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 >
Topic Area: Spaceflight
While our amazing host Ashton Zeth enjoys a well-deserved vacation in early October, our Red Planet Live podcast will feature a special series of short, recorded interviews with six leading experts who spoke at the 27th Annual International Mars Society Convention in Seattle this past August. The taped show will air beginning on Tuesday, October 1st at 5:00 pm PT / 8:00 pm ET. Featured guests include: – Howard Hu, Orion Program Director, NASA – Artemis Program & Returning to… READ MORE >
My name is Nicole Willett, Director of Education Programs at the Mars Society, the world’s largest humans-to-Mars advocacy group. We are excited to offer a comprehensive STEM curriculum designed for all grade levels (K-12) and are looking for teachers to implement these projects and activities in their classrooms—completely free of charge! Understanding the challenges of tight budgets, we’re providing these resources at no cost. All we ask in return is for your feedback on the activities via a brief Google… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is excited to announce that a major panel discussion on NASA’s current and future Mars exploration plans will take place (virtually) on Friday, August 9th at 10:00 am PT / 1:00 pm ET as part of the 27th Annual International Mars Society Convention. Amid the growing complexities of Mars exploration, NASA is concentrating on several key areas: deploying robotic exploratory systems (rovers, landers, and orbiters), returning Martian rock and soil samples to Earth, and designing infrastructure for… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is thrilled to announce that Ashton Zeth, the dynamic host of our successful Red Planet Live (RPL) podcast, has been appointed the new Director of the Mars Society Ambassador program. Initially launched in 2020 by veteran space advocate, public speaker, and author James Melton, the program is a professional team of volunteer advocates from around the globe. Their mission is to elevate public awareness and support for landing human explorers on Mars within a decade, eventually leading… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is very pleased to announce that a distinguished three-person NASA panel will join the Red Planet Live (RPL) podcast on Tuesday, July 2nd at 5:00 pm PT / 8:00 pm ET. This expert team will delve into topics including Mars exploration, strategies for sample returns from the Red Planet, and the architecture supporting Moon to Mars missions. Hosted by Ashton Zeth, this first podcast episode of July will mark the beginning of RPL’s new twice-a-month format (airing… 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 >
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 >
By Dr. Robert Zubrin, SpaceNews.com, 05.06.24 NASA’s Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission has run aground, wrecked by a $10 billion price estimate, a 16 year timeline and excessive mission and programmatic risk. If the mission is to proceed, a much simpler and cheaper approach must be found. Fortunately, such an approach is available. The current MSR mission plan is so costly, complex, and risky because it has not been approached as a mission to be accomplished as swiftly and cheaply as possible,… READ MORE >
Presentations for the 27th Annual International Mars Society Convention are invited. This year’s four-day global forum (August 8-11, 2024 at the University of Washington in Seattle) will deal with all matters associated with the exploration and settlement of the Red Planet, including science, technology, engineering, spaceflight, artificial intelligence, politics, public policy & advocacy, STEM education, economics, etc. Abstracts between 150-300 words can be uploaded on to our Mars Society abstract page. Please note that the deadline for submitting abstracts for consideration is Sunday,… 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 >
Mars Society President Dr. Robert Zubrin’s new book “The New World on Mars: What We Can Create on the Red Planet” has now been published! As SpaceX rapidly advances its new “Starship” launch system through its test flight program, it has become apparent that it will soon be possible to voyage to the Red Planet. That possibility opens up a truly grand question: What can we create on Mars? It is this question that Zubrin’s new book attempts to answer…. READ MORE >
Mars Society President and founder Dr. Robert Zubrin is scheduled to visit Europe this month to participate in a series of public talks and panel discussions involving planning for human Mars exploration, the recent establishment of the Mars Society’s Mars Technology Institute (MTI), and the growing challenges facing humanity. The first two public events will occur in France while the next three will take place in England and Scotland. All of the scheduled gatherings are open to the general public, with registration required. As… READ MORE >
The Mars Society will officially open its 26th annual international convention on the Arizona State University campus in Tempe October 5-8, serving once again as the world’s largest multi-day forum on Mars exploration, planning for human settlement, and cutting-edge topics related to space exploration, science, and technology. As always, the four-day Mars Society conference will convene a wide range of scientists, engineers, aerospace executives, government policymakers, analog astronauts, and space advocates to discuss and analyze the latest news about humanity’s plans for exploring Mars… READ MORE >
The Mars Society will officially open its 26th annual international convention two weeks from today on the Arizona State University campus in Tempe October 5-8, serving once again as the world’s largest multi-day forum on Mars exploration, planning for human settlement, and cutting-edge topics related to space exploration, science, and technology. As always, the four-day conference will convene a wide range of scientists, engineers, aerospace executives, government policymakers, analog astronauts, and space advocates to discuss and analyze the latest news… 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 >
THIS SATURDAY (September 9th), Dr. Robert Zubrin, President of the Mars Society, will participate in a Reddit AMA talk (r/SpaceX) at 12:00 pm PT / 3:00 pm ET, taking questions from a global audience about humans to Mars, plans for the new Mars Technology Institute initiative, general space exploration, STEM education, and much more. We hope that you’ll be able to join us today and get all your questions ready for Dr. Zubrini. He’s looking forward to it!… READ MORE >
The Mars Society will officially open its 26th annual international convention one month from today on the picturesque Arizona State University campus in Tempe October 5-8, serving once again as the world’s largest multi-day forum on Mars exploration, planning for human settlement, and cutting-edge topics related to space exploration, science, and technology. As always, the four-day Mars Society conference will convene a wide range of scientists, engineers, aerospace executives, government policymakers, analog astronauts, and space advocates to discuss and analyze… READ MORE >
Dr. Robert Zubrin, President and founder of the Mars Society, will be making a special announcement during his upcoming appearance on the organization’s Red Planet Live (RPL) podcast, set for Wednesday, September 6th at 5:00 pm PT / 8:00 pm ET. In addition to being the leading global advocate of humans to Mars, Dr. Zubrin is a respected aerospace engineer and prominent author and was the driving force behind the concept of Mars Direct – a proposal intended to produce significant reductions in the cost… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Emily Calandrelli (widely known as The Space Gal), a popular science communicator, author, and television host-producer, will be joining our next Red Planet Live podcast on Tuesday, July 18th (4:30 pm PT / 7:30 pm ET). An MIT engineer turned Emmy-nominated science television personality, Emily is the host and co-executive producer of Emily’s Wonder Lab on Netflix, as well as a correspondent on Netflix’s Bill Nye Saves the World and host of… READ MORE >
With the growth of China’s space program in recent years and the potential for global competition in orbit and beyond, the Mars Society has invited Dean Cheng, senior advisor to the U.S. Institute of Peace’s China program, to give a plenary talk about Beijing and it plans for space exploration during the 26th Annual International Mars Society Convention October 5-8, 2023 at Arizona State University (Tempe). Mr. Cheng joined USIP from The Heritage Foundation, where he spent over a decade… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is launching its second annual International Mission to Mars Engineering Design Competition this summer for high school students from around the world. Students are encouraged to register online for this unique exploratory design challenge. Update: Please note that the deadline for registering for the 2023 Mission to Mars educational program has been extended until Friday, July 7th (5:00 pm MT), at which time student teams will be formed. Update: Both this year and last year’s Lectures are… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Rick Tumlinson, Founder of SpaceFund, Earthlight Foundation, Space Frontier Foundation, and New Worlds Institute, will give a plenary talk during the 26th Annual International Mars Society Convention at Arizona State University (Tempe), scheduled for October 5-8, 2023. Listed as one of the top 100 influential people in the global space field, Mr. Tumlinson is a true space visionary and entrepreneur, having helped coin the term “NewSpace” and worked to create the new… READ MORE >
The Mars Society today congratulated SpaceX for the first flight test of its fully reusable Starship space launch system. The test flight, which for the first time launched the Starship upper stage integrated with its Superheavy booster, was, by a factor of two, the most powerful rocket launch in human history. Lasting over three minutes, the flight test revealed numerous issues with the system, including insufficient protection of the launch infrastructure, failures during launch or flight of eight out of… READ MORE >