The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Dr. Ashwin R. Vasavada, JPL Project Scientist for NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), also known as the Curiosity rover, will give a plenary talk about MSL’s current operations on the Red Planet during the 22nd Annual International Mars Society Convention (October 17-20) at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Dr. Vasavada has been the lead scientist for the MSL mission since 2015, having served prior to that as deputy project… READ MORE >
Topic Area: NASA
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 a formal debate on NASA’s proposed Lunar Gateway project will take place at the 22nd Annual International Mars Society Convention on the evening of Thursday, October 17th at the University of Southern California. Currently still in development, Lunar Gateway is intended to operate as a small space station in lunar orbit, providing living quarters for astronauts, a lab for science and research, a holding area for rovers and ports for visiting spacecraft…. READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Dr. Darlene Lim, a geobiologist at NASA’s Ames Research Center and Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, will give a plenary talk about designing mission elements in support of the human exploration of Mars during the 22nd Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 17-20 at the University of Southern California. Dr. Lim is part of a large research network working to get humans to the Red Planet. Her specific contribution to… READ MORE >
Commentary by Dr. Robert Zubrin, Founder and President of the Mars Society Originally published in SpaceNews’ Apollo at 50 digital edition On July 20, 1989, the 20th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, President George H.W. Bush got up on the steps of the National Air and Space Museum flanked by Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins and declared that in the tradition of their great feat, he was declaring that the United States would now set its… READ MORE >
At Today’s NASA, Success Is Not an Option By Robert Zubrin National Review, 06.12.19 The Trump administration has proposed a bold new initiative, dubbed the Artemis Program, that will send astronauts to the Moon by 2024 and Mars by 2033. As detailed by NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine in a presentation on May 23, the program will include some 37 launches by 2028, kicked off by the maiden launch of the agency’s new Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift booster in October 2020…. READ MORE >
By Robert Zubrin Space News, 04.17.19 NASA has proposed to build a lunar orbiting space station, called the lunar Gateway, to use as a base for lunar exploration. This plan is severely defective. The Gateway project may be compared to a deal in which you are offered a chance to rent an office in Thule, Greenland, on the following terms: 1. You pay to construct the building. 2. You accept a 30-year lease with high monthly rents and no exit clause…. READ MORE >
In response to U.S. Vice President Mike Pence’s NASA announcement in Huntsville, Alabama earlier today, Mars Society President Dr. Robert Zubrin commented: Vice President Pence’s declaration of intent to land Americans on the Moon by 2024 was a welcome statement of resolve, vitally necessary to give the nation a human space flight program that is actually going somewhere. His call to put the base at the lunar South Pole is also welcome since that is where ice reserves can be… READ MORE >