The Mars Desert research Station will resume operations November 9, commencing a field season that will run until April 27, 2003. The crew of the Mars Desert Research Station rotates every 2 weeks. These are the scientists and engineers who live and work on site within the MDRS. They explore all of the facets of human exploration in a simulated Mars environment. As the MDRS
November 11th, 2002
Simulated The Post-Standard
Philip Turek, a 1980 graduate of Southern Cayuga High School, has been chosen by the Mars Society to participate on a simulated exploration of Mars in the Utah desert. Turek is a graduate of Cornell University and lives in Huntington Beach, California, where he is a teacher with a keen interest in outer space. He said his goal in applying for the simulated experience is to try to involve his students directly in the exploration of Mars.
November 11th, 2002
Music on Mars Astronomy.com
When earthlings finally do journey to Mars, the trip will be a lot longer than a drive to grandmother’s house for Thanksgiving. Yes, there will be science to conduct and chores to do in transit and on the martian surface, but there will be some downtime. The space travelers will need entertainment to keep their spirits up during their historic but challenging endeavor. In the spring of 2002, a crew of six camped out in a remote Utah desert to find out what life might be like on Mars, physically isolated from the rest of society. They recognized the role music plays in our everyday lives on Earth, so the Utah-based “martians” made sure music was a part of their experience as well.
November 7th, 2002
Digi 001 Goes to Mars! DigiZine
Your name is Dr. Penelope J. Boston from the Department of Earth and Environmental Science. You’re on the research mission of your life, and you’ve just shut the external airlock hatch on the Mars Society Desert Research Station. Your EVA (Extra Vehicular Activity) spacesuit feels like an air-conditioned gorilla on your back as you depart Mars Base One and board one of three all-terrain vehicles headed for Factory Butte. On the way you stop to take some surface samples; and later, while crossing an ancient, rusted red alluvial plain on the way back to Base, your ATV hits a dust hole, turns over, injures your pelvis, and cracks a number of ribs in the process. Immediately secured by your Extremophile teammates and now back in the safety and comfort of “the habitat,” you somehow cope with the pain in simply knowing that your team just overcame one of the biggest emergencies a manned mission to Mars can ever face. You’re feeling better after some macrobiotic sushi and refocused on the mission at hand, so what are you going do next, Dr. Boston? Well, of course, you fire up the Digi 001 all night and write lyrics for the house band.
October 29th, 2002
The message from Mars
The astronaut stepped onto the red soil of Mars, scanned the horizon for a moment, then looked up through the thin atmosphere, searching for a pale blue dot in the heavens above.
October 25th, 2002
Mars Society has Major Presence at World Space Congress
The Mars Society had a major presence at the recent World Space Congress, which ran in Houston October 13, through 19. Mars Society president, Dr. Robert Zubrin, had a plenary address at the congress
October 17th, 2002
1st Mars Words Contest Results In Discovery News
There is now at least one good reason for even the most avid space nut NOT to covet the honor of the first footstep on the Red Planet: there’s not much original left to say. Over the last ten days 1,547 people around the world (Earth) entered 3,673 possible “First Words” that might be fitting to say upon taking that next small step. The winning entries ranged from enraptured soliloquies to snappy one-liners.
October 9th, 2002
Race Is On for First Mars Words Discovery News
They may not be needed for years, but the race is on this week to come up with the first words to be spoken on Mars. In celebration of the United Nations World Space Week, the Mars Society International is hosting a “First Words” competition to get people thinking about the future Mars landing
October 8th, 2002
What Do We *Say* When We Get to Mars? Offer Your Ideas
Suggestions are part of a competition being staged by the Mars Society, an advocacy group, to suggest what ought to be spoken when the first people set foot on the Red Planet. No firm plans for sending humans to the Mars have been outlined by NASA, though the agency recently revealed early ideas that suggest some earnest planning may be in the wings. The contest, called First Words, is designed to raise awareness of a possible crewed mission.
October 3rd, 2002
Mars Society Convention Proceedings Published
The proceedings of the Mars Society conventions of 1999, 2000, and 2001 have been published. The volume, entitled