Thanks to the more than 200 people who have made donations, The Mars Society has raised over $30,000 from the end of year fundraising campaign. Dr. Zubrin spend last weekend autographing books and we will be mailing them out within the week. Special thanks to those who became lifetime members. We will be designing a unique ID card to indicate your special membership status. The Mars Society will be continuing this offer of lifetime membership for individual donors at the $1000 level. Unfortunately, Apollo Energy has indicated that they will have to cap their donation at $1000. This leaves us a bit short of our goal of $50,000 to continue operations at the Desert Hab. Any donations of $100 or more received through February 28th, 2002, either at the website or by response to our recent mailing, will be eligible for Dr. Zubrin’s book offer and will be noted on our donor plaque. Also, remember that individual crew member sponsorships are still available at the $5000 level.
Crater helps scientists imagine a Mars mission
Computer expert William J. Clancey tags along when NASA researchers visit a crater 500 miles from the North Pole to explore its Mars-like environment. “The scientists are studying the crater, the geology and biology of this land, and I’m studying the scientists,” Clancey says. He wants to see how they go about their business to develop ways that computers and other devices can be used to help astronauts explore Mars. “We want to understand exploration,” Clancey said during a recent visit to West Florida. “How do people explore?”
Out of this world Intelligencer Record
Gary Fisher of Bryn Athyn hopes to spark an interest in the exploration of Mars in the hundreds of families expected to attend the Super Science Weekend at the New Jersey State Museum. Fisher is the president of the Philadelphia chapter of the Mars Society, a division of the national organization founded in 1998 to help further exploration and settlement of the “red planet” through public outreach and support of greater government funding for exploration programs. The society also conducts private programs supporting Mars explorations. The fledgling Philadelphia chapter will have a display on Super Science Weekend’s Planetary Row, an exhibit of various organizations interested in the exploration and study of space and the universe.
Mock Mars habitat from Aurora will open in Utah The Aurora Sentinel
Students, engineers and other space enthusiasts will soon begin taking turns performing experiments in a Colorado-built research station that simulates conditions on Mars. The two-story, 27-foot-diameter building, built in an Aurora warehouse, has been shipped and reassembled in southern Utah. Six people at a time will live and do research in an area between Capitol Reef and Canyonlands national park. It is the second habitat built by the Colorado-based Mars Society to simulate the harsh conditions humans would encounter on Mars. The society’s first, the Flashline Arctic Research Station, was field-tested last summer on Devon Island in the Canadian high Arctic. The Mars Society has an international membership of engineers, enthusiasts and many NASA employees dedicated to exploration and settlement of Mars. More than 400 people volunteered to work in the new station.
German Mars Society Balloon Mission Advances
The plan for a Mars balloon mission proposed by the German Mars Society is now making important advances. With the final report on the preliminary flight system design nearing completion, the German Mars Society balloon probe team has been invited to present their concepts before the DLR (German Space Agency) space mission assessment committee in 2002. In support of this effort, the German Mars Society team has been granted DLR funding for studies and tests. If selected, the balloon mission would be Germany’s first interplanetary mission and the first mission to the Red Planet directly initiated by the Mars Society.
Progress Reports from the Mars Desert Research Station
The following reports were received this week from Project Architect Frank Schubert and Program Manager Anna Paulson, who are leading the construction of the Mars Desert Research Station in the desert west of Hanksville, Utah…
Mars from the Ground Up
Stunning views of Mars as some future planetary hiker might see the Red Planet have been produced and posted at Planete Mars — the French chapter of the Mars Society. The collaborative efforts of Adrian Lark (3D-Planet, Great Britain) and Olivier de Goursac (Association Planete Mars public outreach manager) transformed data supplied by the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter instrument flying aboard the Mars Global Surveyor into some breathtaking scenes of Valles Marineris as seen from ground level.
New Museum Exhibition Focuses Attention on Mars Exploration
The opening of a new exhibition in Canberra on the search for the origin of life across the solar system has focused attention on Australian involvement in future human exploration of Mars, said Mars Society Australia President Guy Murphy yesterday. To Mars and Beyond: Search for the Origins of Life opens at the National Museum of Australia on 13 December 2001 and continues until 26 May 2002. This exhibition features everything from astronaut Andy Thomas’ spacesuit to a piece of Mars rock, and visitors can even travel to Mars and across its red surface in a 3D virtual reality theatre styled to mimic the interior of a spaceship. Mars Society Australia even aims to showcase its prototype Mars rover vehicle named HOP in the exhibition during 2002.
Construction Of Mars Desert Research Stations Begins
Construction has begun of the Mars Desert Research Station. Led by Frank Schubert and Anna Paulson, a group of Mars Society volunteers began work on the station on December 6, achieving rapid progress. On December 10, Anna filed the following report with Mars Society headquarters: “Construction is going fantastically, it went up very fast with no problems, today the framing of the interior starts. Got lots of pics,
Greenleaf Corpration Sponsors The Mars Society
The Mars Desert Research Station program received an important boost this week with the decision by the Greenleaf Corporation to become a sponsor. Greenleaf is donating $25,000, and accordingly, will have its company logo prominently displayed on the side of the station. Commenting on the donation, Mars Society president Robert Zubrin said; “I’m really proud to have Greenleaf as a sponsor of our program. Makers of precision cutting implements for machine tools, they are exemplary of the kind of high quality industry that enabled America to reach the Moon and will make it possible for us to send humans to Mars. I hope that everyone who is in the market for their type of goods takes the trouble to check them out, because their products are top notch and their generosity and vision in supporting the Mars Society should not go unrewarded.”