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 >
News & Announcements
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Barbara Belvisi, Founder and CEO of Interstellar Lab, Inc. will give a virtual plenary talk during the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 15-18, 2020. Established in 2018, Interstellar Lab’s mission is to develop and build bio-regenerative habitats and life-support solutions to make human life sustainable on Earth, as well as on Mars and other planets in our solar system. Ms. Belvisi started her career as an investment manager… 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 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 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 >
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 >
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 >
Dr. Sarah Milkovich, lead Science Systems Engineer for NASA-JPL’s Mars Perseverance rover, scheduled to launch this July, will give a virtual update about the mission to the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, set for October 15-18. During her 14 years at JPL, Dr. Milkovich has specialized in science planning and operations for landed and orbital spacecraft, geomorphology and planetary science research, science communication and the ability to handle nebulous problems. Prior to the Mars 2020 rover mission, she served… 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 >
Dr. Chris McKay, a senior planetary scientist at NASA Ames Research Center and one of the co-founders of the Mars Underground, will give a virtual plenary talk during the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 15-18. A renowned astrobiologist and expert on planetary atmospheres and terraforming, Dr. McKay’s research focuses on the evolution of the solar system and the origins of life. He is also involved in planning for future Mars missions including human exploration. He has… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to welcome Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Founder and Executive Chairman of the X PRIZE Foundation, as one of its plenary speakers at the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled to be held virtually October 15-18, 2020. Named several years ago by Fortune as one of the “World’s 50 Greatest Leaders,” Dr. Diamandis is an international pioneer in the fields of innovation, commercial space and incentive-based competitions. His X PRIZE initiative is best known for… 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 >
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 >
By Dr. Robert Zubrin, National Review, 02.22.20 Last week my wife Hope and I traveled to Boca Chica, Texas, to meet with Elon Musk. While we talked inside the SpaceX onsite headquarters, a mariachi band played outside, providing entertainment for long lines of people queued up to apply for multiple categories of jobs building craft to take humans to Mars. Hundreds were already hired and at work in the complex. Soon there will be thousands. Musk calls his design the “Starship.”… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce 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 fourth and $500 for fifth. In addition, the top 20 papers will be published in a new book “Mars City States: New Societies for a New World.” The city state should be self-supporting to the maximum… READ MORE >
Mars Society President Dr. Robert Zubrin visited Boca Chica, Texas yesterday to meet with SpaceX Founder & CEO Elon Musk. During their meeting, Mr. Musk explained his company’s extraordinary plan to begin the human settlement of the planet Mars, which was very much in evidence as hundreds of people were lined up outside the facility to join his team to build Starships. Dr. Zubrin asked Mr. Musk what the Mars Society could do to help his Mars effort and was… READ MORE >
In October 2018, the Mars Society announced that it was holding a special international contest called “The Mars Colony Prize” for designing the best plan for a Mars colony of 1,000 people. There would be a prize of $10,000 for first place, $5,000 for second and $2,500 for third. In addition, the top 20 papers would be published in a new book – “Mars Colonies: Plans for Settling the Red Planet.” This is that book. The 580 page grey-scale softcover… 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 >