Author: Michael Stoltz

Posts by Michael Stoltz

Major News: Water Ice Buried at Mars’ Equator is Over 2 Miles Thick

Large deposits of subsurface water ice two miles thick have been found near the Martian equator by the European Space Agency – ESA orbiter. This discovery could improve future prospects for human Mars settlement.​  Water Ice Buried at Mars’ Equator is Over 2 Miles ThickBy Keith Cooper, Space.com, 01.19.24 A European Space Agency (ESA) probe has found enough water to cover Mars in an ocean between 4.9 and 8.9 feet (1.5 and 2.7 meters) deep, buried in the form of dusty ice beneath the planet’s… READ MORE >

Robert Zubrin to Do Speaking Tour in France and the UK

Mars Society President and founder Dr. Robert Zubrin is scheduled to visit Europe this month to participate in a series of public talks and panel discussions involving planning for human Mars exploration, the recent establishment of the Mars Society’s Mars Technology Institute (MTI), and the growing challenges facing humanity. The first two public events will occur in France while the next three will take place in England and Scotland. All of the scheduled gatherings are open to the general public, with registration required. As… READ MORE >

RPL Podcast to Welcome Back Astrobiologist Dr. Graham Lau

The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Dr. Graham Lau, a popular astrobiologist and science communicator, will be returning to our Red Planet Live podcast for another virtual episode on Tuesday, January 16th (5:00 pm PT) to discuss the search for life on Mars and in our solar system and answer your questions about all things related to space. Dr. Lau serves as a Research Investigator at the Blue Marble Space Institute of Science and Director of Communications for… READ MORE >

NY Times Photo Collection about MDRS

The New York Times published an opinion guest essay – The Beautiful Desolation of Life on Mars – on Earth – about the Mars Society’s Mars Desert Research Station and one of its recent analog astronaut teams – Crew 286 – in its print version and on its website. Two professional photographers – Andrea Orejarena & Caleb Stein – embedded with Crew 286 for four nights/five days during a two-week mission at the MDRS campus in southern Utah from November… READ MORE >

Mars Technology Institute Year-End Fundraising Appeal

Be a Maker of History – Your Year-End Gift Can Change the Future! Dear Friend, As we approach the end of another remarkable year in the history of the movement to send human beings to Mars, we at the Mars Society reflect on the strides we’ve made and the journey that lies ahead. This is the year we began the Mars Technology Institute to accelerate our goals dramatically. The MTI will pioneer the technologies for the human settlement of the… READ MORE >

Univelt Makes Grand Donation to Support MTI Fundraising Campaign

The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Univelt Incorporated has made a grand donation of books to help support the ongoing crowdfunding campaign to launch the Mars Technology Institute. The Univelt Mars Library is a 14-volume set of historic books including: 1. The Founding Convention of the Mars Society – proceedings volumes in three parts, edited by Robert Zubrin 2. Strategies for Mars (invited papers by Carol Stoker), Volume 86, AAS Science and Technology Series 3.. The Case for Mars – proceedings volumes from 1984,… READ MORE >

Mars Technology Institute Crowdfunding Campaign Launched!

The Mars Society has launched a crowdfunding campaign to fund the Mars Technology Institute (MTI). Settling Mars will require dramatic advances in biotech (to enable food production at scale on very limited land), artificial intelligence (to deal with a severe labor shortage), and advanced energy (to power an energy-intensive society without fossil fuels) as well as many other areas of research. The MTI will develop these technologies and commercialize them for use on Earth. This will benefit our home planet… READ MORE >

New Director Appointed to MDRS Analog in Utah

During the 26th Annual International Mars Society Convention held in early October at ASU Tempe, it was announced that Sergii Iakymov, long-time assistant director of the organization’s Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS), would formally assume the role of director of the Utah analog facility. In this position, Sergii is supervising MDRS crew selection and logistical support, station maintenance and resupply, and on-site mission support and crew rotation, as well as participating in select analog simulations and field research. Sergii is… READ MORE >

FMARS Crew 15 to Join Red Planet Live in November

The next episode of our Red Planet Live (RPL) video podcast hosted by Ashton Zeth will include a panel discussion with members of the Mars Society’s Crew 15, which visited the FMARS – Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station on Devon Island in northern Canada this summer. Join us for the live 60-minute RPL broadcast on Tuesday, November 21st (5pm PT / 8pm ET). The FMARS 15 crew included: Take advantage of this opportunity to ask this multi-national team (U.S., U.K…. READ MORE >

A New Option to Help the Mars Society

As a registered non-profit organization, the Mars Society is always looking to raise additional funds in order to expand its existing programs, such as its Mars analog missions and STEM education projects, as well as create new initiatives to help prepare humanity for the exploration and settlement of the Red Planet. As part of this, the Mars Society recently added a new option to its Donate web site page called Anonymous Donations, which allows individuals or companies to send fully… READ MORE >

RPL Pre-Recorded Interviews from 2023 International Convention

The Mars Society invites you to a special pre-recorded episode of its Red Planet Live (RPL) video podcast with host Ashton Zeth interviewing a number of speakers from the recent 26th Annual International Mars Society Convention at Arizona State University (Tempe). With Ashton serving as a senior volunteer during the Arizona conference October 5-8, a decision was made to schedule a series of brief recorded interviews with plenary and track talk speakers for the October show for streaming beginning Tuesday,… READ MORE >

Help Wanted: Scientists & Engineers to Enable the Human Settlement of Mars

The Mars Society is founding the Mars Technology Institute (MTI) to develop the technologies and financial engine needed to enable the human settlement of the Red Planet. We anticipate beginning research and development operations on approximately January 2, 2024, and are looking for highly-skilled and hard-working biotechnologists and chemical engineers to join our team. The location of our facility is still being finalized, but it will most likely either be in the Seattle or Denver area. The MTI will offer… READ MORE >

JPL Mars Ingenuity Helicopter Lead to Address 2023 Mars Society Convention

The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Theodore (Teddy) Tzanetos, Manager of the JPL Mars Ingenuity Helicopter mission, will give a virtual plenary address this week during the 26th Annual International Mars Society Convention at ASU (Tempe). The title of his talk will be “Ingenuity – The Martian Wright Flyer and Beyond.” In addition to supervising the Ingenuity helicopter mission at JPL, Mr. Tzanetos is also the Manager of JPL’s sample recovery helicopters to be used as part of… READ MORE >

Join Us Virtually or In-Person for the 2023 Mars Society Convention!

The Mars Society will officially open its 26th annual international convention on the Arizona State University campus in Tempe October 5-8, serving once again as the world’s largest multi-day forum on Mars exploration, planning for human settlement, and cutting-edge topics related to space exploration, science, and technology. As always, the four-day Mars Society conference will convene a wide range of scientists, engineers, aerospace executives, government policymakers, analog astronauts, and space advocates to discuss and analyze the latest news about humanity’s plans for exploring Mars… READ MORE >

Farming on Mars: Interview w/ Dr. Robert Zubrin

By Brandon Gorrell & Owen Lewis, TheWhitePill.PW (09.23.23) Reader, hi, it’s the 24th issue of the White Pill, and it’s easily our best issue yet. This one has a lead story: an interview with the legendary Robert Zubrin, founder of Mars Society, prolific space and science writer, and preeminent aerospace engineer. We discuss farming on Mars, and how to get rich off of Martian technology. While there’s significant investment and R&D into terrestrial biotech applications, Martian biotech is underserved, and could doubly produce… READ MORE >

Two Weeks until 2023 Int’l Mars Society Convention at ASU

The Mars Society will officially open its 26th annual international convention two weeks from today on the Arizona State University campus in Tempe October 5-8, serving once again as the world’s largest multi-day forum on Mars exploration, planning for human settlement, and cutting-edge topics related to space exploration, science, and technology. As always, the four-day conference will convene a wide range of scientists, engineers, aerospace executives, government policymakers, analog astronauts, and space advocates to discuss and analyze the latest news… READ MORE >

NASA HERA Astronaut to Give Plenary Talk at 2023 Mars Society Convention

The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Roberto Carlino, an aerospace engineer at NASA Ames Research Center and a former NASA HERA analog astronaut, will give a plenary address during the 26th Annual International Mars Society Convention this October at Arizona State University in Tempe. The title of Mr. Carlino’s talk will be “What I learned from 45 days in isolation with NASA’s HERA mission,” which took place at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston in early 2022 with… READ MORE >

2023 Convention Program Itinerary Now Available Online

The Mars Society is pleased to announce that the official program itinerary for the 26th Annual International Mars Society Convention is now available online. Check it out at: https://bit.ly/3LnO34W. The global forum, to be held at Arizona State University (Tempe) from October 5-8, will include dozens of talks by leading scientists, engineers, government policymakers, members of the media, and space advocates about the latest news about Mars and space exploration. A special panel has also been scheduled to outline the… READ MORE >

Physician Shawna Pandya to Discuss Space Medicine at 2023 Mars Society Convention

Dr. Shawna Pandya, a physician, scientist-astronaut candidate, and Director of the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences Space Medicine Group, will be delivering a plenary address during the 26th Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 5-8 at ASU (Tempe). Her talk, titled ‘Medicine for the Moon, Mars and Benefits for Earth,’ will cover her extensive research on medical guidelines for commercial suborbital spaceflight, space technologies that have benefitted terrestrial medicine, and psychological resilience and reproduction & sexuality in long-duration… READ MORE >

ASU’s Sara Walker to Review Theories for Possible Martian Life during Mars Society Convention

The Mars Society is pleased to welcome Dr. Sara I. Walker, an astrobiologist and theoretical physicist at Arizona State University (Tempe), as one of our plenary speakers during the 26th Annual International Mars Society Convention this October.  The title of her address will be “Mars: Red and Dead?”, discussing planetary theories for life and implications for whether or not Mars is a living world. Currently serving as a professor with the ASU School of Earth & Space Exploration, the Bio-Social… READ MORE >

Join Dr. Zubrin during Reddit AMA (Sept. 9)

THIS SATURDAY (September 9th), Dr. Robert Zubrin, President of the Mars Society, will participate in a Reddit AMA talk (r/SpaceX) at 12:00 pm PT / 3:00 pm ET, taking questions from a global audience about humans to Mars, plans for the new Mars Technology Institute initiative, general space exploration, STEM education, and much more. We hope that you’ll be able to join us today and get all your questions ready for Dr. Zubrini. He’s looking forward to it!… READ MORE >

PSI’s Than Putzig to Examine Search for Buried Martian Ice at Mars Society Convention

The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Dr. Nathaniel “Than” Putzig, Associate Director and senior planetary geophysicist at the Planetary Science Institute in Colorado, will discuss exploring for buried ice on the Red Planet during the 26th Annual International Mars Society Convention this October at ASU (Tempe). Dr. Putzig has been investigating the geology, climate, and resources of the planet Mars with radar, thermal, and other spacecraft data for over 20 years, and currently serves as the U.S. team… READ MORE >

Mars Society to Launch Mars Technology Institute

The Mars Society announced today that it is launching an initiative to create the Mars Technology Institute (MTI), whose purpose will be to develop the technologies needed to settle the Red Planet. Commenting on the project, Mars Society President Dr. Robert Zubrin said: “SpaceX and other entrepreneurial launch companies are already moving rapidly to develop the transportation systems that can get us to the planet Mars. What is needed is an institution devoted to developing the technologies that will allow… READ MORE >

Mars Society Convention Begins in One Month at ASU – Register Online Today

The Mars Society will officially open its 26th annual international convention one month from today on the picturesque Arizona State University campus in Tempe October 5-8, serving once again as the world’s largest multi-day forum on Mars exploration, planning for human settlement, and cutting-edge topics related to space exploration, science, and technology. As always, the four-day Mars Society conference will convene a wide range of scientists, engineers, aerospace executives, government policymakers, analog astronauts, and space advocates to discuss and analyze… READ MORE >