During the recent 2020 International Mars Society Convention, the first, second, third, fourth and fifth place winners of the Mars City State Design Competition were chosen following a highly competitive final round involving ten teams from around the world. Announced in February by the Mars Society, the contest received a total of 175 team applications from over a dozen countries, requiring several down-select rounds to eventually reach the semi-finals and finals. The top five winning teams (by name, points and… READ MORE >
Topic Area: The Mars Society
The Mars Society, the world’s largest space advocacy group dedicated to the human exploration and settlement of the Red Planet, concluded its 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention on Sunday, setting a new event record with over 10,000 registered attendees for the online forum, which ran from October 15-18. The organization’s first virtual conference, held due to COVID-19, created a large public surge of interest among Mars and space advocates around the world, as leading members of the space community… READ MORE >
Dr. Alan Stern, NASA’s Principal Investigator for its New Horizons mission that successfully explored Pluto and its moons and is currently navigating the Kuiper Belt, will be giving the keynote address at the 2020 International Mars Society Convention’s virtual banquet on Saturday, October 17th at 7:30 pm PDT (10:30 pm EDT). A respected planetary scientist and author, Dr. Stern serves as Associate Vice President at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. His academic research has focused on the Kuiper… READ MORE >
The 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, an online virtual event involving some of the world’s top leaders and experts on Mars and space exploration, begins tomorrow (Oct. 15th) and runs through Sunday (Oct. 18th). With 150 speakers and over 5,000 people registered to attend, the four day global conference will bring together key scientists, commercial space executives, government policymakers and space advocates to discuss the latest scientific developments and challenges related to the exploration of Mars and the eventual… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is very pleased to announce that Jim Bridenstine, NASA Administrator, will be joining us virtually during the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention on Saturday, October 17th at 10:00 am PST (1:00 pm EST, 18:00 GMT) to give an update on “NASA’s plans for the Moon and Mars.” Mr. Bridenstine assumed the leadership of NASA in April 2018 and quickly launched an initiative to renew lunar exploration via the Artemis program, with plans to land the first… READ MORE >
Every week, more and more news stories appear about the possibility of discovering extra-terrestrial life beyond the Earth. Scientists around the world are focusing (primarily) on the planet Mars, the clouds of Venus and a handful of the moons orbiting the Jovian planets as possible homes for life. As part of its 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention (to be held virtually this year), the Mars Society has organized a special panel discussion on the search for life in our… READ MORE >
The Mars Society has recently added a number of new items to its Shop@Mars online store (https://store.marssociety.org), including products related to the 2020 International Mars Society Convention, scheduled to be held virtually October 15-18. A few of the new items currently being offered: An official convention t-shirt An official convention sweatshirt A Mars texture mask (COVID-19) An official convention mousepad An official convention poster The virtual store has six categories of products, including t-shirts, 2020 convention, accessories, drinkware, holiday cards… READ MORE >
Ten finalists have now been chosen in the Mars City State Design Competition. The finalists include teams from the U.S., Australia, France, Canada, Austria, Spain, and Germany. In February 2020 the Mars Society announced the holding of an international contest for the best design plan of a Mars city state of 1,000,000 people. 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 top… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that its tentative program itinerary for the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, being held via the Internet Thursday-Sunday, October 15-18, has been released on its web site. With 3,500 people currently scheduled to attend the virtual conference, along with 150 speakers, the Mars Society invites you to join this important event next month to learn about current Mars exploration, plans for a human mission to the Red Planet in the near future… READ MORE >
20 semi-finalists have been chosen for the Mars Society’s Mars City State Design Competition. The semi-finalists include teams from the U.S., Australia, France, China, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Canada, Indonesia, India, the United Kingdom, Austria, Spain and Germany. In February 2020 the Mars Society announced the holding of an international contest for the best design plan of a Mars city state of 1,000,000 people. There will be a prize of $10,000 for first place, $5,000 for second, $2,500 for third, $1,000 for… READ MORE >
Dr. Shannon Rupert, long-time Director of the Mars Society’s Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Utah, will give a virtual address entitled “Once a Martian, Always a Martian: Demographics and Stories of the People who have Crewed MDRS” during the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 15-18. She will be sharing an analysis of the demographics of the researchers who have served as crew at the station over the last twenty years and providing some stories about… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to welcome Dr. J. Bob Balaram, Chief Engineer for NASA’s Mars Ingenuity helicopter, currently en route to the Red Planet as part of the Mars Perseverance rover mission, to the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 15-18. A 25-year veteran of Pasadena’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Dr. Balaram has led the development of the Mars helicopter project, which is intended to demonstrate technologies needed for flying in the Martian atmosphere. If successful, these… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to welcome Anastasia Stepanova, an engineer at the Russian Academy of Science’s Institute of Biomedical Problems and veteran crew member of two major space simulation programs – SIRIUS (Scientific International Research in Unique Terrestrial Station) and the Mars Society’s Mars160, as a virtual plenary speaker at the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 15-18. Ms. Stepanova served as a mission specialist at SIRIUS 18-19, a four-month long mission conducted jointly in Moscow… READ MORE >
The Mars Society announced in February 2020 the holding of an international contest for the best design plan of a Mars city state of 1,000,000 people. No less than 175 teams have entered the global competition. 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 top 21 papers will be published in a new book “Mars City States: New Societies for a New… READ MORE >
Dr. Mark Panning, Project Scientist and Co-Investigator for NASA’s Mars InSight lander, currently operating on the Martian surface, will be joining us virtually to provide a mission update during the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 15-18. After spending almost a decade at the University of Florida in the geological sciences division, Dr. Panning joined JPL in 2017 to focus on planetary interiors using seismology. He is also Co-Investigator on the Dragonfly mission to Titan, currently in… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that the winner of the 2020 Mars Society Poster Contest is Samer El-Sayary of Lebanon. Our winning designer is an assistant professor for the Faculty of Architecture at Beirut Arab University and also serves as an ambassador for Mars City Design. Graphic artists who competed in the annual contest were asked to submit a poster using the theme “Rising Together” for the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, a virtual conference that will… READ MORE >
Dr. Tom Williams, Element Scientist for NASA’s Human Factors and Behavioral Performance division, will give a plenary talk during the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 15-18. Since 2015, Dr. Williams has directed a multi-disciplined team of NASA scientists at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, focusing on human factors in the areas of habitability, mission processes and tasks, human automation robotic interactions, dynamic loads and training. The primary task of this team is to mitigate critical… READ MORE >
Reddit AMA R/SpaceX Announcement How to Get to Mars – AMA with Mars Society President Dr. Robert Zubrin – Saturday, June 27th (2:00 pm ET, 18:00 GMT) We’re pleased to announce that Dr. Robert Zubrin will be returning to r/SpaceX for another AMA on Saturday in conjunction with the Mars Society. While we’re sure that Dr. Zubrin needs no introduction for most of us here, for those of you who are new, Dr. Zubrin is of course the Mars Society President and… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to welcome Dr. Alan Stern, NASA’s Principal Investigator for its New Horizons mission that successfully explored Pluto and its moons and is currently navigating the Kuiper Belt, as a virtual plenary speaker during its 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, set for October 15-18. A respected planetary scientist and author, Dr. Stern serves as Associate Vice President at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. His academic research has focused on the Kuiper Belt and… READ MORE >
The Mars Society announced the launch of an international dual design competition for creating a logo to be used as a patch and t-shirt by crew members at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Utah, the largest and longest-running Mars analog program in the world. The theme of the customized logo is to represent what MDRS stands for – advocating and preparing for human exploration and settlement of Mars – but must be obvious and self-explanatory to all, including… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to welcome Dean Cheng, a Senior Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, as a virtual plenary speaker during the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 15-18. Specializing in China’s space program and international relations, Mr. Cheng is part of the Heritage Foundation’s Asian Studies Center – Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy. He has written extensively on the technological implications of China’s space program and ‘dual use’ issues associated with… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that the 2020-21 field season at the Mars Desert Research Station will be held this fall as previously planned. MDRS is the largest and longest-running Mars simulation facility in the world involving U.S. and international crews. MDRS management, led by its director, Dr. Shannon Rupert, has worked tirelessly on plans and precautions to ensure protection of each visiting crew and is confident in moving forward with the upcoming field season. Some individual MDRS… READ MORE >
Dr. Abigail Fraeman, a planetary scientist and deputy project scientist for NASA-JPL’s Curiosity rover mission, will provide an update about the space agency’s Mars rover missions during the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 15-18. Her experience with NASA-JPL missions to the solar system are extensive, including having served as co-investigator for the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM), principal investigator for NASA Development & Advancement of Lunar Instrumentation, co-investigator for NASA Planetary Data Analysis &… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Rick Tumlinson, Founding Partner of Space Fund, a major venture capital firm for space technology companies, and a prominent space activist, will give a virtual presentation during our 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 15-18. Named one of the top 100 most influential people in the space field by Space News, Mr. Tumlinson is credited by many with helping start the NewSpace revolution – which has led to commercial… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that Dr. David Poston, leader of the Compact Fission Reactor Design Team at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, will give a virtual plenary talk during the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 15-18. Dr. Poston’s research team at Los Alamos is responsible for the design and development of nuclear fission reactors for NASA, civilian and defense applications in space. As part of this, he serves as the Chief Reactor Designer… READ MORE >