This past week, the Mars Society convened its annual international convention for the 25th year in a row, and the first time in-person since prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. The theme of this year’s event was “Searching for Life with Heavy Lift”, which was meant to encourage out-of-the-box thinking of presenters and attendees to develop new systems that take advantage of the increased payload capacity that is coming with NASA’s SLS and SpaceX’s Starship. We worked with the excellent team… READ MORE >
Topic Area: Mars Exploration
Celebrating its 25th Annual International Convention at Arizona State University in Tempe October 20-23, the Mars Society will be hosting, both in-person and virtually, a large contingent of senior representatives from NASA and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), discussing the latest news about exploring Mars, planning for a human mission to the Red Planet, and much more. Leading off the NASA-JPL involvement at the four-day conference will be Dr. Jim Bell, an Arizona State University professor and a planetary scientist involved… READ MORE >
As the world’s largest space advocacy group dedicated to humans-to-Mars, the Mars Society has been bringing together for years leading scientists, commercial space executives, and government policymakers to discuss the latest news about exploring Mars and plans for a human mission to the Red Planet, as well as topics involving space exploration, science, and technology. For the last two years, due to the pandemic, the organization’s international conference has been virtual only, resulting in a significant online audience. This year,… READ MORE >
As part of its 25th Annual International Mars Society Convention format, the Mars Society will be holding a special public panel discussion about ‘The Search for Life on Mars’ on the Arizona State University campus in Tempe on Thursday, Oct. 20th (7:00-9:00 pm MST). Scheduled to participate in the event are leading experts in the field of Mars exploration, including Dr. Steve Benner, Founder of the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution, Dr. Jim Bell, former Planetary Society President & NASA… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to welcome back to its International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 20-23, 2022 at Arizona State University, Dr. Vandi Verma, JPL Chief Engineer for Robotic Operations for NASA’s Perseverance and Curiosity rover missions currently operating on the surface of Mars. Dr. Verma will give a virtual address from JPL titled “Mars Rover Operations and the Role of Autonomy and Humans in Sample Return.” She joined JPL’s Mobility and Robotics Systems Section 14 years ago,… READ MORE >
As the world’s largest space advocacy group dedicated to humans-to-Mars, the Mars Society has been bringing together for years leading scientists, commercial space executives, and government policymakers to discuss the latest news about exploring Mars and plans for a human mission to the Red Planet, as well as topics involving space exploration, science, and technology. For the last two years, due to the pandemic, the organization’s international conference has been virtual only, resulting in a significant online audience. This year,… READ MORE >
The preliminary program itinerary for the 25th Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for Thursday-Sunday, October 20-23, 2022 at Arizona State University (Tempe), is now available for viewing online. Visit https://bit.ly/3RSMptd to see the full four-day conference schedule (please note that the schedule is subject to change). This year’s Mars Society Convention will include interesting plenary talks, panel discussions, and public debates about the latest news on the exploration of Mars and planning for a human mission to the Red Planet,… READ MORE >
The Mars Society will be offering virtual attendance options for its in-person 25th Annual International Mars Society Convention, to be held Thursday-Sunday, October 20-23, 2022 at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. The international forum presents a unique opportunity for those interested in learning more about current efforts and future plans for the exploration of the planet Mars, including a human mission to the Red Planet, from leading scientists, aerospace executives, government policymakers, science journalists, and space advocates. Virtual attendance… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that former NASA Chief Scientist Dr. James Green will give a plenary address about “bringing Earth life to Mars” and how that will begin the long-term process of terraforming the planet during the 25th Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 20-23, 2022 at Arizona State University in Tempe. Currently a scientist and senior advisor at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., Dr. Green previously held the position of Chief Scientist within the… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is convening its 25th Annual International Mars Society Convention October 20-23, 2022 at Arizona State University. It’ll be the organization’s first in-person convention since 2019 due to the pandemic, with hundreds of people expected to attend and thousands to watch the four-day event via livestreaming. Convention planners would like to remind everyone of two important convention deadlines coming up on Wednesday, August 31st (5:00 pm MT). The first involves our call for papers, inviting members of the… READ MORE >
The Mars Society, the world’s largest nonprofit organization dedicated to sending humans to Mars, has recently concluded its first cohort of a groundbreaking educational program “International Mission to Mars”, an engineering design competition for high school students. The program is modeled on the approach taken in engineering design courses at some of the leading universities in the world. In conducting this program, the Mars Society sought to demonstrate the value of a new and much more creative way to teach… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is very pleased to announce that NASA Deputy Administrator Pamela Melroy will give a keynote talk titled “The Human-Machine Teaming Path to Get Us There” during the 25th Annual International Mars Society Convention at Arizona State University on Friday, October 21st (11:00 am local time). As Deputy Administrator, Ms. Melroy performs the duties and exercises the powers delegated by the Administrator, assists the Administrator in making final agency decisions, and acts for the Administrator in his… READ MORE >
Ten missions have now been successfully landed on the planet Mars since 1976, including six rovers that have traversed across a total of more than 50 kms of terrain. Arizona State University’s Dr. Jim Bell has been the lead or deputy scientist in charge of the science cameras on NASA’s Spirit, Opportunity, Curiosity, and Perseverance rovers, providing him with an amazing front row seat for their photographic and geological adventures. The Mars Society will be welcoming Dr. Bell as a… READ MORE >
After two weeks of lectures and two weeks of intensive design work, the Mars Society’s International Mission to Mars Design Class & Competition for high school students is now moving towards its final stage, with the five teams of approximately seven students each – one from Asia, one from Europe and Africa and three from the Americas – now writing up their design reports in preparation for the concluding contest beginning next week. The final shootout will occur in three… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that six finalists have been chosen in the Telerobotic Mars Expedition Design Competition (TMEDC), an international contest announced in January which asked the entrants to design the best set of robotic exploration hardware using a 10-ton payload Mars lander. The finalists include teams from the U.S., Canada, and Europe and are listed below: MIFECO Proposal – Robert Mills United States (Michigan) Carl Greenbaum United States (South Dakota) Moran_TMEDC_Team United States (Virginia) Innspace Team… READ MORE >
This summer, the Mars Society has been conducting a truly groundbreaking educational program for 40 high school students from around the world, modeled on the approach taken in engineering design courses at some of the best universities in the world. With this six-week virtual program, which began on July 5th and will conclude in mid-August, the Mars Society looks to make educational history by demonstrating the value of a new and much more creative way to teach science and engineering… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Dr. Kris Zacny, Vice President of Exploration Systems and Senior Research Scientist at Honeybee Robotics, will give a plenary talk about robotic space exploration and mining at the 25th Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 20-23, 2022 at Arizona State University (Tempe). Honeybee Robotics is a prominent R&D engineering company that creates advanced robotic systems for the most demanding environments and applications, both on Earth and in space. Industries served include spacecraft, planetary… READ MORE >
How You Can Help Humanity Get to Mars Many people ask me, “James, how I can help get human beings to Mars? I’m not a rocket scientist… I’m just a regular person!” I tell them that the Mars Society was founded on the principle that we need people from all walks of life to achieve our mission. From the beginning, we have been a grassroots organization powered by people from all cultures, with a wide variety of skill sets and… READ MORE >
As the world’s largest space advocacy group dedicated to humans-to-Mars, the Mars Society has been bringing together key scientists, researchers, commercial space executives, government representatives, and journalists to discuss the latest news about human Mars exploration and settlement, as well as cutting-edge topics in space exploration, science, and technology. For the last two years, due to the pandemic, our international conference has been virtual only, resulting in a significant online audience. This year, our Mars Society leadership is pleased to… READ MORE >
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Vandi Verma, Chief Engineer of JPL Robotic Operations for NASA’s Perseverance and Curiosity rover missions, will be joining our Red Planet Live video podcast on Thursday, April 21 (6pm PT / 9pm ET) to talk about how the two robotic explorers navigate on the surface of Mars. Having joined JPL’s Mars rover team in 2008, Dr. Verma specializes in space robotics, autonomous robots and robotic operations. She has also designed, developed, and operated… READ MORE >
The Mars Society announced recently the launching of a new international contest to design a telerobotic Mars expedition. 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 best 20 papers submitted will be published in a new Mars Society book, “Telerobotic Mars Expeditions: Exploring the Red Planet with Platoons of Robots.” An essential requirement for any human Mars exploration mission is a system capable of… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce the launching of a new global contest to design a telerobotic Mars expedition. 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 best 20 papers will be published in a new Mars Society book “Telerobotic Mars Expeditions: Exploring the Red Planet with Platoons of Robots.” An essential requirement for any human Mars exploration mission is a… READ MORE >
Dr. Carol Stoker, a senior scientist at the NASA Ames Research Center and one of the co-founders of the Mars Society, will be giving a virtual talk about the ongoing search for life on Mars on Wednesday, January 12th at 7:00 pm CT during a chapter meeting of Mars Society Chicago. Dr. Stoker has been involved with Ames for 36 years, specializing in a range of Mars exploration science and technology. Most of her recent work has focused on developing… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is glad to announce that veteran space journalist & author Leonard David will be joining host Ron Craig on our Red Planet Live (RPL) video podcast on Thursday, December 2nd at 6:00 pm PT / 9:00 pm ET for a wide-ranging talk about Mars exploration, a return to the Moon, the commercial space industry, and other space related topics. Currently serving as Space.com’s Space Insider columnist, Leonard has been reporting on space activities for over 50 years, publishing articles in Scientific American, SpaceNews… READ MORE >
Next week is Giving Tuesday, an international day of charitable gifting that occurs on the Tuesday after the U.S. holiday of Thanksgiving. As the world’s largest and most influential space advocacy group dedicated to the human exploration and settlement of the Red Planet, the Mars Society leads the way in educating and informing the public, the media, and the government about the importance of exploring Mars and planning for an eventual permanent human presence there. Included in the Mars Society’s mission are: Mars… READ MORE >