Mars Society Special Bulletin #26
++ INTERNATIONAL MARS SOCIETY CONVENTION SET FOR TORONTO ++
++ CALL FOR PAPERS ++
++ LOW-COST ACCOMMODATIONS FOR CONVENTION ++
++ WEBSITE AND ‘MARSFESTS’ CELEBRATE MARS POLAR LANDING++
++ MARS SOCIETY BEGINS ìOPERATION PRESIDENT” ++
++ ECONOTRAVEL JOINS MARS SOCIETY MALL ó TRAVEL FOR MARS! ++
++ SPACE RESEARCHERS SEEKING VOLUNTEERS ++
++ CONTACT INFORMATION ++
++ INTERNATIONAL MARS SOCIETY CONVENTION SET FOR TORONTO ++
The Mars Society is please to announce the and Third International Mars
Society Convention, which will be held August 10-13, 2000 at Ryerson
Polytechnic University, Toronto, Canada. As in the past, the convention will
encompass a variety of Mars related topics, with sessions addressing social,
scientific and technical aspects of Mars exploration and settlement.
The Founding Convention of the Mars Society drew 700 attendees from 40
countries, included over 180 papers and presentations, and received
extensive press coverage in some of the worldís leading media. The Second
International convention drew over 1,000. This yearís Convention is expected
to be the largest gathering of space pioneers in history.
Conference registration fee: $180 (US) before June 30, 2000, $240 (US)
thereafter. Students: $60 (US). On-line registration is now open at
www.marssociety.org.
++ LOW-COST ACCOMMODATIONS FOR CONVENTION ++
In order to facilitate broad attendance at the Mars Society Convention,
Ryerson University has made available to the Mars society a block of 150
dormitory rooms that can be rented by conference attendees at a rate of $22
(US) per night for students with ID, or $33 (US) per night for others. These
rates are much lower than the cost of hotel rooms in Toronto, so if you wish
to take advantage of this money-saving offer, we suggest you reserve your
room immediately. Those wishing to reserve dormitory rooms should contact
Ryerson University, 416-979-5296.
A variety of alternative hotel accommodations will be listed shortly on the
Mars society web site at www.marssociety.org.
++ CALL FOR PAPERS ++
Papers for presentation at the convention are requested dealing with all
matters (science, engineering, politics, economics, and public policy)
associated with the exploration and settlement of Mars. Abstracts of no more
than 300 words should be sent by June 30, 2000 to:
Mars Society
Box 273
Indian Hills, CO 80454.
Or via e-mail to: mzubrin@aol.com
++ WEBSITE AND ‘MARSFESTS’ CELEBRATE MARS POLAR LANDING++
On December 3rd the Mars Polar Lander (MPL) will touch down on Mars. To
celebrate this event, the Mars Society has numerous activities and web
content planned.
To start we have a new Web site for this mission. The address is
http://missions.marssociety.org/. This site also includes a mirror (exact
copy) of the NASA Mars Polar Lander site. So we would like all chapters to
link to our special site. We hope it will attract new members.
As well, we have another site, MarsFest, which lists all the events the Mars
Society is holding in conjunction with this event. The address is
http://www.marsfest.org/.
This is an historic event, get involved!
++ MARS SOCIETY BEGINS ìOPERATION PRESIDENTî ++
With the 2000 election season moving into high gear, the Mars Society has
begun ìOperation Presidentî ñ a campaign to insure that the next occupant of
the White House knows that the American people want to take on the challenge
of Mars.
The idea is quite simple: The candidates are out in the open now, meeting
the people. They will not be this accessible again. Once they are nominated,
the winners will be surrounded by armies of aides who will prevent any new
ideas from reaching their man. So we must reach them now.
Currently, it appears that the only candidates with winning chances are
Bush, McCain, Forbes, Gore and Bradley, so these are the men we must
concentrate our efforts on. Starting immediately, the Mars Society will post
the publicly available campaign schedules for these gentlemen on its website
at www.marssociety.org. Check the site frequently. If you see that one of
these candiates will be campaigning in your area, take the trouble to go and
speak to him. Be friendly, polite, but clear. Tell them that the United
States needs to be a nation of pioneers; that to do that we need a space
program that is going somewhere; and that the greatest thing they could do
as president would be to commit the nation to get humans to Mars within the
first decade of the 21st century.
Operation President got off to a great start last week when Mars Society
Outreach Task Force co-chairman Chris Carberry managed to run into John
McCain and Bill Bradley while they were campaigning in New Hampshire. While
Bradleyís response was polite but cool, McCain showed warm interest,
engaging Carberry in a five-minute dialogue on space policy in the presence
of a large group of reporters. The McCain-Carberry conversation was later
broadcast nationally on CSPAN.
Once again, the importance of such meetings cannot be understated. One of
these men will be the next president. They need to know that the American
people care about opening the space frontier. Itís up to you to tell them.
++ ECONOTRAVEL JOINS MARS SOCIETY MALL ó TRAVEL FOR MARS! ++
The Mars Society Mall continues to expand with the addition of Econotravel,
a full service, low-cost travel agency. So now, if you buy your airplane
tickets on the Internet, do it by clicking through the Mars Society mall to
Econotravel. As with all other sales at the mall, it wonít cost you a penny
more, but you will help the Mars Society since, if you buy the ticket this
way, a percentage of the sale will go to support our work.
The Mars Society mall now includes some 27 leading vendors, selling
everything from books to sporting goods, computers, software, videos,
electronics, flowers, clothing , in fact, almost everything. To help
everyone remember this important fact, one of our anonymous bards has
written a song. Here it is:
The Mars Society Mall
(To the tune of ìAliceís Restaurantî)
You can get anything you want at the Mars Society Mall.
You can get anything you want at-
The Mars Society Mall.
If you want anything from a book to a Borg,
Itís W-W-W Mars Society org!
You can get anything you want at the Mars Society Mall.
The Mars Society Mall. If we donít have it, you donít need it. Shop for
Mars!
++ SPACE RESEARCHERS SEEKING VOLUNTEERS ++
As members of the Mars Society, researchers are interested in your opinions
on space exploration. A group of such researchers based at the University
of Texas are seeking participants for two-hour focus group to discuss the
U.S. space program. They know you have opinions, and that’s what they want
to hear! There will be a $50 stipend for each participant and refreshments
served. For those interested, please e-mail Janet Osimo, mailto:
josimo@mail.utexas.edu. The first 50 people who respond will be eligible.
++ CONTACT INFORMATION ++
Please use the following addresses for questions and/or concerns:
Info@MarsSociety.org – general information, register for conference
Director@MarsSociety.org – to help with existing or new project
WebMaster@MarsSociety.org – for corrections & additions to website
MarsMan@nw.net – for problems related to e-mail of these bulletins
