The Mars Society is pleased to welcome Dr. Farah Alibay, a veteran JPL Systems Engineer involved in multiple Mars exploration missions, as a virtual speaker during the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 15-18. Since 2014, Dr. Alibay has worked on a variety of NASA missions, spanning the phases of development, from early mission concepts to integration and testing all the way to cruise and surface operations. These include: GNC-Mobility Systems Engineer for the Mars Perseverance rover,… READ MORE >
Topic Area: Space Exploration
The Mars Society is pleased to welcome Bruce Dorminey, veteran science journalist, podcaster and author, as a virtual plenary speaker during the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 15-18. An award-winning science journalist, covering primarily aerospace, astronomy and astrophysics for over three decades, Mr. Dorminey serves as a science contributor to Forbes magazine and Astronomy magazine. In addition, he writes for Stardate, Cosmos and Sky & Telescope magazine, among others. He was also Hong Kong bureau chief… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that George T. Whitesides, newly-appointed Chief Space Officer of Virgin Galactic, will give a virtual plenary talk at the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 15-18, 2020. A ten-year veteran of Virgin Galactic, Mr. Whitesides currently spearheads the development of future technologies, including high speed point to point travel and orbital travel. In addition, he serves as the Chair of the Virgin Galactic’s Space Advisory Board. Prior to this, he… READ MORE >
The Mars Society, the world’s largest space advocacy group dedicated to the human exploration and settlement of the Red Planet, will be convening its 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention on October 15-18, 2020 for our global community via the Internet. Through the use of unique technology provided by the TMRO company of Anaheim, CA, it will be possible to not only hold presentations, panel discussions and debates, but also to allow people from around the world to participate, posing… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Dr. R. Aileen Yingst, Chair of MEPAG (Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group), a body chartered by NASA headquarters to assist in planning the scientific exploration of the Red Planet, will give a virtual address during the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 15-18. The title of Dr. Yingst’s plenary talk will be “Mars for the Next Decade: A Report from the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group.” As a senior… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Dr. Michael D. Griffin, former NASA Administrator, will be joining us (virtually) as a plenary speaker during the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 15-18. The title of his address will be “Towards a Destination Driven Space Program.” Dr. Griffin served as head of the U.S. space agency under President George W. Bush. During this time, he focused on creating a more ambitious space strategy, which included the unveiling… READ MORE >
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 >
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 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 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 >
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 >
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 >
By Robert Zubrin, National Review, 08.31.19 On April 11, 2019, the Israeli SpaceIL company’s Beresheet (Hebrew for “In the Beginning”) lunar lander crashed on the Moon. Beresheet’s payload, supplied by the non-profit Arch Mission Foundation, was meant to be an informational backup for the Earth. It included a DVD containing 30 million pages of human knowledge, as well as 60,000 etched pages requiring no computer to read, keys to 5,000 languages, and DNA samples from 25 people. According to Arch Mission Foundation chairman… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Dr. Kris Zacny, Vice President & Director of Exploration Technology at Honeybee Robotics, will speak about planetary drills and sampling systems on Mars and the Moon during the 22nd Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 17-20 at the University of Southern California. Honeybee Robotics is a long-time supporter of NASA’s exploration missions. The company’s systems for drilling, coring and physical sampling of Mars, the Moon, and asteroids are designed to support scientific inquiry and… READ MORE >