The Mars Society is pleased to announce that it will be holding its 26th Annual International Mars Society Convention on October 5-8, 2023 at the same location as last year’s highly-attended event – Arizona State University in Tempe! The four-day international forum will bring together key scientists, commercial space executives, policymakers, members of the media, government representatives, and space advocates to discuss the leading issues of the day related to Mars, space exploration, technology advances, as well as political-economic developments… READ MORE >
Topic Area: Space Advocacy
A new science project begun by ALFA Mars (Agnostic Life Finding Association – Mars), a group of scientists, engineers, science communicators, and volunteers aiming to determine prior to initial human exploration of the red planet whether or not indigenous life is present today on Mars, has received the public backing of the Mars Society, the world’s largest space advocacy group dedicated to the human exploration and settlement of Mars. “We believe that ALFA Mars offers a new and important approach… READ MORE >
After the most competitive System Acceptance Review in University Rover Challenge (URC) history, a record 37 teams from 10 countries will compete at the URC2023 Finals, scheduled to be held June 1-3, 2023 at the Mars Society’s Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in southern Utah! 104 teams (also a record) began the year competing for a coveted invitation to the URC Finals. Teams submitted both written reports as well as video demonstrations of their rovers, which were scored by URC’s… READ MORE >
We decided to ask ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot developed by OpenAI and launched in November 2022, why humans should visit and explore the planet Mars. Here’s the response we received. 1. Mars is the most Earth-like planet in our Solar System, making it an ideal destination for exploration and possible colonization. 2. It is possible that life once existed on Mars, and evidence of this is still being sought. 3. Studying Mars’ geological features can provide insight into the formation… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is sad to announce that long-time member and head & co-founder of the organization’s San Diego chapter Gerry Williams passed away on Friday, February 17th. An advocate of human spaceflight, Gerry was active in support of the goal of humans to Mars for decades in southern California, organizing chapter events, including a monthly Mars Movie Night, along with San Diego Vintage Sci-Fi and other film screenings at his studio and on location. As part of this, he… READ MORE >
Happy holidays from the Mars Society! We’d like to take a moment to celebrate our past year’s accomplishments and talk about our plans for 2023. We began the year by announcing the new Mars Society Ambassador Program. Over the course of this year, we have added over 50 Ambassadors from around the world. Led by Dr. James Melton, the Mars Society Ambassador program is meant to ramp up our outreach efforts as we work to inform, engage and inspire the… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Ashton Zeth will be serving as the new host of its video podcast, Red Planet Live (RPL), beginning in January 2023. The show will focus on a wide variety of topics, including Mars and space exploration, STEM education, technology, women in science, and much more, with exciting and open discussions involving experts in these respective fields. A Washington resident with experience in SaaS sales, strategic communications, business development, and public speaking, Ms…. READ MORE >
Today is Giving Tuesday, an international day of charitable gifting occurring on the Tuesday after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday (November 29th). As the world’s largest and most influential space advocacy group dedicated to humans-to-Mars, the Mars Society continues to lead the way in educating the public, the media, and government representatives on the benefits of exploring the Red Planet and creating a permanent human presence there. We invite you to watch a special video message from our executive director James… READ MORE >
We are looking for two individuals who can serve as Chapter Coordinators for the Mars Society’s global network of chapters. One person would focus on U.S. chapters (and would need to be based in the U.S.), while the second person would cover our international chapters (outside the U.S.) and can be based anywhere. To learn more about the Mars Society’s chapters, both in the U.S. and international, we invite you to visit chapters.marssociety.org. Priority will be given to current chapter leadership… READ MORE >
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 >
We invite you to join us for a rocking good time at MARS Rocks! on Friday, Oct. 21st (7-10 pm MST) in Phoenix! Open to the general public and free for all Mars Society ASU convention attendees, this special three-hour music event will include performances by Tedbaby, Revolushn and Jason Achilles. Enjoy a variety of space tunes in an intimate, live music setting (+21) at Last Exit Live located in the historic warehouse district of downtown Phoenix. Organized as part… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to welcome Maraia Tanner, CEO of Star Harbor Academy, as one of its plenary speakers at the 25th Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 20-23 at Arizona State University (Tempe). Her address will focus on new pathways to space that are opening up for individuals through programs being created at Star Harbor. Star Harbor representatives announced earlier this year details of its planned 53-acre mixed-use development campus and training center to be built… 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 have for the first time its own booth/display at The 56-Year Mission Las Vegas (previously Star Trek Las Vegas), scheduled for August 25-28 at Bally’s Hotel & Casino. Organized and managed by Creation Entertainment, the Las Vegas-based annual Star Trek convention will include a line-up of approximately 100 actors, such as William Shatner (“Captain Kirk”), involved in the historic science fiction television and film series. Supervised by Mars Society staff and volunteers, the organization will manage its own… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is very pleased to announce that Antonella Berti Benza has won first place in the 2022 Mars Society Poster Contest! A resident of Córdoba, Argentina, Ms. Benza works in art direction and graphic design and illustration at Nellabe Art. Graphic artists who participated in this year’s design competition were asked to submit a poster using the theme “Searching for Life with Heavy Lift” as part of its overall composition. Current heavy lift spaceflight options include NASA’s SLS… READ MORE >
With booming world-wide interest in NASA’s now operational James Webb Space Telescope, the Mars Society is pleased to announce that Dr. Marcia Rieke, Principal Investigator for the Webb’s near-infrared camera NICRam, will give an address – “The Webb Telescope’s First Months: A Treasure Trove of Results” – during the 25th Annual International Mars Society Convention October 20-23 at Arizona State University (Tempe). Currently a Regents Professor of Astronomy at the University of Arizona, Dr. Rieke focuses her research activities on… 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 >
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 >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that the organization has accepted an invitation from The 56-Year Mission Las Vegas (previously Star Trek Las Vegas) to participate in this year’s event, scheduled for August 25-28 at Bally’s Hotel & Casino. Organized and managed by Creation Entertainment, the Las Vegas-based annual Star Trek convention will include a line-up of approximately 100 actors, such as William Shatner (“Captain Kirk”), involved in the historic science fiction television and film series. Supervised by Mars… 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 >
World-wide presentations for The Big Dream space art initiative begin TODAY (2.22.22), with 15 public displays of 500 (+) pieces of artwork based on people’s dreams for humanity’s future in space, including the planet Mars! Partnering with Dreame, the Mars Society has called on its global membership and friends to submit their visions for the human settlement of Mars and beyond to The Big Dream project for transformation into inspiring art. The enclosed graphic lists the locations for all 15 sites around the world where the… READ MORE >
We invite you to watch a video report by James L Burk, our new Executive Director, about his first full month in the role. The five-minute video lists a number of key accomplishments achieved since January 1st, such as the announcement of our Telerobotic Mars Expedition Design Competition (TMEDC). James also outlines plans and initiatives for next month, including the official public release of our Mars VR Virtual Reality project. To watch the new video report, please click here. This… READ MORE >
The Mars Society’s MarsVR team has released a “Coming Soon” trailer for its MDRS Virtual Reality environment, to be hosted on Steam in the near future. The goal of the MDRS VR project is to create a special training environment for MDRS (Mars Desert Research Station) crew members and the general public in order to learn more about Mars analog science, technology, and procedures. The MarsVR team has been working since 2018 on a digital twin of the real-life MDRS facility located in southern… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is very pleased to announce that James L. Burk has been appointed as the organization’s new full-time Executive Director, supervising the group’s world-wide efforts to promote the human exploration and settlement of the planet Mars. In this role, James will oversee the organization’s fundraising efforts and high-level networking, lead and coordinate volunteers and chapters, both in the U.S. and around the world, and coordinate any organizational involvement in informing government representatives about humans-to-Mars. Commenting on his new position, James… READ MORE >