The Microsoft Corporation will sponsor the two-hour TV documentary “Surviving Mars,” which will air on the Discovery Channel during prime time on Nov 7. The documentary, filmed and edited by twice-Emmy award winner Andy Liebman, is dedicated to chronicling the efforts of the Mars Society to build and operate the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station on Devon Island. To film the show, Liebman led a team of 7 who lived and worked with Mars society members on the island at 75 degrees north during the summers of 2000 and 2001.

The Mars Society is proud to announce that Anna Paulson has joined its headquarters team as Project Manager for the Mars Desert Research Station. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Anna studied biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Utah. Her master’s research was on gene regulation during early development of the nematode C. elegans. After receiving her Master’s degree, Anna initiated a course of study in engineering at the University of Michigan. There she joined the Michigan Mars Rover Team, eventually becoming team leader of this highly successful project.

The Mars Society is requesting volunteers to participate as members of the crew of the Mars Desert Research Station in southern Utah and Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station on Devon Island during extended simulations of human Mars exploration operations during the period of December 2001 through August 2002. It is anticipated that the Desert Station field season will include two shakedown crew rotations during December 2001, followed by a set of rotations running from January through May 2002. It is anticipated that the Flashline Station field season will run from late June through late August 2002.

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

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.

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.

This year’s event offers something for every interest. For those who have been closely following the FMARS field season at Devon Island, we will have a full report from team members, a new video offering from Sam Burbank, and a full track devoted to reporting the results of the research. Aspiring astronauts will enjoy hearing the first female shuttle commander, Eileen Collins, speak on her space flight experiences. U.S. Space Camp offers a discovery day for students which promises to be loads of fun. Science fiction fans will especially enjoy the author’s panel on Friday night. Other highlights include updates and discussion on the possibility of life on Mars, a vital dialogue on the environmental engineering of a sustainable ecosystem, reports from many of our partners in space advocacy, including the Planetary Society, the International Space University and Yuri’s Night and much more. A complete, up-to-date schedule of the conference will be posted at The Mars Society website – www.marssociety.org – within the next day or two.

This evening the crew of Phase 6 had their first EVA. Just a local one around the Habitat for the new crew members to familiarize themselves with the procedures. The plan was to scout out a location to set up a wind turbine in the next few days. The turbine will provide power through the winter for a set of environmental sensors at the FMARS. If all goes well, the data should be accessible this winter via satellite. This experiment is the result of a collaboration involving George James and Kevin Shoemaker of the Mars Society.

This afternoon our information systems field integration tests with the Hamilton-Sundstrand concept spacesuit were taken one step further. The focus was on securing a short-range wireless communications link between a suited explorer and other supporting explorers, say crewmembers in a nearby pressurized rover. The supporting crewmembers would help the explorer view maps, position information or any other data requested by the suited explorer to help him/her carry out the task at hand successfully.