In this issue: ** Mars Society Expands Board of Directors ** MIT Mars Society Videocast Links US and French Universities ** The Saga of Flashline MARS in Scientific American ** Deadline Nears for Abstract Submissions to Mars Society Convention

The United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada (UA) has become a major sponsor of the Mars Society’s Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) and Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station projects. Commenting on UA General President Martin J. Maddaloni’s decision to sponsor the project, UA Director of Training George Bliss said; “We’re doing this to make clear to young people that you don’t have to be a fighter pilot to be a space pioneer. Members of the building trades built the great cities of this country, and when it comes time to build cities on Mars, we are the ones who are going to build them.”

The Mars Society Australia presents the first annual Australian Mars Exploration Conference (AMEC) in Melbourne on the weekend of 12th & 13th May, 2001 as part of National Science Week. The program includes a range of speakers on the Saturday, with a conference banquet in the evening and a program of workshops on Mars Society technical projects on the Sunday including a question and answer session (by telephone) with Dr Robert Zubrin, author of The Case for Mars.

A Mars Society spring reconnaissance expedition to Devon Island to assess the condition and effect improvements in the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station has just returned. Led by Project Scientist Pascal Lee and Project Manager Frank Schubert, the team landed on snow-covered Devon in Twin Otter aircraft equipped with skis for landing gear, and found the station to be in excellent shape after being left alone for an Arctic winter.

In a meeting held in Denver, March 4th and 5th, the Flashline Management Committee completed selections of the volunteers slated for the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station on Devon Island during the summer of 2001.

Follow the progress of each team as status reports are posted twice month online. Last fall in a major step forward for the society, the Mars Society announced that three teams will receive funds to build Mars analog rovers. The first of these rovers could be ready by this years convention at Stanford.

The deadline to apply as a volunteer for the Flashline Station is fast approaching. The application deadline is January 31. The Mars Society is requesting volunteers to participate as members of the crew of the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station during an extended simulation of human Mars exploration operations on Devon Island during the summer of 2001. It is anticipated that the field season will run from late June through late August; volunteers should state during what segments of this span they are available. Both volunteer investigators who bring a new proposed program of research compatible with the objectives of Flashline Station, and volunteers simply wishing to participate as crew members supporting ongoing investigations will be considered.

In the summer of 2000 the Mars Society built and completed a shakedown occupation of the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station. Here we present some video highlights of the field season.

The Mars Society is requesting volunteers to participate as members of the crew of the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station during an extended simulation of human Mars exploration operations on Devon Island during the summer of 2001. It is anticipated that the field season will run from late June through late August; volunteers should state during what segments of this span they are available. Both volunteer investigators who bring a new proposed program of research compatible with the objectives of Flashline Station, and volunteers simply wishing to participate as crew members supporting ongoing investigations will be considered.

In a major step forward for the group, The Mars Society today announced that three teams will receive funds to build an analog Mars rover. The goal of the analog Mars rover project is to allow direct member participation in important humans-to-Mars research, while at the same time raising public awareness that Mars is a goal in humankind