First Mars Society European Convention
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In this Issue:
Registration Opens for 4th International Mars Society Convention
Registration is now open for the 4th International Mars Society Convention, to be held August 23-26, 2001 at Stanford University, Stanford, California
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The Mars Society was founded to further the exploration and settlement of the Red Planet. The International Mars Society convention presents a unique opportunity for those interested in Mars to come together and discuss technology, science, social implications, philosophy and a multitude of other aspects of Mars exploration.
Highlights of the convention will include reports from the second field season of the Devon Island Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station; status reports from the Analog Rover teams; panels and debates concerning key issues bearing on Mars exploration and settlement; and keynote addresses from many prominent leaders of the effort to get humans to Mars.
Prior conventions have drawn thousands of participants from all over the world and received extensive press coverage in many of the leading international media. The Stanford location blends a beautiful campus with a leading-edge innovative community in the San Francisco Bay area. This year's conference should be the most exciting event to date.
Conference Sessions:
- The Search for Life on Mars
- The latest findings from Global Surveyor
- Plans for the Mars Missions of 2001 and 2003
- The cross contamination threat- myth or reality?
- Concepts for Future Robotic Mars missions
- Piloted Missions to Mars
- Advanced Propulsion
- Launch Vehicles for Mars Exploration
- Long Range Mobility on Mars
- Life Support technology
- Biomedical issues in Mars Exploration
- Options for Producing power on Mars
- Methods of Martian Construction
- In Situ Resource Utilization
- Water on Mars - accessing the hydrosphere
- Concepts for a Permanent Mars Base
- Colonizing Mars
- Terraforming - Creating an ecology for Mars
- Analog studies relating to Mars Exploration
- The Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station
- The Mars Analog Rover project
- Human factors impacting a mission
- Engineering for acceptable risk
- The value of Mars exploration to the Earth
- Public policy and Mars Exploration
- Concepts for Privately Funded Mars Missions
- International Cooperation in Mars exploration
- Law and Governance for Mars
- Social Systems for Mars
- The Significance of the Martian Frontier
- Philosophical Implications of Mars Exploration.
- Mars and Education
- Mars and the Arts
- Outreach Strategy for the Mars Society
- Proposed Projects for the Mars Society
- Martian Calendars and Timekeeping Systems
4th International Mars Society Convention - Call For Papers
Presentations for the convention are invited dealing with all matters (science, engineering, politics, economics, public policy, etc.) associated with the exploration and settlement of Mars. Abstracts of no more than 300 words should be sent by June 15th, 2001 to: The Mars Society, P.O. Box 273, Indian Hills 80454, or sent via email to: mzubrin@aol.com (email submission preferred).
First Mars Society European Convention - Call For Papers
The First Mars Society European Convention will be held the 28, 29 and 30th (morning) of September 2001 in Paris, at the " Palais de la Decouverte " (av. Franklin D.Roosevelt, 75008-Paris). This conference is organized by the Planete Mars Association, the French chapter of the Mars Society, with support from other European chapters of the Mars Society and from the French Association for Aeronautics and Astronautics (AAAF).
Lecturers (and attendees) from all over the world are welcome ! Note that the convention will be held the week-end just before the IAF congress in Toulouse (France). So this is an opportunity to stay a few days in Paris for those attending the IAF.
Sessions will cover the following topics :
1 Discovering the planet - Geology, water, volcanism, climate, lessons for planetary evolution. 2 Mars and Life - Past and future research, life in extreme conditions. 3 Robotic exploration - Next missions. 4 Man to Mars - Travel, medical aspects, exploration, terraforming. 5 The Mars Society projects 6 Mars exploration promotion and education
Abstracts between 300and 700 words in Word for PC (format .doc or .rtf) without drawings or pictures and in Times New Roman 12, have to be sent before the 15th of April to the program committee chairman at alain.souchier@worldonline.fr and to the convention organization committee at nicolas.stephan@caramail.com
The abstracts will mention the presentation title, the authors names, the organization or company if wished, the address, phone number and e-mail address, the proposed session number.
The abstract language may be English or French. The language for the presentations will be English. The foreseen duration for each presentation will be 20 minutes, followed by 10 minutes for questions.
Conference Registration Form
Conference fees for this year's convention remain at the 2000 level. A limited number of dormitory rooms are available on the Stanford campus. Dorm rooms may be booked only as a package for the four nights of the conference and include catered lunches and one additional dinner. They are priced at an extremely attractive rate. Please book and pay for your dorm room along with your conference registration. You can register online at www.marssociety.org or by printing out and mailing in the form below.
MARS SOCIETY CONVENTION August 23-26, 2001 Stanford University, Stanford, California Registration Information
Name:_________________________________
Address:______________________________
City:_____________________ St:__________ Zip:
Country:___________________
Email address:______________________________________________
Will you be submitting an abstract? __________________
Type of registration (circle amount):
Full conference registration before 6/30/01 - $180 Full conference registration after 6/30/01 - $240 Student/senior conference registration - $60 Student/senior conference registration with banquet - $110
(Members may deduct dues paid AFTER 8/13/2000 from conference fees)
Optional Dormitory Registration (circle amount):
Single Room - $230 ($57.50 per night) Double Room - $179 ($44.75 per night)
Total charges: ________________
Payment method: Check/MO _____ Credit Card _____
Credit Card Type: ______ CC#: ____________________________
Expiration Date:_________
Name on Card: ___________________________
Signature:____________________________________
Mail registration to The Mars Society, P.O. Box 273, Indian Hills, CO 80454, USA, or send via fax to 303-980-0753. Online registration is available at http://www.marssociety.org.
MARS SOCIETY LAUNCHES OPERATION CONGRESS
For the last several years, local chapters of The Mars Society have had extensive success talking to their members of Congress, as well as Congressional staff. As a result, numerous influential individuals in D.C. know us.
Unfortunately, these efforts, as well as our message, have not yet been consistent enough to have a major impact on national space policy. To remedy this, The Mars Society is now going to launch "Operation Congress." This will be a coordinated national effort to motivate chapters to speak to their Congressional representatives within their congressional districts. When chapters meet with their representatives, they will emphasize the following message:
1. That the U.S. space program needs a real goal, and that goal should be humans to Mars in the near future.
2. That Congress should start the ball rolling now by creating a line item to use 1percent of NASA's budget (roughly $140 million per year) to fund the development of technologies to enable the human exploration of Mars.
While chapters are talking with their members of Congress, the Outreach Task Force will be trying to utilize many of the influential contacts we made last year during the campaign. Hopefully the combination of these efforts will force our line-item onto the 2002 budget.
We will be incorporating this message into our "Briefing Book," and will be providing other materials to help in these efforts (sample letters, instructions, etc.)
It is important that we mobilize now, while the Congress is new, and agendas have not hardened. Various factions are maneuvering behind the scenes to predetermine NASA's next major goal after Space Station. The alternatives are (a) Shuttle II (which has already kicked off with the Space Launch Initiative), or (b) Return to the Moon for two decades, represented in the latest NASA HQ "Decadal Plan." If humans are to go to Mars in our lifetime, those favoring that goal need to speak up now.
All chapters should start setting up meetings to speak to their local congressional representatives. Report all meetings to the Outreach Task Force. E-mail addresses for the Task Force are as follows:
Chris Carberry, ccarberry@masshist.org (Massachusetts)
Joe Webster, jwebster@hsdwdc.com (Washington, D.C.)
Alan Rubin, arubin@ESCMed.com (Massachusetts)
Derek Shannon, mars@its.caltech.edu (California)
Brian Frankie, Brianf5070@aol.com (California)
Shannon Russell, sjrussel@mit.edu (Massachusetts)
MARS ROVER PROJECTS MOVE AHEAD
The three university-based Mars Society Pressurized Rover Project design teams have been working around their various school schedules and making progress. Each team is required to report to the project manager (Tom Hill, at hillkid@earthlink.net) bi-weekly on their progress. These reports are published upon receipt on the project web site at http://www.marssociety.org/projects/rover/. The team leaders' email addresses are listed on that page as well. Those wishing to join their efforts should feel free to contact them.
The following reports represent project status as of January 20, 2001.
Australia - Australia's rover is part of a larger effort devoted to creating a Mars Analog in the outback. The team has procured a 4WD minivan vehicle, which they will strip down and place a new shell over to create a mobile habitat. Their publicity efforts span the continent.
ARES - This team is truly international, bringing universities together from the US and Canada. They have secured facilities near MIT to work on their vehicle, and raised over $20,000 in funds. They plan to modify a Humvee by adding a new shell over it to create an analog pressurized rover.
Michigan - This team has taken on the largest project, building a rover from the frame up from scratch. Their first meeting drew over 150 interested students, and their location in one of the factory centers of the United States should give them plenty of resources.
A major milestone for the teams occurs during the first week of April, when the Society will conduct a progress review.
For further information on the rover project, Operation Congress, or the 2001 convention, see our website at www.marssociety .org or contact info@marssociety.org.
[MS - TDF 1/2001 - 29/01/2001]