s Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station on Devon Island in Nunavut territory. Located near the 20-kilometer wide Haughton Crater, formed by a massive meteorite impact 31 million years ago, the analog station serves as an ideal environment for Mars mission simulations. Led by Dr. Ilaria Cinelli, the 7-person international team is conducting important research and field studies to help prepare future astronauts for exploring the… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Bryan Versteeg, an award-winning conceptual designer, will be presenting at the 27th Annual International Mars Society Convention, taking place this August at the University of Washington in Seattle. Mr. Versteeg will deliver a talk titled “Future Habitats: Simulating the Path to Human Space Settlement.” His presentation will explore the innovative use of video game engine tools to enhance awareness and education about space exploration, focusing on both planetary surfaces and free space… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is thrilled to announce that Ashton Zeth, the dynamic host of our successful Red Planet Live (RPL) podcast, has been appointed the new Director of the Mars Society Ambassador program. Initially launched in 2020 by veteran space advocate, public speaker, and author James Melton, the program is a professional team of volunteer advocates from around the globe. Their mission is to elevate public awareness and support for landing human explorers on Mars within a decade, eventually leading… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Dr. Steven Benner, a renowned biochemist known for his pioneering work in synthetic biology, dynamic combinatorial chemistry, and paleo-molecular biology, will deliver a plenary address at the 27th Annual International Mars Society Convention in Seattle this August. His talk, titled “Strategies for Life to Survive on the Near Surface of Mars – Indigenous and Human,” promises to be one of the highlights of the event. Dr. Benner, a Distinguished Fellow at the… READ MORE >
David Down, a member of our Mars Society Facebook group page, recently used an AI chatbot called Poe to compose a poem about the first people landing on the Red Planet. It’s quite impressive. Here it is. Red Planet Pioneers Across the void of space they flew, Brave souls in vessels tried and true. Months of travel, dreams in sight, Mars growing larger, day and night. The rusty surface drawing near, Hearts racing fast with hope and fear. Descent begins,… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is delighted to announce that a new breakthrough concept that could open the way to terraforming the Red Planet will be presented at the 27th Annual International Mars Society Convention, which will be held at the University of Washington in Seattle, August 8-11. Developed by a team led by University of Chicago Prof. Edwin Kite and in collaboration with Prof. Hooman Mohseni‘s research group at Northwestern University and Prof. Ramses Ramirez at the University of Central Florida,… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is very pleased to announce that a distinguished three-person NASA panel will join the Red Planet Live (RPL) podcast on Tuesday, July 2nd at 5:00 pm PT / 8:00 pm ET. This expert team will delve into topics including Mars exploration, strategies for sample returns from the Red Planet, and the architecture supporting Moon to Mars missions. Hosted by Ashton Zeth, this first podcast episode of July will mark the beginning of RPL’s new twice-a-month format (airing… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is excited to announce the return of an international crew to the organization’s Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station in northern Canada for approximately two weeks, beginning on June 26th (weather permitting). Established in 2001, the Flashline station aims to develop the capabilities needed for Mars to enable productive field research during long human missions. Over the years, the facility has evolved to achieve higher levels of realism and fidelity, ultimately supporting the training of Mars-bound astronauts. Located… READ MORE >
Join us on Tuesday, June 18th, at 5:00 pm PT / 8:00 pm ET for the next episode of Red Planet Live (RPL) featuring James Burk, Executive Director of the Mars Society and veteran analog astronaut, and hosted by Ashton Zeth. We’re excited to welcome James back to our 60-minute podcast for an in-depth discussion on the Mars Society’s recent advancements, the newly launched Mars Technology Institute (MTI), and much more. With a rich history at Microsoft and over two… READ MORE >