Mars Desert Research Station Mars Party, August 29 through 31, 2003. Imagine observing Mars this summer from a place that looks like the Red Planet – complete with a fully functional Mars Habitat and Observatory. You are cordially invited to attend a Mars Party held at the Mars Desert Research Station near Hanksville, Utah. The site was chosen for it’s Martian landscape and is a research facility used by the Mars Society to make studies for the human exploration of Mars. With its 6.7 magnitude skies it is an ideal location for observing the wonders of the universe. This is a free event sponsored by the Mars Society and Celestron.

The Mars Society announced today that SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk will present a plenary talk at the 6th International Mars Society Convention, which will be held at the Hilton Hotel in Eugene Oregon, August 14-17, 2003. The founder of the PayPal payment system, Elon Musk is widely regarded as one of the most successful of the internet entrepreneurs to emerge from the 1990s. A long time supporter of space exploration and development, in 2001 Musk started investigating how he could make a difference in this area. The result was the June 2002 founding of SpaceX, a company devoted to reducing the cost and increase the reliability of access to space by approximately an order of magnitude.

The 2003 crew for the Flashline Mars Arctic Station has been chosen. The Mars Society announces that the upcoming four-week rotation at FMARS is the longest to date. At the site on Devon Island, the members of Crew 8 will simulate a long-term research mission to the planet Mars, studying the region around the Houghton Crater and living at the analog space station there. complete report on the 2003 operation of the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station will be presented at the 6th International Mars Society convention, to be held at the Hilton Hotel in Eugene Oregon, August 14-17 2003.

The Mars Society of Canada is holding its Annual General Meeting in Montreal on Sunday, May 18th. This event will be held at the headquarters of the Canadian Space Agency in St. Hubert, Quebec. Attendance costs $20 (CAD), which may be paid online or at the door.

Geologists, computer scientists, robotics engineers, and communications experts trekked into the desert near Hanksville, Utah, the first two weeks in April. Their goal is to develop a futuristic computer system for supporting the human exploration of Mars. Using the Mars Society

The important Russian magazine Vokrug Sveta (Around the World) has published a 16 page illustrated article about Mars exploration, with central focus on the work of the Mars Society. The article covers Mars as a planet, current plans to explore Mars with robots, orbiters, and airplanes, the Mars Direct plan, terraforming, and the work of the Mars Society at the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS) and the MDRS. Mars Society recognition in Russia has grown rapidly since the publication of “The Case for Mars” in Russian, (under the title “V Zashchitu Marsa”) translated by Russian Mars Society president Gennady Gusev. During the summer of 2002, Russian TV crews from the independant NTV network travelled to Devon Island to film the work of the FMARS crew. The documentary they produced was broadcast nationwide across Russia in the fall of 2002 to wide aclaim. Growth of the Russian Mars Society is very important as Russian technological capabilities could represent a major contribution to an international Mars exploration program.

An international crew is about to descend on the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in the American South-west, one of a series of human Mars mission simulation platforms currently operated by The Mars Society (U.S.) in Mars-like environments around the globe. The 14th Crew on the MDRS in Utah will take part in a venture that has been jointly funded and planned by the Mars Society of Canada and Mars Society Australia. Crewmembers from the United States and France will also participate in this important research program.

The members of the Mars Society join together in grief over the loss of the seven member crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia this morning. The crew of the Columbia, as that of Challenger and Apollo 1 before them, gave their lives for the cause of opening the solar system to humanity. In the coming months, that cause will be put to the test, as those who do not honor it seek to use this tradgedy to put it to an end. This must not be allowed to occur. In memory of Shuttle commander Rick D. Husband, Pilot William C. McCool,Payload Commander Michael P. Anderson, Mission Specialists David M. Brown, Kalpana Chawla and Laurel Clark and Ilan Ramon, let us therefore resolve that the cause for which they gave their last full measure of devotion shall not be allowed to fail. From death there shall come life, and no life given shall be given in vain. The Mars Society offers its condolences to the families and friends of Columbia’s crew.

The official proclamation from the Mayor’s office designating Feb. 2 – 8 as Mars Society Week in San Diego has been released. Here’s what the proclamation says…