Mars Society Special Bulletin #37 – January 29, 2001

In this Issue:

** REGISTRATION OPENS FOR 4TH INTERNATIONAL MARS SOCIETY CONVENTION

** 4TH INTERNATIONAL MARS SOCIETY CONVENTION – CALL FOR PAPERS

** FIRST MARS SOCIETY EUROPEAN CONVENTION – CALL FOR PAPERS

** CONFERENCE REGISTRATION FORM

** MARS SOCIETY LAUNCHES OPERATION CONGRESS

** MARS ROVER PROJECTS MOVES AHEAD

* 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

https://commerce.maplesquare.com/marssociety/

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:

1. The Search for Life on Mars

2. The latest findings from Global Surveyor

3. Plans for the Mars Missions of 2001 and 2003

4. The cross contamination threat- myth or reality?

5. Concepts for Future Robotic Mars missions

6. Piloted Missions to Mars

7. Advanced Propulsion

8. Launch Vehicles for Mars Exploration

9. Long Range Mobility on Mars

10. Life Support technology

11. Biomedical issues in Mars Exploration

12. Options for Producing power on Mars

13. Methods of Martian Construction

14. In Situ Resource Utilization

15. Water on Mars – accessing the hydrosphere

16. Concepts for a Permanent Mars Base

17. Colonizing Mars

18. Terraforming – Creating an ecology for Mars

19. Analog studies relating to Mars Exploration

20. The Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station

21. The Mars Analog Rover project

22. Human factors impacting a mission

23. Engineering for acceptable risk

24. The value of Mars exploration to the Earth

25. Public policy and Mars Exploration

26. Concepts for Privately Funded Mars Missions

27. International Cooperation in Mars exploration

28. Law and Governance for Mars

29. Social Systems for Mars

30. The Significance of the Martian Frontier

31. Philosophical Implications of Mars Exploration.

32. Mars and Education

33. Mars and the Arts

34. Outreach Strategy for the Mars Society

35. Proposed Projects for the Mars Society

36. 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.