The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Tasia Cobbs, a graphic artist and entrepreneur from Twin Falls, Idaho, has been selected as the winner of the 2025 Mars Society Poster Contest. Known professionally as “TASIA,” Tasia is a registered Choctaw artist with a strong passion for technology, space, and the effort to make humanity a multi-planetary species. Her dynamic and visionary poster design will be used as a key promotional graphic for the 28th Annual International Mars Society Convention,… READ MORE >
News & Announcements
June 9th, 2025
Growing the Future on Mars: Synthetic Biology at the 2025 Mars Society Convention
Dr. Tiffany Vora—scientist, entrepreneur, and VP of Innovation Partnerships at Explore Mars—will deliver a plenary talk at the 28th Annual International Mars Society Convention, taking place October 9–11, 2025, at the University of Southern California. Her talk, “Harnessing Synthetic Biology on Mars,” will explore how cutting-edge advances in biology, engineering, and manufacturing can support long-term human exploration and settlement of the Red Planet. Drawing on the work of the Explore Mars Synthetic Biology Working Group, Dr. Vora will outline how… READ MORE >
June 7th, 2025
Mars in Motion: JPL’s Katie Stack Morgan Joins Red Planet Live
We’re very pleased to announce that Dr. Katie Stack Morgan—Acting Project Scientist for NASA’s Perseverance rover at JPL—will join us on the Mars Society’s Red Planet Live podcast on Tuesday, June 17 at 5:00 PM PT, hosted by Ashton Zeth. As the lead scientist on the Perseverance mission, Dr. Stack Morgan has played a critical role in exploring the ancient river delta in Jezero Crater—where the rover continues its search for signs of past microbial life. In this episode, hosted by… READ MORE >
June 6th, 2025
Evolving Life Beyond Earth: Opportunities for a Green Mars at Mars Society Convention
Dr. Erika DeBenedictis, CEO of Pioneer Labs and a Resident at the Astera Institute, will be giving a plenary talk at the 28th Annual International Mars Society Convention, taking place October 9–11, 2025, at the University of Southern California (USC). Her talk, titled “Opportunities for a Green Human Civilization on Mars,” will explore how principles of evolution and biological engineering can be applied to building sustainable life beyond Earth. Dr. DeBenedictis is also the lead author of a new research… READ MORE >
May 30th, 2025
AI for Mars & Earth: Dex Hunter-Torricke Joins 2025 Mars Society Convention
We’re excited to announce that Dex Hunter-Torricke will be a featured plenary speaker at the 28th Annual International Mars Society Convention, taking place October 9-11, 2025, at USC in Los Angeles. A veteran strategist and communicator at the highest levels of tech and global leadership, Dex has spent the past two decades shaping the public messaging of major figures and companies at the forefront of innovation. He previously served as Head of Communications at SpaceX, where he worked directly with… READ MORE >
May 27th, 2025
JPL Chief Engineer Rob Manning to Headline Friday Banquet at Mars Society Convention
Rob Manning, one of NASA JPL’s most accomplished and respected engineers, will deliver the Friday evening keynote at the 28th Annual International Mars Society Convention, taking place October 9-11, 2025, at USC in Los Angeles. His address is scheduled for the evening of Friday, October 10th. With a career spanning more than three decades at JPL, Rob has helped shape nearly every phase of modern Mars exploration. He served as Chief Engineer for Mars Pathfinder, where he led the Entry,… READ MORE >
May 25th, 2025
Reimagining Spaceflight: BlackStar Orbital CEO CJ Jannette on RPL Podcast
Get ready for a high-velocity conversation on the next episode of Red Planet Live (RPL)! Christopher “CJ” Jannette, Co-Founder & CEO of BlackStar Orbital, will join host Ashton Zeth on Tuesday, June 3, 2025 at 5:00pm PT / 8:00pm ET. A systems engineer, entrepreneur, and technologist, CJ has been instrumental in advancing modular, reusable satellite platforms. His impressive background includes work with SpaceX, NASA KSC, Ripple Aerospace, and the U.S. Air Force, where he contributed to Starship’s thermal protection systems… READ MORE >
May 20th, 2025
JPL’s Dr. Abigail Fraeman Returns to Share New Curiosity Insights at 2025 Mars Society Convention
We’re excited to welcome back Dr. Abigail Fraeman as a plenary speaker at the 28th Annual International Mars Society Convention, taking place October 9–11 at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Dr. Fraeman is a Research Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and currently serves as the Deputy Project Scientist for the Mars Science Laboratory mission, home to the Curiosity rover. In her plenary talk, she will provide a compelling update on Curiosity’s latest discoveries as it continues… READ MORE >
