In this Issue: *Design Teams Form for Translife Mission *Steering Committee Election Process Begins *”Mars on Earth” to Air November 7 on the Discovery Channel
September 23rd, 2001
Translife Mission Coriolis Force Feasibility Experiment Successful
An experiment conducted at Pioneer Astronautics for the Mars Society has demonstrated that the Coriolis forces that mice will be exposed to during the Translife Mission will not be excessive. Coriolis forces are a secondary byproduct of rotating artificial gravity systems. It has long been argued by advocates of zero-gravity space travel that such forces would prove disorienting to astronauts, especially at rotation rates above 4 revolutions per minute. The Mars Society’s Translife Mission will place a group of mice in low Earth orbit for about 50 days in a rotating spacecraft that will supply them with artificial gravity at Mars levels, 38% that of the Earth. During this time, the mice will be allowed to reproduce and the young will grow up in Martian gravity.
September 19th, 2001
From Red Centre To Red Planet
Mars Society Australia announced today that an Australian scientific team will travel to outback South Australia and the Northern Territory on October 27 to examine suitable sites for a Mars analogue research facility. The head of the Mars Society in the United States, Dr. Robert Zubrin, said earlier this year that Australia could be the recipient of U.S. hardware to build the facility, and the expedition will scout for potential locations in some of the most Mars-like terrain on our planet.
September 8th, 2001
Mars mission touches down in the Australian Outback The Independent
Ten astrobiologists, geologists and aerospace engineers united by one passion
September 6th, 2001
Devon Island Experiment Unlocks Secrets of Living on Mars
A human journey to Martian wilderness is moving toward reality thanks to simulated practice runs at Mars analog sites here on Earth. A shakeout of tools, equipment, and people skills necessary to live and work on the red planet is underway at Devon Island in Northern Canada
September 3rd, 2001
Inuit, NASA at odds over crater National Post
Residents of a remote northern community won’t allow researchers with the National Aeronautics and Space Agency’s Haughton-Mars Project on to Inuit-owned land on Devon Island unless an agreement for benefits is negotiated. Two weeks ago, representatives of Grise Fiord, a hamlet of 170 people on the southern coast of Ellesmere Island, visited the site of the NASA-sponsored project on the rim of the Haughton Crater, the site of a 20-kilometre impact caused by a meteor collision millions of years ago. The international group of scientists, engineers and students have been working on the crater site for three years as part of the Haughton-Mars Project, which aims to eventually colonize Mars. The barren location was selected by the research team because of its similarity to the surface of the Red Planet. But for the past year, Grise Fiord officials have forbidden anyone associated with the project to use Inuit-owned lands, which comprise 70% of the area around the Haughton Crater.
August 28th, 2001
Mars Society Launches Translife Mission Project
At its Stanford convention, the Mars Society resolved to commit its resources to initiate the Translife Mission as its first spaceflight mission project. The Translife mission will consist of a Mars-level (0.38 g)artificial gravity spacecraft carrying a crew of mice (and possibly other animals and plants) in low Earth orbit for a period of roughly two months. During this period, the mice will be allowed to reproduce and the young will develop into adults. The spacecraft will then be brought down to Earth, and both the original crew and their progeny will be examined.
August 24th, 2001
Mars Explorers Call for Opening the ‘New World’
The way to kick-start a humans-to-Mars program is to take a do-it-yourself approach and focus on research needed to open the Red Planet to explorers and eventually settlers, a guru for Mars exploration says. Private monies are being spent to study how to combat the long-duration effects — on mice and humans — of microgravity en route to Mars, and to better assess the skills required of people that voyage that great distance to open up the next “New World” for humankind, says Mars Society President, Robert Zubrin. “I am myself of the pragmatist school. If humans-to-Mars can be done publicly or privately, I want it to be done,” Zubrin said. “Whether it
August 21st, 2001
Astronaut Eileen Collins to Speak at Mars Society Convention
Air Force Colonel Eileen Collins, the first woman to command a Space Shuttle mission and recently announced as the commander of STS-114 will speak Saturday, August 25th at the Mars Society Convention at Stanford University. Collins has flown on three Space Shuttle missions, including commanding the 1999 mission to deploy the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. She was also the first woman pilot of the initial Shuttle mission to Mir in 1995. Collins has a BA in math and economics from Syracuse, a masters in operations research from Stanford, and a masters in space systems management from Webster University. She became a NASA astronaut in 1991 and has logged over 537 hours in space. Her many hobbies include running, golf, camping, reading, photography and astronomy. As well as being a new member of the Mars Society, she belongs to the U.S. Space Foundation, the AIAA, the Air Force Association, Order of Daedalians, Women Military Aviators, and the Ninety-Nines. She has earned many special honors and has logged over 5,000 hours in 30 different types of aircraft.
August 21st, 2001
Gambling on Nevada desert as a substitute for Mars Seattle Times
In this town of fanciful architecture, the oddest structure of all has been constructed