The Mars Society is excited to announce that prominent space author, journalist, and historian Rod Pyle will join the next episode of Red Planet Live, hosted by Ashton Zeth, on Tuesday, December 17th, at 5 PM PST. Author of 18 books on space history and exploration, including Space 2.0, First on the Moon, and Blueprint for a Battlestar, Mr. Pyle has made significant contributions to the world of space studies and development. As Editor-in-Chief of the National Space Society’s quarterly magazine, Ad Astra, he is… READ MORE >
Topic Area: Space Exploration
Mars Society Members & Advocates, Thank you for your ongoing dedication to space exploration. We’re pleased to provide an update on our Mars Exploration Act (MEA) initiative, which aims to secure congressional support for legislation requiring NASA to develop a plan to land astronauts on Mars within the next decade. This mandate sets a clear direction for Mars exploration, establishing focused goals, timelines, and mission planning independent of existing programs or incentives. As we move forward with advocacy, we’ll rely… READ MORE >
Congratulations to George Whitesides for his hard-fought victory in his race for Congress. George and his wife, Loretta Hidalgo Whitesides, have not only been long time friends of everyone striving for a spacefaring future for humanity, but they have also been leaders in the field themselves. Furthermore, and most importantly, they are fine people, with great minds and great hearts. All Americans have reason to be thankful they will be going to Washington. – Dr. Robert Zubrin, Mars Society President… READ MORE >
Donald Trump has been elected president of the United States. The Mars Society is non-partisan and does not endorse any candidate. Many of our members and other space advocates supported Mr. Trump’s election, while many others opposed him. For reasons I have amply explained elsewhere, I have always been a member of the latter group. That said, whatever we think of the various policies that Mr. Trump has put on offer, there is one that I and the vast majority of Mars Society members certainly support: his promise to initiate a… READ MORE >
By Shriya Sawant, Guest Writer, Red Planet Bound, 09.19.24 A heated point of contention between space advocates and environmental advocates can be summarized by one succinct phrase: whether to “Save Earth or Settle Mars”. You might also recognize the phrase “Save Earth and Then Go to Mars,” or vice versa “Why Going to Space will Save Humanity” across many articles, tweets, and blogs. However, a fallacy in all of these statements is that they depict sustainability movements and space exploration… READ MORE >
Get ready for an exciting episode of Red Planet Live! On Tuesday, August 6th (5pm PT / 8pm ET), join us for an in-depth look into the Mars Society’s Ambassador Program, led by its newly appointed director and RPL host Ashton Zeth. This 60-minute live broadcast will feature a panel of esteemed guests including James Melton, the founder of the program and Chief Ambassador Emeritus, along with international program representatives Nasir Rizwan (Pakistan), Jonathan Adler (Australia), and Emmanuel Kyei Twumasi… READ MORE >
The Annual International Mars Society Convention features plenary talks and panel discussions with top experts in Mars and space exploration, the commercial space industry, technological development, and space advocacy. To give more enthusiastic professional & non-professional speakers a chance to participate, the Mars Society also includes 30-minute track talk presentations during afternoon sessions. This year’s event will showcase several dozen track talk speakers, such as: – Angelina Tsuboi: Architecting Marsnet: Interplanetary Internet Design for Mars and Beyond – Jay Garg:… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Dr. Michaela Musilova will be joining the 60-minute Red Planet Live podcast, hosted by Ashton Zeth, on Tuesday, July 16th, at 6:30 PM PT / 9:30 PM ET – 90 minutes later than the usual time slot. Dr. Musilova is a distinguished astrobiologist, explorer, analog astronaut (including Commander of MDRS Crew 173), science communicator, keynote speaker, and author. Her impressive resume includes conducting space-related research at NASA, ESA, CalTech, University College London,… READ MORE >
David Down, a member of our Mars Society Facebook group page, recently used an AI chatbot called Poe to compose a poem about the first people landing on the Red Planet. It’s quite impressive. Here it is. Red Planet Pioneers Across the void of space they flew, Brave souls in vessels tried and true. Months of travel, dreams in sight, Mars growing larger, day and night. The rusty surface drawing near, Hearts racing fast with hope and fear. Descent begins,… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is thrilled to announce that Dr. Alan Stern, a renowned planetary scientist and commercial astronaut, will be delivering an address at the Saturday evening banquet on August 10th during the 27th Annual International Mars Society Convention. The event will take place at the University of Washington (Seattle) from August 8-11, 2024. Dr. Stern’s talk, titled “The Other Red Planet,” will focus on exploring Pluto. Dr. Stern is best known for his role as the principal investigator of… READ MORE >
Anna Wadhwa, a MD student at Harvard Medical School and a Ph.D. candidate at MIT’s Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics, will give a presentation at the 27th Annual International Mars Society Convention at the University of Washington (Seattle) this August, with the title of her address being “You Spin Me ‘Right Round’: The Latest Research on Artificial Gravity by Centrifugation and Its Implications for Human Space Exploration.” Interested in enabling human space exploration to the Moon, Mars and beyond, Ms…. READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that long-time writer and editor on science and space Alan Boyle will be giving a plenary talk about the field of space journalism during the 27th Annual International Mars Society Convention this August at the University of Washington (Seattle). Mr. Boyle served as science editor for MSNBC.com and NBCNews.com from 1996 to 2015, and in that capacity, he won the 2006 Space Frontier Award for Excellence in Journalism and the 2014 National Space… READ MORE >
Join us for an engaging panel discussion featuring two members of the space-science media, Ling Xin and Laura Forczyk. Tune in for the next episode of Red Planet Live on Tuesday, May 21st at 5:00 pm PT / 8:00 pm ET to be part of this exciting opportunity to explore space exploration, lunar missions, and more! Ling Xin, originally from Beijing and now based in Ohio, is a science journalist known for her coverage of space, astronomy, and physics. With… READ MORE >
Join us at the 27th Annual International Mars Society Convention, where we’re excited to host Ling Xin, a veteran science journalist. Ms. Xin will be sharing insights into China’s expanding presence in space exploration, covering its activities in low Earth orbit (LEO), lunar missions, and ambitious long-term plans. Based in Ohio, Ms. Xin’s work has appeared in esteemed publications like the South China Morning Post, Science, Nature, and Scientific American, where she brings her expertise in space, physics, and astronomy… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is excited to announce that Howard Hu, the Orion Program Director at NASA, will be a plenary speaker at the 27th Annual International Mars Society Convention, taking place at the University of Washington from August 8-11, 2024. Hu will discuss “NASA’s Artemis plans for returning to the Moon and beyond”. As the leader of the Orion Program, Mr. Hu oversees the development of NASA’s Orion spacecraft, which is designed for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit. He… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is excited to announce that Brig. General (Ret.) Dr. S. Pete Worden will give an address about “Life in the Universe and Private Sector Space Science Initiatives” during the 27th Annual International Mars Society Convention, held in August at the University of Washington (Seattle). Dr. Worden currently serves as Chairman of the Breakthrough Prize Foundation and as Executive Director of the foundation’s “Breakthrough Initiatives,” a groundbreaking program launched in 2015 with the aim of searching for extraterrestrial… READ MORE >
Dr. Kris Zacny, VP and Director of Exploration Technology at Honeybee Robotics, will be speaking at the 27th Annual International Mars Society Convention (Aug 8-11, 2024) at the University of Washington Seattle. He’ll share insights on robotic space exploration and mining. Honeybee Robotics is renowned for its innovative robotic systems, serving diverse industries such as spacecraft, defense, medical devices, and more. Dr. Zacny’s expertise spans space mining, In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), and planetary geotechnical engineering. With a Ph.D. in… READ MORE >
Calling all Mars and space advocates! Mark your calendars for the 2024 International Mars Society Convention, taking place Thursday, August 8th through Sunday, August 11th at the University of Washington campus (The HUB) in Seattle. This annual event, now in its 27th year, remains the premier global gathering focused on Mars exploration, human settlement planning, and cutting-edge space-related topics. The convention will bring together a diverse array of experts including scientists, engineers, aerospace executives, policymakers, journalists, and space enthusiasts to discuss humanity’s… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is excited and honored to welcome back to its Red Planet Live (RPL) podcast Leonard David, a veteran journalist with over 50 years of experience covering space-related news stories for a variety of media sources, including Space.com, The Financial Times, Foreign Policy, Astronomy, Space News, Sky & Telescope and his own blog, Inside Outer Space. Scheduled for a live one-hour broadcast on Tuesday, March 19th at 5:00 pm PT / 8:00 pm ET, Leonard will join our… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Dr. Robert Zubrin, the organization’s president and founder, will be addressing the upcoming Star Trek convention (ST-SF: Trek to San Francisco), scheduled for March 8-10 in the Golden Gate City. Dr. Zubrin will be discussing planning for human Mars exploration, the technologies needed to settle the planet, and his new book, “The New World on Mars: What We Can Create on the Red Planet.” Organized by Creation Entertainment, the annual sci-fi conference… READ MORE >
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 >
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 >
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 >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Dr. Greg Autry of the Arizona State University Thunderbird School of Global Management (TSGM) will give a plenary talk about the current state of NASA’s science budget and its likely impact on future plans for space exploration during the 26th Annual International Mars Society Convention this October at ASU (Tempe). A Clinical Professor and Director of TSGM’s Thunderbird Initiative for Space Leadership, Policy, and Business and an Affiliate Professor with ASU’s Interplanetary… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to bring you several updates about the growing partnership between the Mars Society and Mongolia’s MARS-V Project, an initiative in Mongolia to build the next Mars analog simulation station in the Gobi Desert. The MARS-V Project has recently become the Mars Society’s first official chapter in Mongolia. This new initiative signifies the country’s alignment with a global community of scientists, researchers and space enthusiasts. As one of the coldest and most inhospitable deserts on Earth,… READ MORE >