Mars Society

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Globe icon
 This article or section deals primarily with the United States and does not represent a worldwide view of the subject.
Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page.
Mars Society
Founded August, 1998
Key people Board of Directors:
Area served International
Focus Space advocacy
Website http://www.marssociety.org

The Mars Society is an international space advocacy non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging the exploration and settlement of Mars. Founded by Robert Zubrin and others in mid-1998 and attracting the support of notable science fiction writers and filmmakers (including Kim Stanley Robinson and James Cameron), the organization is dedicated to convincing the public and governments of the benefits of Mars exploration, as well as exploring the possibilities of private Mars missions.[1]

Contents

[edit] History

The Society formally came into existence at its founding conference in August 1998, when over 700 delegates – astronomers, scientists, engineers, astronauts, entrepreneurs, educators, students, and space enthusiasts – attended a weekend of talks and presentations from leading Mars exploration advocates.

Since that time, the Society, guided by its International Steering Committee, has grown to over 4,000 members and some 6,000 associate supporters across more than 50 countries around the world. Members of the Society are from all walks of life, and all actively work to promote the ideals of space exploration and the opportunities for exploring Mars.

The Mars Society's goals aren't purely theoretical. Its aim is to show that Mars is an achievable goal through a practical series of technical and other projects, including these:

  • further development of the Mars Direct mission plan to send humans to Mars[2]
  • the Mars Analogue Research Station Programme (MARS) – analogues of possible future Mars habitation units, located in Mars-like environments
  • the Mars Society Analogue Pressurized Rover – a competition to design a pressurized rover vehicle that could be used on Mars that was won by the Michigan Mars Rover Team[3].
  • the Mars Gravity Biosatellite - a program to design, build, and launch a satellite rotated to artificially provide partial gravity of 0.38g, equivalent to that of Mars, and hosting a small population of mice, to study the health effects of partial gravity, as opposed to zero gravity; this originated as a Mars Society initiative and is now supported by the YourNameIntoSpace web portal
  • the Mars balloon mission ARCHIMEDES, due to launch in 2009 (conducted by the German chapter of Mars Society)[4]

In addition, the Society:

  • gives talks and presentations on Mars Direct to schools, colleges, universities, professional bodies and the general public
  • promotes the teaching of science, astronomy and spaceflight-related subjects in schools
  • campaigns for greater investment on the part of individual countries in space research and development
  • hosts the largest annual conferences on Mars exploration in the United States, Europe and Australia
  • actively supports NASA, ESA and other space agencies in their on-going exploration of Mars

The current board of directors of the Mars Society is Robert Zubrin (chairman), Gregory Benford, Penelope Boston, and Declan O'Donnell.[5]

Notable members of its steering committee include Buzz Aldrin, Scott Horowitz, Peter H. Smith, and Carol Stoker.

Notable former members of the board of directors or steering committee of the Mars Society include Kim Stanley Robinson, Mike Griffin, Christopher McKay, and Pascal Lee.[6]

[edit] Chapters of the Mars Society

The Mars Society has chapters in countries around the world. Many of these chapters undertake scientific, engineering and political initiatives to further the Mars Society's goals. Some accomplishments of Mars Society chapters are listed below:

Northern California Chapter of the Mars Society:

Dallas Chapter of the Mars Society:

  • hosted the Mars Track of the National Space Society's International Space Development Conference in 2007[9]
  • Planning Publicizing, and Politicking a vision of Mars colonization in the Dallas area and beyond.

Mars Society of Canada:

  • hosted the Third International Mars Society Convention in 2000 (Toronto)[10]
  • organized a month-long multi-national research expedition (known as Expedition One) to the Mars Desert Research Station in the Utah desert in 2003[11]
  • organized a second multi-national research expedition (known as Expedition Two) in the Australian outback in 2004[12]

The Mars Society - San Diego: http://www.marssandiego.org/

  • provides Crewmembers and Mission Support services for the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) and the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS) since 2002
  • TMS-SD provides public outreach events to classrooms, libraries, museums and other organizations throughout the Southern California region with seven different multimedia programs: "Invasion from Earth - The Robotic Exploration of Mars"; "Mars Exploration Rovers - Year 4"; "Mars on Earth - The Adventures of Space Pioneers in the Utah Desert"; "Mars on Earth - The Adventures of Space Pioneers in the Canadian Arctic: "Humans to Mars - How We'll Get There"; "A Close Look at Mars"; and "Mars in the Movies"
  • TMS-SD offers a 1/4-scale radio controlled Mars Exploration Rover with wireless video that children (of all ages) can operate [1]
  • holds monthly chapter meetings, as well as special program events throughout the year
  • hosts a monthly Mars Movie Night in conjunction with http://marsmovieguide.com

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Mars Society Purpose
  2. ^ Penn State - Mars Direct
  3. ^ Mars Society Pressurized Rover
  4. ^ Archimedes Balloon Project
  5. ^ Mars Society Board Listing
  6. ^ Mars Society Steering Member Listing
  7. ^ Mars Society on h2g2
  8. ^ NASA Field Trials at the Mars Desert Research Station
  9. ^ Adastra "National Space Society Conference Kicks Off in Dallas"
  10. ^ Space.com "Mars Society says humanity shouldn't wait for clanking robots on Mars to do what flesh-and-blood humans do better"
  11. ^ Expedition One
  12. ^ Expedition Two

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Mars
Geography
General
Regions
Volcanoes
Mars as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope
Mars Portal
Moons
Meteorites
Exploration
Eclipses and
transits
Eclipses
Deimos · Phobos · Earth · Mercury · Venus
Other topics