++ Alabama
Mark Eby, mailto: maeby@zebra.net
The Alabama chapter has lost its chapter head and primary chapter contact
due to increasing duties with the ISS. Tom Hancock will continue to organize
an advanced propulsion seminar.

An egroups discussion forum was started to help organize the chapter.
Response is disappointing. Only roughly a third of Alabama members seem
interested in being an active part of the chapter.

The egroups forum was used to approve Mark Eby as new chapter contact and
Chapter's Council representative in an unopposed election. Volunteers for
chapter head and other officer positions are needed to help get the chapter
into an active mode. A Huntsville metro area resident would be a big plus.

++ Alaska
Marilyn Dudley-Rowley, mailto:MD-R@msn.com
No report.

++ Arizona
Bill Gjestvang, mailto:DataWolf@IBM.net
No report.

++ Arkansas
Wayne Bowen, mailto:bowenw@alpha.obu.edu
Nothing to report.

++ California, CALTECH-JPL
Derek Shannon, mailto:dms@caltech.edu

++ California, Central Valley
Domenique van der Goore, mailto:traveler@cyberlynk.com

++ Northern California Chapter
Bill Weitze, mailto: bweitze@california.com
December News: On December 4, the Northern California chapter had a great
MarsDay event at the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose. In the words of
member Kevin Hand, "we all pulled together and pulled it off. We had a great
time and the tech folks had a great time. There's talk of future event
already in the works . . . perhaps even an annual Mars Day! Special thanks
to Caren [Pelletier], John McKnight, Mike [Hicks], Frank, Mike [Pelletier],
Mark, John Paterson, Dustin [Putnam], Bruce and Bill [Weitze] for much of
the behind the scenes work. Also of note: cheers once again to Peg and Lily
Cela for making a minor Hohman transfer to get from way up north down to the
Tech on Saturday morning."

Member Nick Walker produced some "damn nice t-shirts" (per Kevin Hand) for
the members to wear at the MarsFest/MarsDay event. They are based on the
Mars California logo created by member Tom Gangale, which you can see on our
website (http://chapters.marssociety.org/northca). By the way, Nick was
elected "supreme delegator", the closest thing to chapter leader you can get
in a group like ours, back in October.

Finally, member Kevin Hand is the Bay Area on Tuesday of next week. He'll be
"bumming around Europe and Africa talking to kids about Mars and life in the
universe. I'll be gone till June. if you know anybody with a classroom
and/or a couch I'd love their information." He's also looking for a laptop
for his friend in Nairobi; contact Kevin at kspace_sgf@yahoo.com.

January News: The Northern California chapter met at Kublai Khan's Mongolian
Barbecue in San Francisco on January 15. Sam Burbank volunteered and was
chosen as chapter representative to the Chapter's Council (formerly the
preliminary member's council).

Our February meeting is expected to open with a general interest lecture
open to the public. We hope to do this sort of thing every month. John
McKnight and Patrick Beatty will be helping set up the meeting, possibly at
a local university. Ideas, contacts, and help are welcomed.

Bill Weitze (me) volunteered and was chosen as chapter contact for the Red
Planet Satellite Report.

Other future projects for our chapter include setting up a sister chapter
relationship, and having booths or tables at movie openings for Mission to
Mars.

After the "formal" meeting, there was a free-form discussion of future
political activity in the wake of the loss of the Mars Polar Lander. Also,
Pascal Lee gave reports on the progress of the M.A.R.S. project and the Mars
Program Independent Assessment Team (MPIAT) which will be reviewing the
execution of the Mars missions to date.

++ California, South
Dave Jedynak, mailto:jedynak@sileas.com
No report.

++ Colorado
Rocky Mountain Mars Society (RMMS)
Brad Jarvis, bjarvis@ezlink.com
No report.

++ Florida
Dick Brodeur (mail to: r.e.brodeur@mindspring.com )
The next Florida meeting is this Saturday the 5th. A video conference with
the Mars Society staff in Colorado is planned. More to report after that
meeting.

++ RedDirt (Georgia)
Mike Kretsch, mailto: mkretsch@compassusa.com
Febuary Meeting Feb 12 Rocky Mtn Pizza 12:00 noon, Hemphill and 10th Atlanta
Ga. Agenda: Meet New members, Regroup on projects

++ Hawaii
Matt Rohrer, mailto:matt@prognostikos.com
No report.

++ Idaho
Chris Struble, mailto: clstruble@earthlink.net
No report.

++ Chicago-Illinois Mars Society
Matthew Lowry, mailto: lowryclan@geocities.com
Primary Chicago Chapter -- http://chapters.marssociety.org/usa/il/
The Chicago chapter will be reaching out to the public in many ways soon. We
plan to get more involved with Mars Society related presentations at our
local Adler Planetarium; this also includes the creation of a Chicago
chapter specific presentation and possibly some Mars related displays as
well. Also, we're planning some kind of outreach via the opening of "Mission
to Mars" -- for more information on movie outreach in our area, contact Mike
Huber at bigboar@beannet.net

Our very own Jim Plaxco -- jplaxco@astrodigital.org -- will be our primary
contact for upcoming area science-fiction conventions. This week, Jim may
put in an appearance at Capricom, and he also plans to attend ChiCom (in
August) on behalf of the Mars Society to spread our mission to sci-fi
writers.

Dejan Vucinic and Doug Hubbard both discussed their plans to present papers
at the upcoming convention in Toronto. Dejan will be addressing financial
options for the private financing of space missions. Doug will present a
very interesting mission design that he dubs "Mars MORE Direct". Our chapter
is very interesting in hearing about Doug's ideas & analyzing them -- stay
tuned for more details!

North Shore sub-chapter -- http://www.astrodigital.org/nsms
For minutes of our latest meeting (1-20-00) see the website above. The
sister chapter in the North Shore is also planning on reaching out to local
theaters upon the opening of "Mission to Mars" in March. For more details,
contact Matt Lowry at lowryclan@geocities.com

++ Indiana
Steve Resler, mailto:sresler@eyeworld.net
No report.

++ Iowa
Katharine Osborne, mailto:kosborne@eai.com
No report.

++ Kansas
Holly Kellogg, mailto:HKellogg@feist.com
No report.

++ Louisiana
Shelly Hynes, mailto:cshynes@cp-tel.net
No report.

++ MD, DC, VA
Theresa Klein, mailto: tjk2@ix.netcom.com
No report.

++ Michigan
Julie Edwards, mailto: jedwards@umich.edu
Our executive committee met on Sunday at an Ann Arbor Big Boy restaurant and
discussed a variety of subjects over brunch, including this year's upcoming
election of officers, which SciFi conventions to have a table, a possible
banner to use at events, a possible money-making project, and other items.

Our portable Mars Hab model is still under construction. We hope to have it
presentable by May when we plan to show it at the Jackson Space Museum for
their "What's Up Weekend".

Our next regular monthly meeting will be on the University of Michigan North
Campus, 1024 FXB, 1-3PM on Saturday 19 February 2000.

++ Minnesota
Ben Huset, mailto:BenHuset@skypoint.com
No report.

++ MS MARS - the Mississippi Chapter of The Mars Society
Garry W. Speer, mailto: VMSmith1@aol.com
Nothing new to report (except that it isn't supposed to be this cold in the
Deep South ... LOL) Onward to Mars !!!

++ Missouri -- Kansas City
George Howard, mailto:Ghoward683@aol.com
No report.

++ Nebraska Chapter
Derrick M. Davis, mailto:dmdventures@hotmail.com
The Nebraska chapter met January 15th and started working up our strategy
for 2000. Our web pages are being updated and our next meeting will be
February 5th. While we are a small chapter this month, we are making plans
for growth.

We are extending invitations to the local members of the Artemis Society,
the Planetary Society, and the SETI group. It may be possible for us to
develop a cross-program list of common goals and a cross-program priority
list allowing us to mutually support each other when possible (agreeing to
disagree on the rest) and present a much larger unified front.

GO BIG RED !!!

++ Nevada
Shawn Plunket, mailto:SPlunket@aol.com
No report.

++ New England Chapter
Sdhannon Russell, mailto: sjrussel@MIT.EDU
February 24, 2000: MarsPlane Talk by JC Lede, an engineer at Aurora Flight
Sciences: be a part of history and help start the MIT Mars Airplane Project!

++ New Jersey
Vacant. (Know anybody for NJ contact duty?)

++ New York
Paul Contursi, mailto: pcon@pipeline.com
On January 27, the New York Chapter presented a special assembly to over 120
students and faculty at the Riverdale Country School in the Bronx. A visit
to the local office of Senator Charles Schumer is set for Tuesday, February
1 at 10 AM.

++ New Mexico
Eric Orrill, mailto:eorrill@jntsw.com
No report.

++ Northern New Mexico Chapter (or Los Alamos Chapter)
Lisa Ice, ice@cs.unm.edu
No report.

++ North Dakota
John R. Cable, mail to:jrjohn@martin.ndak.net
I am in the process of making an apointment with a physics instructor at
Minot State University.

++ North Dakota, Eastern
Jonathan Hovland, mailto:fenix@thequest.net
e-mail no longer valid -- anyone with info on this?

++ Ohio Chapter
Tamarack R. Czarnik, mailto: patttam@erinet.com
*Presentations*: 'Mars Direct' presentations were given on 22 Jan to
Kettering-Moraine Branch Library,and a Colloquium Presentation to Bowling
Green State University is coming on 29 Feb 2000.
*Public Outreach*: Ohio has elected her Council Representative - Matt
Dumstorf, MD, and opened her voting eGroup - Mars_Society_Ohio. Preparations
are also underway for 10 March 2000 'Mission to Mars' movie tables in
several Ohio cities.
*Media*: Ohio Chair Tam Czarnik was quoted in latest issue of 'Ad Astra',
supporting Human Mars missions. And finally, Founder Bob Zubrin will speak
at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio on February 7th.

++ Oklahoma
John Ohlheiser, mailto:JPO10708@aol.com
No report.

++ Oregon Chapter
Gus Frederick mailto:gus@norwebster.com
Mars Millennium Project:
Work progresses on the Mars Millennium Project Web resource being created in
partnership with the Oregon Public Education Network. Several Social Science
lessons dealing with history are currently in place, as is an Art section on
constructing a Martian lava tube model. Also, the first field reports from
one of our schools is posted.

Upcoming developments will focus on more subject lessons, as well as the
fleshing out of the "ET Agriculture" section. We have received permission
from the Stewart-Peterson group to modify many of their online "Ag
Ed-Network" agriculture lessons to apply to Martian Colony use. A new "Mars
Command Control Panel" has been implemented for a fun way to navigate the
site: http://www.open.k12.or.us/mars/mcontrol.html The site URL is linked
from the Oregon Chapter's page.

Candidate Space Summit:
In development are plans to host a "Space Summit" for the U.S. Presidential
Candidates, to query they're views of space. We hope to have this happen the
Saturday before the Oregon Primary elections in May, when the candidate
critters are in state. We are waiting to get "National Annointment" from TMS
to add to the credibility factor.

Meetings:
Our next "roving" meeting will be in Redmond, Oregon in March. We hope to
include several of the school teams there working with us on the MMP, and
hopefully visit one of numerous lava tube caves located in the area. We plan
to show TMS slide show, and our completed Martian Lava Tube Model.

Media Outreach:
MSOR Chapter Secretary Gus Frederick appeared on Oregon Public
Broadcasting's monthly "Starliner" radio show. This is a regular 1-hour
feature that explores different aspects of space exploration. An interview
with the "Stayton Mail" rural weekly newspaper is scheduled at the end of
the week. Likewise, a "media blitz" is planned for our March meeting.

++ Central PA /Penn State University Mars Society Chapter
Wojciech Klimkiewicz, Ph.D., mailto:wxk10@psu.edu
Twenty undergraduate students from Penn State are working on Human
Exploration and Development of Space program at Penn State (Course EE497D
and ME497C for EE, ME and honors students). Our subject is Adaptive Robotics
for Mars Human Exploration and Development of Space (ARM-HEDS). This include
learning the Mars Science (Mars in the universe, Water, Atmosphere, Seasons,
Geology and Volcanic Activity, Interior, Biology and Life on Mars, Polar
Regions, Mars Future - Terraforming, Surface, Maps, etc), designing robotic
missions to help humans (Locomotion, Actuation, Sensing, Navigation,
Control, Resource Production, Science Experiments, Testbed - How to test
here on Earth the system designed for Mars, Building Model), and Mars
outreach. Students are maintaining their website at
http://www.engr.psu.edu/ee/pub/ee497d/ (under rapid development). Anyone is
welcome with comments, suggestions, and helping hands.

++ Philadelphia (Independence) Chapter
Gary C. Fisher, mail to: gcfisheris@aol.com
The Independence chapter has been out in front of the public in the form of
Mars Society members Earl Bennett and Michelle Baker. Earl and Michelle were
at the Trenton (NJ) State Museum January 22 and 23 during "Super Science
Weekend" at the museum.

Earl spent both days staffing a table representing both the Mars Society and
the other organizations that make up PASA (the Philadelphia Area Space
Alliance). Chapter member Hank Smith helped out on Sunday. Earl entertained
and informed hundreds of children and adults. Mars Direct was presented
using the two display boards Gary Fisher put together for our table at
Philcon in November. Earls was well stocked with a supply of Mars Society
brochures and pencils. The pencils (red, with the Mars Society web address
on them) were a great hit.

Michelle gave four presentations: tow on Saturday on "Robots Working in
Space" and two on Sunday on "A 3-D Tour of the Solar System." At all four it
was standing room only.

The chapter had a meeting Saturday, January 27 at which we discussed the new
Chapters Council, and how to use the new movie "Mission to Mars" for public
outreach. The next meeting will be Saturday, February 26 from 1 to 3 at the
'Brew Moon' pub and restaurant at the King of Prussia Mall.

Gary Fisher was elected, via a onelist.com survey, to represent all
Pennsylvania chapters in the Chapters Council.

++ Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh
Mars Society of Pittsburgh
Daniar Hussain, mailto:danhussain@aol.com
Nothing new.

++ Puerto Rico
Jose Lopez Reyes, mailto:skyloop@caribe.net
No report.

++ Rhode Island
Steve Connors, mailto:connors@ici.net
No report.

++ South Carolina
Richard Allen Brown, mailto:Charlestonideas@hotmail.com
No report.

++ Tennessee - Kentucky
Trae Winter, mailto:hwinter@latte.memphis.edu
No report.

++ Texas, Austin
Tim Crain, mailto:crain@csr.utexas.edu
No report.

++ Texas, Dallas
Scott Bell, mailto: ntms@usa.net

++ Mars Society of Houston
Chris Barnes, mailto: USAMarsMan@aol.com
The Mars Society of Houston kicked off the year 2000 with officer elections.
Chris Barnes was reelected President of the chapter, but the other positions
have new faces. They are as follows:

Francis Govers -- Vice President
Karen Mauer -- Secretary
Chris Casper -- Treasurer

Officer meetings will be held each month so that regular meetings can stick
with Mars-related topics.

The January meeting discussed MarsFest and the failure of the MPL mission.
Theories were discussed, and it was agreed upon that separation failure is
the most likely cause of the loss of the MPL. It is the only scenario that
we know of that would account for the loss of the lander and both probes.

Projects were discussed, including having a presence at some theatres during
the showing of the movie 'Mission to Mars' and doing member recruitment. A
business plan is in the works by the new Treasurer for our chapter and will
be revealed at a later meeting.

The next meeting of the MSOH will take place Sunday, February 20th at 2pm.

On to Mars!!!!

++ Utah
Tom Allred, mailto:AllredTj@ubtanet.com
No report.

++ Washington, Grays Harbor/Olympic Peninsula
Johannes Helgeson, mailto:noachis@hotmail.com
No report.

++ Mars Society Puget Sound
http://chapters.marssociety.org/pugetsound/
marspuget@egroups.com
Jim Burk, President ( jburk@jburk.com )
We are making plans for displays at area movie theatres to coincide with
Mission to Mars, opening March 10. So far, most theatre managers say they
won't know if their theatre will have the movie until 3 weeks before
release. Our chapter has been invited to the Pacific Place 11 theatre in
downtown Seattle for our chapters' showing -- no scheduled time yet, but we
also hope to get some press people there so we can make a statement on the
movie.

Also planning for NorWesCon on April 20-24, and beginning plans for a "Four
Corners" meeting of the Seattle, Oregon, Vancouver/BC, Idaho and other area
Mars Society chapters. The Four Corners meeting will be a 1-2 day long
series of scientific Mars panels as well as regional Chapter coordination.
May be held in a resort lodge in eastern Washington State sometime in the
summer.

++ West Virginia
Robert Strong, mailto:strongro@WLSVAX.WVNET.EDU
No report.

++ Wisconsin
Scott Davis, mailto: scud1@execpc.com
No report.

++ Wyoming
Wyoming Chapter
Patrick Banks, PAT@uwyo.edu
Nothing new.

++ Mars Youth Group
Margarita Marinova, mailto: mmm@mit.edu
http://chapters.marssociety.org/youth/
The first issue of the Mars Youth Newsletter - *The Martian Chronicles* - is
now out!!!!!! Check it out on our website! Please distribute it freely!
E-mail people about it, or print it out (file is in PDF format)! Give it to
your kids to take to school or take it yourself to the nearby school! We are
trying to reach as many youth as possible - your help would be greatly
appreciated! Please send your submissions for the newsletter to Margarita
<mmm@mit.edu>. Thanks!

This issue of The Martian Chronicles features: Meet the Scientist: Dr.
Pascal Lee ~ Water on Mars ~ Does Mars have the Right Stuff for Life? ~
Puzzle of the Week ~ A Future History ~ Artificial Gravity on a Mars
Mission.

The Youth Chapter would like to have a representative at the Chapters'
Council - so we need more people to designate the Youth Chapter as their
primary chapter. If you are, or know someone who is a paid member of the
Mars Society and is under 30, and would like to designate the Youth Chapter
as their main chapter - please let me know ASAP! Thanks!
 

++ International Chapters ++

++ Argentina/Latin America
Gabriel Rshaid, mailto: grshaid@marsacademy.com
Holiday period in Argentina. We are in the process of planning activities
for this year, and trying to form a group to attend the Convention in
Toronto. One of the immediate objectives is to consolidate the working
groups from the teacher and student conferences held in Buenos Aires last
year.

++ Australia
Andrew Hamilton, mailto:ahamilto@nsw.bigpond.net.au
Sponsorship and planning for March Zubrin tour going well.

++ Belgium
Antoon Van Boxstael, mailto:Antoon@hotmail.com
No report.

++ Canada
Marc Boucher, mailto:marc@aterra.com
Web Address: http://canada.marssociety.org
Report: The Canadian chapter has nearly completed the process for
incorporating as a non-profit organization in Canada. With the incorporation
we are holding a contest for a new Mars Society Canada logo.

The Canadian Space Agency has put out an announcement of opportunity for
which Canadian researchers can submit proposals which could receive up to
50K in funding. As the arctic research station will be in Canada we are
looking at submitting a proposal to get some funds to support the station
through some sort of scientific project. For more information on the
Canadian chapter please visit our web site.

++ Ottawa Chapter
Jean Lagarde, mailto: jlagarde@bigfoot.com
No report.

++ Toronto Chapter
Rocky Persaud, mailto:rocky.persaud@utoronto.ca
The Toronto chapter is continuing preparations for the 3rd Annual Mars
Society Conference. We've been looking at ways to coordinate PR with other
chapters and organizations; investigating sponsorship opportunities for
funding the production of the program book; making contacts with
entertainers for the banquet; brainstorming ideas for guests to invite;
answering concerns from potential exhibitors; and mapping out tourism
logistics for conference attendees.

Chapter member Darlene Lim has conducted another 12 CBC-Radio interviews
about the Haughton-Mars Project and the Mars Society. She also did an
interview with Ming Pao, the largest Chinese national daily newspaper, and
with Spacedaily ( article can be found at
http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/mars-life-00a.html )

++ Chile
Cristian Puebla-Menne, mailto:cpuebla@cmet.net
No report.

++ Cyprus, Mediterranean
George Lordos, mailto:Lordos@mit.edu
Nothing new.

++ France
Richard Heidmann, mailto:Rheidmann@aol.com
No report.

++ Germany
Michael Bosch, mailto:Michael.Bosch@wiwi.uni-regensburg.de
No report.

++ Iceland
Olafur Patrick Olafsson, opo@hi.is
Two new members joined, bringing the total Icelandic Mars Society membership
to three. Information about the upcoming Mars Polar Conference can be found
at the following website (thanks to local member Vidar Vikingsson for
pointing out this website): http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/polar2000/

++ Israel
Alin Moss, mailto:alinm@hotmail.com
No report.

++ Italy
Fabrizio Pirondini, mailto:pirro@tin.it
No report.

++ Japan
Onizuka, Michitaka, mailto: onizuka@colorado.edu
Kiosuke Murakawa, mailto: murakawa@csp.co.jp
Getting ready for the e-mail news letter distribution.

++ Mexico
Rich Robins, mailto: Mars@SpaceProjects.com
Mexico's "neighbors" of Brazil and Argentina already have space programs, so
the Mexico Chapter's founder (Rich Robins) has been in contact with the
Executive Director of the U.S.A. - Mexico Foundation for Science
(http://www.fumec.org.mx ) to see if anything could finally materialize in
Mexico. It's an election year, however, so there hasn't been much optimism
on Guillermo Fernandez de la Garza's part [gfdez@buzon.main.conacyt.mx /
tel. in Mexico City: (525) 524-5150]. Perhaps after July 2nd, though,
especially if the country's main university (UNAM) is finally recaptured
from Marxist insurgents that astonishingly closed it all down ten months ago
(and counting).

Meanwhile, all Mexicans who have e-mailed an expression of interest in the
Mars Society have been notified of the Mars Petition Spanish language
version, and asked to sign it despite its English language signature page
(and concerns about spam mail from third parties). Mars awaits!

++ Netherlands
Arno Wielders, mailto:arnoux@strw.leidenuniv.nl
We are currently busy with the Chamber of Commerce to become a legal
Society. Secondly, the first Dutch lecture of the Mars Society is almost
finished. Third: On 11 Februari we will again be on National Radio to discus
the work of the Mars Society and its long term goals.

Voorwaarts Mars! (Go Mars! in Dutch)

++ New Zealand
David Maclenna, apparently corrupt e-mail address
No report.

++ Peru
Johan Veerman, mailto:jveerman@yahoo.com
No report.

++ Philippines
Kin Enriquez, mailto:kin_toy@hotmail.com
Nothing new.

++ Mars Society Polska
Piotr Moskal, mailto: piotr.moskal@lupus.pl
Last week we had a presentation at the University of Warsaw, we are now
preparing to a slide show in Poznan, where a club of fantasy fans is
planning to organize a conference. Also, we'll try to organize a
presentation at the Politechnics School in Warsaw, but nothing is settled
yet. I'm a bit occupied now with the Chapter's Council activities, but our
members are quite active, so work is going on with a satisfying speed.

++ Russia
Gennady Gusev, mailto: marssociety@mail.ru
- preparing to present Zubrin's book
- two lectures 10/02/2000 about history and future of Mars exploration
- 7-12/02/2000 "meetings in streets"

++ South Africa
Evan James Dembskey, mailto:evan@telemessage.co.za
No report.

++ Spain, Canary Islands
Cayetano Santana Gil, mailto: csangi@idecnet.com
No report.

++ Spain, Peninsular
Alexander Hristov, mailto:ahristov@psd.es
No report.

++ Sweden/Scandinavia
Claes-Gustaf Nordquist, mailto:c_g_nordquist@yahoo.com
Nothing new to report - yet. Claes.

++ Switzerland
Claude-Alain Roten, mailto:claude-alain.roten@igbm.unil.ch
No report.

++ Switzerland
Gabriel Borruat, mailto:gabriel.borruat@igbm.unil.ch
No report.

++ Ukraine
Vladymy Shevernytskyy, mailto:charity@akcecc.kiev.ua
1-In spite of the fact that a lot of Ukrainians are interested in Mars
Society activities our Ukrainian chapter have only two paid members now.

2-With the purpose of better financing of our chapter development we have
designed special project, which one might be financed by grants of some
international assistance programs initiated to help nonprofits for Ukraine
development(UNDP program, etc.). We are going to get funds for this project
in April 2000.

3-Now we have an information about some Dnipropetrovsk State University Mars
projects and about Kiev Planetarium educational program included Mars
dedicated lectures. But this projects and program need funding and had to be
organized better.

4-For more fruitfully funding the Ukraine participation in the global
programs of motion of mankind to Mars, which one are originated in USA and
other forward countries of the world, it is necessary for us to raise a
development level of Ukraine cities.

In the century of information technologies, taking into account a deficit of
Ukraine urban financial resources, it is extremely necessary for us to
optimally operate end economize of funds, to have the controlled urban
budgets which might be capable to fund Ukraine cities development and Mars
Society activities.

For this reason the Ukrainian division of Mars Society has put forward the
proposal of designing a program of an applying the best world practices of
town management in the Kiev municipal council.

The headline of this proposal is the learning of experience in practical
usage of modern computer technologies and organizational solutions in urban
control, especially in multi-project scheduling and management of the urban
budget and resources.

We suppose that this practice might be useful also for Mars Society in
scheduling and managing of their project budgets in future. Because the
application of modern computer systems of protect management could save up
to 40% of overall project resources.

++ Mars Society UK Ltd.
Bo Maxwell (mailto:sagan@dircon.co.uk)
On January 26th 2000, Philip Dembo and Bo Maxwell attended the Parliamentary
Committee on Space at the House of Commons, where Astronaut Jeff Hoffman was
addressing the Committee and advising them on NASA projects and activities.
The event was an opportunity for the Society to make itself known to the
Committee and to speak to members (from both industry and politics)
following the main session. Plans are now under development for further
meetings with various committees at the House.

25 people attended the Society's "Afternoon on Mars" on the 29th January at
the Challenger Learning Centre, Leicester. The high-point of the event was a
simulated Mars mission using the CLC's excellent facilities. 24 people took
part in the simulation, split into two teams.

The first half of the mission saw Team One "Flying" a Mars Lander vehicle
down to a base on Mars while carrying out various experiments and with the
radio support of Team Two down in the Mars Base itself. The second half of
the mission saw Team Two use the ascent stage of the vehicle to climb back
to Mars orbit (under the guidance of Team One in the Mars Base), launch a
probe to Deimos and then rendezvous with their "mother ship" for the ride
back to Earth.

Dealing with solar flares, oxygen leaks, computer failures and other
problems, we're please to say that both teams successfully completed their
tasks and may now be the first members of the Mars Society membership
actually "qualified" to fly a mission to Mars!

We'll hopefully be running more of these events with the CLC over the course
of the year.

Following the mission, the UK Board of Directors unveiled the UK Society's
"10-point plan" for the year 2000 to the membership and tabled an open
discussion on where and how members could be involved in our on-going
activities.

The 10-point plan concentrates on the key accountabilities with the society
to forward the message and ideal of the human exploration of Mars, namely:
political lobbying, public outreach, fundraising, education, industrial
support, and project development. Coupled with items such as a major
re-development of the UK website (see below), the major watch words for the
Society in the UK are "Credibility and Visibility".

* Credibility - to ensure the Mars Society is known as a "centre of
excellence" not only for Mars-related information, but also for space
advocacy in the UK in general. Through sensible, professional, determined
work in all fields of outreach, lobbying, fundraising, etc., we intend to
make the Mars Society the most respected space advocacy organisation in the
UK.

* Visibility - to ensure that whenever information is needed on Mars, or
whenever Mars is in the news, the Mars Society UK is at the top of the list
of contacts within the media.

In January, Paul Allen joined the staff looking after the website. Paul will
have primary responsibility for the UK Chapter's SmartGroups message board,
database and events centre. Ivan Dale has taken on the management of the
Scottish Group's website, and they and the rest of the team will be working
throughout the year to completely re-vamp and extend the UK website into a
major Mars-related resource centre.

Aware of need to change the political and industrial landscape in the UK
with regards to this country's involvement in space exploration and human
endeavours in space, the Mars Society UK has joined with UK-SEDS, the Space
Settlers and several other space advocacy groups in forming the Space
Development Council. The aims of the SDC will be to promote the UK's
involvement in space research and development through active lobbying of the
government and industry alike.

Finally, the UK is in the process of linking up with the Ukrainian Chapter
of the Society to discuss the potential for co-managed projects.

Just 31 days into the year, and already 2000 looks like being a busy time
for us here in the UK.
 

++ Task Forces/Special Interests ++

++ Executive Director
Maggie Zubrin, mailto:mzubrin@aol.com
Here is an update on our membership data base.
Renewal reminders were sent to approximately 980 members in November. To
date, we have received 440 renewal registrations - or 45%. This represents
an exceptional response. Considering that around 15% - 20% of our member
addresses were obsolete, the result is even more impressive. Thanks to all
who responded and a special thanks to those members who included donations.

We will be sending out renewal reminders for those with expiration dates in
the first quarter of 2000 in a few weeks. Remember, you can also renew at
the website by using the registration link and noting renewal in the
comments section. I check every registration, so even if you leave that off,
I should be able to identify your renewal. Full conference registration
includes renewal of membership through 8/13/2001.

Additional statistics have stayed relatively stable. Student membership
comprises 21% of the society. Females make up 14%. The percentage of members
taking advantage of discounted senior rates is small, at less than 2%.

The membership numbers have continued to grow. We currently have 2550
members and gain about 5 per day. Top chapters by registered membership are:

United States Chapters:
Rocky Mountain - 265
S. California - 175
N. California - 168
VA/DC/MD - 132
New England - 116
New York - 94
Puget Sound - 88
Florida - 76
Illinois - 71
Houston, TX - 71

Some chapters may be suprised to see how many members they have compared to
how many participate. Any chapter contact who wishes to obtain email
addressed for her constituency should email me.

International chapters continue to grow. Chapters with the most registered
members are:
Canada - 148
United Kingdom - 109
France - 71
Australia - 41
Germany - 31
Scandinavia - 12
Japan - 9
Switzerland - 9
Belgium - 7
Spain - 5

Thanks to the Australian, French and British chapters for sending me their
member registers.

New chapter formation continues. I had a great response to my request for
contacts in Tennessee and Kentucky. As a result, we have new chapters
forming in Nashville, Memphis and Louisville. Arizona has also been
reinvigorated with chapters forming in Phoenix and Tucson. We have also
gained an e-mail contact for North Carolina. Thanks to all the intrepid
volunteers.

We have added a chapter at UCLA thanks to the mentoring of Derek Shannon
from Cal-tech. I am pressing for several other local chapters in the S.
California area. The Cal-tech/JPL group is dynamite, but not everyone can
travel the distance to attend meetings.

Internationally, we have recently added chapters in India and Greece,
historically very important seats of learning and culture.

Convention plans are proceeding smoothly. We have 54 registrations so far.
In past years, registration did not open until February. We will be sending
reminders to members in the spring. It is key that those intending to stay
on campus in dormitory rooms book early. The dorm rooms are a real bargain
and limited in number.

A very small quantity of Mars flags has been manufactured. Chapters can
order a 3' by 2' flag for $20 by emailing me.

The Mars Mall has been a qualified success. Amazon.com sales are super and
we have made close to $3,000 to date from commissions. The other stores have
not been as successful, but the Mall is very low maintenance, so all sales
are profit. Remember 1-800-Flowers for Valentines day.

++ Mars Civilization and Culture
Bev Conolly, mailto: conollyb@terrigal.net.au
Discussions of the last couple of weeks have been focussing on whether or
not Mars should have a Constitution/Settlement Charter/other official
document and if so, what form that document should take. Should a statement
regarding settlement issues such as personal rights, land
ownership/stewardship and local government be created before settlement
commences, or should we form a basic framework and let the Martians decide
for themselves whether such a document is needed now or ever? The financial
aspects of funding colonization have also been discussed with wide-ranging
and thoughtful suggestions made.

The flag issue has also surfaced again, as some members are concerned that
the design that flew was adopted with little discussion. Frans Blok and Tom
Gangale have both created websites featuring some of the alternate design
suggestions for a potential Martian flag. Tom's website
http://members.xoom.com/mars_ultor/culture/culture.htm is also running a
poll of preference and he is seeking further submissions from members and
non-members.

++ E-Commerce
Tony Santana, mailto: TSMarsCo@aol.com
No report.

++ Education
Tom Becker, mailto:tombecker@primary.net
No report.

++ Fundraising Task Force
Kristin Boekhoff, mailto:kboekhoff@excite.com
No report.

++ Graphics and Production
Gary Hollingshead, mailto:garyah@imagineering-usa.com
Working on the new cover for the CD and finishing the opening for the CD
itself.

++ Internet Task Force
Marc Boucher, mailto:webmaster@marssociety.org
Harold Miller, mailto:peabody@nw.net
Members will have seen slight changes to the main web site in the last
month. More changes are coming as we slowly redesign the site. A new video
archive is being created. Members with any Real Video or Quicktime video can
suggest that they be added to this new area. However only Mars Society
related video clips will be accepted.

The newly renamed Mars Society Flashline Arctic Research Station web site
has had its web address and server changed. The new address is
http://arctic.marssociety.org/ and the site is now hosted on a server owned
by the society.

The Mars Petition is now on the Mars Society we site and available for
anyone to sign. We need as many signatures as possible so get the word out.
The petition is evolving into a new site and we are coordinating with Think
Mars and the originator of the petition to participate in this new site.

++ Marketing
Maggie Zubrin, mailto:mzubrin@aol.com
See Executive Director's report

++ Mars Arctic Task Force
Kurt Micheels, mailto: kmicheels@aol.com
Infracomp has begun manufacturing the materials necessary to fabricate the
honeycomb panels that will comprise the hab structure. On 01.24, John Kunz
provided the first material sample, for our inspection. Our scheduled
fabrication completion date is May 5, but Infracomp believes it possible to
complete by April.

On February 16, National Geographic will come to the Mesa Fiberglass
facility to film the fabrication process and a construction meeting. This
film footage will be included in a documentary that will be released after
hab completion.

Over the weekend of 01.22/23, Sonja Holmes' group participated in a "design
charette". This is a focused exercise used in architecture to resolve a
design issue or finalize it. Sonja and four other members of the University
of Colorado Sundance Lab worked continuously for 24 hours, "pinning up"
their work at 11:00am on Sunday. The result is considered the final
iteration of design for the hab interior, and after management review will
be released to Infracomp for pricing. The Sundance Lab will use the result
of the charette to finalize the 3D model, that is now scheduled for
completion on 02.15. A web site to accommodate the model, with virtual walk
- through capability, will be complete by May. This web site will be
accessible from the existing Arctic Base web site. It will also contain
plans, sections and historical drawings and descriptions.

Other hab related design work is being accomplished across the Atlantic. A
student group at the Technical University of Vienna, lead by space architect
Barbara Imhoff are conducting a studio dedicated to exploring alternate
designs for Mars habitats and extreme environment labs that could be
deployed at Devon Island. At the Technical University of Munich, Professor
Andreas Vogler and Architect Richard Horden are developing "peripheral
systems" for integration with the hab. These include the green house, rover
garage and interior furnishings.

Back in the U.S. of A., a group lead by David Blersch at the University of
Maryland have initiated study regarding design of a modular bioregenerative
system for the hab. This group is comprised of members of the Arctic Base
Task, but, due to potential broad applications to Mars exploration, their
work will be conducted under Dr. Steven Braham and the Technical Task Force.
In their first meeting last weekend (01.22/23) they decided to field a test
module in 2001.

++ Mars/ Arctic Life Support System group
Dean Calahan, mailto: dean@baloney.com
More than a dozen members are forming a Life-Support group, "... around the
notion of designing an ecological apparatus similar to a Living Machine.
Such a device is a possible solution to waste management problems at the
Society's Arctic Research Station, or ultimately at the  Society's Mars
outpost, ..."

The members include Rudy Behrens, Dave Blersch, Steve Braham, Dean Calahan,
Mindy Jacobson, Pat Kangas, and Eric Biermann. A web page is being set up,
to include the results of our first workshop, held on January 22nd at the
University of Maryland, College Park, but we won't publish the web address
just yet, because it is not ready (and to encourage you to contact Dean,
rather than just sitting back and expecting things to happen without your
help.) If interested in helping, contact Dean, at: dean@baloney.com

++ Political and Public Outreach
Chris Carberry, mailto: ccarberry@masshist.org
The Outreach Task Force is moving ahead in many different directions.

Operation President http://www.marssociety.org/oppresident
We have now spoken to all of the Presidential candidates. We are now going
to expand our effort across the country. We want to show that Mars deserves
to be a major issue in the 2000 elections.

Mars Goes Hollywood http://home.marssociety.org/outreach
Thus far we have 8 chapters participating in our movie outreach program. We
would like to have 15-20 chapters participating. Anyone interested in
setting up a table at a movie theater, please let me know
ccarberry@masshist.org

Airshow Outreach http://home.marssociety.org/outreach
We are also starting an effort to have Mars Society members to have a
presence at airshows around the country. This will be an opportunity to
speak to hundreds of thousands of people.

By the beginning of March, we hope to have the NASA budget webpage up. We
hope this will be the best source for NASA budget information and a central
location for Congressional outreach

++Ares CD-Rom Task Force
http://home.marssociety.org/ares/
ares-cdrom@chapters.marssociety.org
Jim Burk, Task Force lead ( ares@marsnews.com )
Still in post-production on Issue #2 -- we are waiting to hear from Michael
Carroll's intermediary so we can get the correct high-res images for the
cover of the issue. Beta 2 has been out now for over 1 1/2 months and no
major problems have been reported. We are very proud of this issue and we
think it represents a quantum-leap in quality over the first issue.

We are already making plans for Issue #3 (spring issue on Astrobiology) and
Issue #4 (summer issue on Arctic Base). If you have anything to contribute
or any ideas, send us mail at ares-cdrom@chapters.marssociety.org

++ New Mars
Richard Wagner, mailto:campr2@javanet.com
Nothing new.

++ Miscellaneous:
Bruce Mackenzie, mailto: BMackenzie@alum.mit.edu
Nothing new.

Webmaster: Piotr Moskal

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