The Mars Society has recently added a number of new items to its Shop@Mars online store (https://store.marssociety.org), including products related to the 2020 International Mars Society Convention, scheduled to be held virtually October 15-18. A few of the new items currently being offered: An official convention t-shirt An official convention sweatshirt A Mars texture mask (COVID-19) An official convention mousepad An official convention poster The virtual store has six categories of products, including t-shirts, 2020 convention, accessories, drinkware, holiday cards… READ MORE >
Topic Area: STEM
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that its tentative program itinerary for the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, being held via the Internet Thursday-Sunday, October 15-18, has been released on its web site. With 3,500 people currently scheduled to attend the virtual conference, along with 150 speakers, the Mars Society invites you to join this important event next month to learn about current Mars exploration, plans for a human mission to the Red Planet in the near future… READ MORE >
Kevin Sloan, long-time Director of the Mars Society’s University Rover Challenge, will give a presentation about the URC program and plans for next year’s rover design competition (this summer’s URC was postponed due to COVID-19) during the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 15-18. As the premier robotics competition for college students from around the world held annually at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah, URC challenges student teams to design and build the next generation… READ MORE >
20 semi-finalists have been chosen for the Mars Society’s Mars City State Design Competition. The semi-finalists include teams from the U.S., Australia, France, China, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Canada, Indonesia, India, the United Kingdom, Austria, Spain and Germany. In February 2020 the Mars Society announced the holding of an international contest for the best design plan of a Mars city state of 1,000,000 people. There will be a prize of $10,000 for first place, $5,000 for second, $2,500 for third, $1,000 for… READ MORE >
Dr. Shannon Rupert, long-time Director of the Mars Society’s Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Utah, will give a virtual address entitled “Once a Martian, Always a Martian: Demographics and Stories of the People who have Crewed MDRS” during the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 15-18. She will be sharing an analysis of the demographics of the researchers who have served as crew at the station over the last twenty years and providing some stories about… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to welcome Anastasia Stepanova, an engineer at the Russian Academy of Science’s Institute of Biomedical Problems and veteran crew member of two major space simulation programs – SIRIUS (Scientific International Research in Unique Terrestrial Station) and the Mars Society’s Mars160, as a virtual plenary speaker at the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 15-18. Ms. Stepanova served as a mission specialist at SIRIUS 18-19, a four-month long mission conducted jointly in Moscow… 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 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 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 >
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 >
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 >
An excellent report by Clément Plagne, journalist for Crew 223 (Supaero II) currently stationed at the Mars Society’s Mars Desert Research Station in Utah, explaining why he and his team participate in the MDRS analog program. If you’re reading this, it probably means that you’re either a family member or friend of ours, interested in science and the exploration of Mars or both. From your point of view, being out in the desert and being like astronauts for some time… READ MORE >
The Mars Society invites you to join its subreddit page (r/MarsSociety) to learn more about the organization and its efforts to advocate for human Mars exploration, as well as current news about planning for a human mission to the Red Planet. Our direct link is: https://www.reddit.com/r/MarsSociety/new. With almost 2,000 members, the Mars Society’s subreddit account is growing fast and having a major impact on the Reddit space community. Leading group representatives, including its president, Dr. Robert Zubrin, are participating in chats to… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is very pleased to announce that a new group has been added to its international network of chapters, with the recent establishment of Mars Society Cyprus. Set up in coordination with the Cyprus Space Exploration Organization (CSEO), the new Cypriot chapter will seek to promote the human exploration and settlement of the Red Planet and help drive Mars-related research locally and in cooperation with other countries. “Welcome to Mars! We look forward to all the exciting things our… READ MORE >
The Mars Society’s MDRS – Mars Desert Research Station, the world’s largest and longest-running Mars analog program, welcomed a special Mars Academy USA (MAU) crew to its campus last week to begin an historic dual habitat simulation lasting two weeks. During this mission, one crew is operating at MDRS, while a second crew works out of the MAU habitat, which consists of a series of interlocking geometric tents that house crew quarters and a research area. The crew is made up… READ MORE >
Support the Mars Society while getting your last minute holiday shopping done. Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of eligible AmazonSmile purchases to the Mars Society. To learn more, visit: https://amzn.to/2YVaZir. Thanks and happy holidays!… READ MORE >
Donate to the Mars Society on #GivingTuesday Each year on Giving Tuesday, non-profit organizations rally their supporters for a day of maximum impact. Following Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday provides an opportunity for people around the world to support what matters most to them and share that cause with their social media networks. The Mars Society relies on the generous contributions of members and friends like you to sustain and expand our programs, including the long-running Mars Desert Research Station in Utah,… READ MORE >
We’re looking for Mission Support (CapCom) staff who are willing to volunteer remotely, giving their time and commitment to assist crews participating in analog missions at the Mars Society’s Mars Desert Research Station in Utah. Apart from the personal reward you will gain from having helped to contribute to space exploration and humanity’s great future achievement of reaching the Red Planet, additional benefits include: * Scholarships for future involvement in a MDRS crew. * Free signed copies of Dr Zubrin’s… READ MORE >
ATTENTION EDUCATORS! NASA Funded Opportunity for Teachers in Utah: Spaceward Bound Utah crew to be held at MDRS (Dec. 9-13, 2019) Spaceward Bound is a program to train K-12 teachers in how to engage their students in activities that will inspire careers in the space sciences by taking teachers into the field with scientists who are working on space-related research in a given location. First instituted by scientists and researchers at NASA Ames, today researchers involved in that early project… 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 >