he semi-finalists for crew selection for the Mars Society’s Mars Arctic 365 (MA365) mission have been announced. Chosen from a group of over 200 applicants, the 62 semi-finalists consist of 49 men and 13 women drawn from 17 countries, including the United States, Canada, Brazil, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Turkey, India, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
The 62 individuals selected represent a wide range of expertise and skills including geological, biological, medical, aerospace, mechanical and electrical engineering, mechanical trades, journalism and Arctic and wilderness survival training.
March 5th, 2014
Mars Arctic 365 Mission Semi-Finalists Announce
September 5th, 2013
Mars Society Recommends ‘Generation One: Children of Mars’ Comic
“Someday Mars will have its own Laura Ingalls Wilder to tell the tale of growing up on the new frontier. But with ‘Generation One: Children of Mars,’ we can experience some of that story now. It’s going to be great.” –Dr. Robert Zubrin, Mars Society President and author of “The Case for Mars” Generation One is a 3-issue limited comic book series created with the hope of getting kids and young adults excited about Mars exploration and colonization. We’re really hoping to show how 1) Mars colonists might live happy, productive lives full of meaning without ever setting foot on Earth, 2) humanity can avoid making the same mistakes on Mars as it has on Earth, and 3) Mars is an interesting place worth discovering!
August 24th, 2012
Call for Volunteers for MDRS 2012-2013 Field Season
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that preparations for the 12th annual Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) field season in Utah is moving ahead as planned. The upcoming season is currently scheduled to run from December 1, 2012 through May 4, 2013.
Volunteer positions are now open for participating crew members at the MDRS. Crew members will be required to pay for their own transportation to/from Grand Junction, Colorado and also provide a $1,000 participation fee (reduced to $500 for students) to cover station expenses. Volunteers should send their applications to: MDRSapplications@marssociety.org by September 30, 2012 in order to be considered.
Both individual applications and group applications of up to an entire crew (6 people) will be considered
September 14th, 2011
A Call on Mars Society Members to Submit Questions for GOP Debate
The Republican presidential candidates will convene in Orlando, Florida on Thursday, September 22nd at 9:00 p.m. EST to participate in the FOX News/Google Debate. The two companies have invited members of the public to submit questions for the chance to have them asked live during the political forum.
The Mars Society is calling on its members and friends to submit questions with a Mars-related theme for the GOP presidential debate. For example, “”Will your administration ensure the U.S. resumes a destination driven space program which results in sending Americans to Mars?”
Please take advantage of this opportunity to submit your questions in video or text form at www.youtube.com/foxnews and vote on others that you would like to hear asked live of the candidates. Those submitting questions must have a current YouTube account.
August 23rd, 2011
Mars Society Family Touched by Plane Crash in Canadian Arctic
The Mars Society and its membership were saddened to learn of the crash of a chartered airplane over the weekend outside Resolute Bay in the Canadian arctic territory of Nunavut. The tragic incident took the lives of 12 people and injured three.
The Mars Society has had a decade-long relationship with the small hamlet of Resolute Bay as the nearest community to the organization’s Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS) project, a simulated Mars habitat in northern Canada.
A close friend of the Mars Society, Aziz Kheraj, owner of the South Camp Inn in Resolute Bay, was directly impacted by the tragedy, losing one grandchild in the crash, while having another injured and currently hospitalized.
“The Mars Society and its membership extend their prayers and condolences to the families and community of Resolute Bay during this difficult time,” said Dr. Robert Zubrin, President of the Mars Society.
May 17th, 2011
The Use of SpaceX Hardware to Accomplish Near-Term Human Mars Mission
The recent announcement by the entrepreneurial Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) that it intends to field within two years a heavy lift rocket capable of delivering more than twice the payload of any booster now flying poses a thrilling question: Can we reach Mars in this decade?
I believe the answer is yes. In this paper, I will lay out a plan to make use of the soon-to-be-available SpaceX systems to accomplish near-term human Mars exploration with minimal technology development. First, I will layout a baseline mission architecture and plan. In the next section, I will discuss various technology alternatives available within the selected mission architecture. Then, in the following section, I will discuss alternative mission architectures. I will then conclude with some overall observations bearing on the question of sustained exploration and settlement of Mars.
It may be noted that the author is not an employee of the SpaceX company, and does not have detailed knowledge of the SpaceX systems. It will take the hard work and ingenuity of the SpaceX engineers to develop configurations and systems that can make these ideas a reality. Nevertheless, it is apparent that if an approach such as that recommended here is adopted, the requirements and capabilities numbers can be made to converge. We can reach Mars in our time.
October 28th, 2009
Official Mars Society Statement Regarding Augustine Commission Report
The recently released report from the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee (AKA: The Augustine Commission), Seeking a Human Space Program Worthy of a Great Nation, states that “A human landing and extended human presence on Mars stand prominently above all other opportunities for exploration. Mars is unquestionably the most scientifically interesting destination in the inner solar system. It possesses resources which can be used for life support and propellants. If humans are ever to live for long periods with intention of extended settlement on another planetary surface, it is likely to be on Mars.”
The Mars Society is in perfect agreement with this statement and we hope that NASA will pursue a program that will realize this goal as quickly and as efficiently as possible. Unfortunately, the Augustine Commission report then goes on to state that we are not ready to go to Mars with current technology and we can go nowhere in the next decade, even with the expenditure of over a hundred billion dollars. While challenging, sending humans to Mars is possible with current technological expertise and we could have humans on Mars in the 2020s.
August 18th, 2009
Apply Now for the 9th Season of the Mars Desert Research Station
The Mars Society is now seeking crew members for the 9th season of field operations at the Mars Desert Research Station, scheduled to run between November 14, 2009 and April 18, 2010. Come and join one of the world’s longest-running and most successful space simulation projects!
Interested parties should send a resume to mdrs-applications@marssociety.org, and then fill out the optional online application (which will help speed the review process) before the September 15, 2009 deadline.
July 22nd, 2009
FMARS Crew Webcast To Occur On NASA Distance Learning Network
There will be a live webcast with the FMARS crew broadcast on the NASA Distance Learning Network on Thursday, July 23 at 10:30am EDT (9:30 CDT, 8:30 MDT, 7:30 PDT). The webcast will be between FMARS crew members and Georgia educators. We will give an overview of the research being conducted from geological studies to the use of air vehicles for remote sensing. Anyone can watch for free online.
April 1st, 2009
Mars Society Christens “Colbert Mars Desert Research Station”
The Mars Society has been closely monitoring the voting process for the naming of the new node of the International Space Station (ISS). We would like to congratulate Stephen Colbert for the impressive number of votes that were cast for him. However, all indications are that NASA will not name the new node “Colbert.” The Mars Society would like to recognize Mr. Colbert’s efforts that successfully focused attention on the U.S. space program and inspired far more people to vote in this process than would have otherwise. Assuming that that the ISS node is not named “Colbert,” we believe Mr. Colbert deserves a much better consolation prize than having a space toilet named after him, as has been suggested. The Mars Society will therefore rename our Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) near Hanksville, Utah to the “Colbert Mars Desert Research Station” for one week in April, 2009.