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 >
Topic Area: The Mars Society
As we count down the final week of our groundbreaking crowdfunding campaign, the Mars Technology Institute (MTI) extends a last call for you to become a founding member of a historic venture. This is your chance to play a pivotal role in an initiative that will not only push humanity towards the stars, but also drive groundbreaking advancements here on Earth. The Urgency of Now In just seven days, our crowdfunding campaign will close. This is your unique opportunity to… READ MORE >
By James Melton, PhD, Mars Society Chief Ambassador Red Planet Bound Blog OUR STORY In the dark stillness of the night, zero four hundred hours a Zoom link is clicked in Pakistan. Nasir reaches for his notepad for the call. Simultaneously, in Australia, at 0700 hours at dawn, Jonathan is ready for work, but before leaving, he clicks on the Zoom link. In the United Kingdom, at 10:00 PM, Emma and Steve join in. At 4:00 PM in Austin and… READ MORE >
As part of his ongoing speaking tour in the United Kingdom, Dr. Robert Zubrin, President and founder of the Mars Society, will be giving a talk titled “The New World on Mars: What We Can Create on the Red Planet” at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland on Wednesday, January 24th (5:00-6:30 pm). Hosted by the school’s Space Sciences Society, the 90-minute lecture (including Q&A with the audience) is open to the general public. Advanced registration is required. Please use… READ MORE >
Be a Maker of History – Your Year-End Gift Can Change the Future! Dear Friend, As we approach the end of another remarkable year in the history of the movement to send human beings to Mars, we at the Mars Society reflect on the strides we’ve made and the journey that lies ahead. This is the year we began the Mars Technology Institute to accelerate our goals dramatically. The MTI will pioneer the technologies for the human settlement of the… READ MORE >
It’s time to consider alternatives to sample return By Robert Zubrin, Space News, 12.07.23 NASA’s robotic Mars exploration program is in crisis. A recent review of the plan of its flagship Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission pegged its cost at $10 billion, a price tag that threatens to preclude funding any other exploration missions to the Red Planet for the next decade and a half. While the decadal plan issued by a National Academy of Science committee identifies the MSR mission as… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Univelt Incorporated has made a grand donation of books to help support the ongoing crowdfunding campaign to launch the Mars Technology Institute. The Univelt Mars Library is a 14-volume set of historic books including: 1. The Founding Convention of the Mars Society – proceedings volumes in three parts, edited by Robert Zubrin 2. Strategies for Mars (invited papers by Carol Stoker), Volume 86, AAS Science and Technology Series 3.. The Case for Mars – proceedings volumes from 1984,… READ MORE >
The Mars Society has launched a crowdfunding campaign to fund the Mars Technology Institute (MTI). Settling Mars will require dramatic advances in biotech (to enable food production at scale on very limited land), artificial intelligence (to deal with a severe labor shortage), and advanced energy (to power an energy-intensive society without fossil fuels) as well as many other areas of research. The MTI will develop these technologies and commercialize them for use on Earth. This will benefit our home planet… READ MORE >
During the 26th Annual International Mars Society Convention held in early October at ASU Tempe, it was announced that Sergii Iakymov, long-time assistant director of the organization’s Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS), would formally assume the role of director of the Utah analog facility. In this position, Sergii is supervising MDRS crew selection and logistical support, station maintenance and resupply, and on-site mission support and crew rotation, as well as participating in select analog simulations and field research. Sergii is… READ MORE >
The next episode of our Red Planet Live (RPL) video podcast hosted by Ashton Zeth will include a panel discussion with members of the Mars Society’s Crew 15, which visited the FMARS – Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station on Devon Island in northern Canada this summer. Join us for the live 60-minute RPL broadcast on Tuesday, November 21st (5pm PT / 8pm ET). The FMARS 15 crew included: Take advantage of this opportunity to ask this multi-national team (U.S., U.K…. READ MORE >
As a registered non-profit organization, the Mars Society is always looking to raise additional funds in order to expand its existing programs, such as its Mars analog missions and STEM education projects, as well as create new initiatives to help prepare humanity for the exploration and settlement of the Red Planet. As part of this, the Mars Society recently added a new option to its Donate web site page called Anonymous Donations, which allows individuals or companies to send fully… 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 Theodore (Teddy) Tzanetos, Manager of the JPL Mars Ingenuity Helicopter mission, will give a virtual plenary address this week during the 26th Annual International Mars Society Convention at ASU (Tempe). The title of his talk will be “Ingenuity – The Martian Wright Flyer and Beyond.” In addition to supervising the Ingenuity helicopter mission at JPL, Mr. Tzanetos is also the Manager of JPL’s sample recovery helicopters to be used as part of… 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 Roberto Carlino, an aerospace engineer at NASA Ames Research Center and a former NASA HERA analog astronaut, will give a plenary address during the 26th Annual International Mars Society Convention this October at Arizona State University in Tempe. The title of Mr. Carlino’s talk will be “What I learned from 45 days in isolation with NASA’s HERA mission,” which took place at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston in early 2022 with… 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 >
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 announced today that it is launching an initiative to create the Mars Technology Institute (MTI), whose purpose will be to develop the technologies needed to settle the Red Planet. Commenting on the project, Mars Society President Dr. Robert Zubrin said: “SpaceX and other entrepreneurial launch companies are already moving rapidly to develop the transportation systems that can get us to the planet Mars. What is needed is an institution devoted to developing the technologies that will allow… 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 >
With the fast-paced growth of Mars analog facilities and related research around the world, the Mars Society has invited Dr. Gernot Grömer, Founder and Administrative Director of the Austrian Space Forum, to give a plenary talk during the 26th Annual International Mars Society Convention this October on the topic of “AMADEE-24: A 25-Nation Mars Analog Mission in the Caucasus Mountains.” Established in 1998, ASF (or Österreichisches Weltraum Forum in German) is an organization involving experts in the field of analog research… 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 announce the successful completion of the latest mission to the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS), which was conducted from July 15-30th, 2023. The international crew diligently worked to complete all mission objectives. Among their tasks was the essential maintenance and updating of the main Hab, which will pave the way for additional planned annual expeditions and further ongoing exploration and understanding of the Martian analog environment on Devon Island. The crew, a five-person… READ MORE >
During the 26th Annual International Mars Society Convention, set for October 5-8, 2023 at Arizona State University (Tempe), the Mars Society and Debate to Educate will be convening the final round of a special debate held virtually on the issue of “Mars or Bust?” involving middle school and high school students from around the world. Debate to Educate, a prominent non-profit group that organizes international educational debates, and the Mars Society have scheduled a series of online debates on whether… READ MORE >