Herewith the first issue of the Red Planet Satellite Report. Not a bad outing by my estimate, though you'll note a reasonably large number of "No reports." Actually, a fairly significant number -- about 2/3 were non-responsive. Given this is the first time out, and given that there are a few more tears than I expected in the fabric of the e-mail universe, I'll put this down to organizational disorganization. But, if the RPSR is to be useful, we'll have to do better than that.
I welcome any suggestions as to content/organization/layout on this. It's a fairly long document and e-mail tends to reduce available formatting options, so apologies if visually it is a bit tedious. Also, additions to the list of groups reporting are welcome. Some I may have missed by oversight; others by the fact that I simply don't know that they exist.
For those chapters with the "No report" slug: If I have erred in the correct contact person, please let me know so that I can fix my mailing list. Apologies if you have sent a report and I did not receive it (this apparently happened in one or two instances). If you are down as a chapter contact and have no "chapter," please still let us know what you're up to. The least the rest of us could do is offer some moral support.
Distribution of the RPSR to members of the Society -- especially chapter members -- I leave to you, the Chapter and Task Force contacts. While I'll get it posted at the MS website, I think it important that you all make the effort to keep all your folks informed.
So, to all who sent reports in, many, many thanks. For those who we've missed (and I know there are some very active chapters that did not contribute to this compilation), I'll get you next time.
Cheers -- Richard Wagner
=======================================================================================
Red Planet Satellite Report -- v1, n1 -- September 16, 1999
** U. S. Chapters
+ Alabama
Contact change (my mistake)
No report.
+ Alaska
Marilyn Dudley-Rowley, mailto:MD-R@msn.com
Our members are spread out over an area more than twice the size of
Texas. Many reside in Fairbanks near the center of the state, however,
we have members in Nome, Barrow, Seward, and Anchorage. We depend heavily
on our Internet connections to communicate.
Professor Roy Iutzi-Mitchell of Iligsagvik College in Barrow and I attended the Second Annual Mars Society meetings in Boulder. Jack Hendrickson of Anchorage, a state legislative hopeful also made a brief appearance. Roy, a linguistic anthropologist, and I both presented in the human factors session.
In past and recent meetings on-line, Alaska Chapter has expressed its primary interest is in assisting the M.A.R.S. construction, maintenance, and science goals. Most of the members of the Alaska Chapter are expert in some field of endeavor which is useful to M.A.R.S. goals, and we are all old hands in living and working in the Arctic environment. Most of us have some prior or current connection to the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, which is also a NASA site, which kicked off SCAR and the IGY in the 1950s, which conducts much federal space research, and which is a linchpin in the large federal and international Arctic research system. After the meetings in Boulder, I introduced a number of our members to Tom Gangale who maintains the M.A.R.S. communication links so that they could begin to relate more intimately to the M.A.R.S. teams.
Another area of interest recently expressed by members: just as soon as we can organize and hold a few of our own in-state conferences, we would like to look into hosting an international Mars Society meeting in one of the coming years. Alaska is quite pleasant during mid-August and there are many attractions for the visitor.
+ Arizona
Bill Gjestvang, mailto:DataWolf@IBM.net
No report.
+ Arkansas
Wayne Bowen, mailto:bowenw@alpha.obu.edu
The Mars Society held its first meeting on September 10, in Fayetteville,
where the members agreed to focus on lobbying for federal support for Mars
missions, as well as to promote Mars curricula in Arkansas schools.
The acting chairman, Dr. Wayne Bowen, reported on the Mars honors seminar
he is teaching this semester at Ouachita Baptist University, using Bob
Zubrin's book and Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles."
+ California, CALTECH-JPL
Chris Hirata, mailto:chirata@alice.caltech.edu
No report.
+ California, Central Valley
Domenique van der Goore, mailto:traveler@cyberlynk.com
I am Dom van der Goore, contact person for the Califronia Central
Valley. The current focus for me (as the only "active member"
of my
chapter) is working on the provisional chapters council on a
membership/chapter "council". My other main project is outreach.
+ California, North
Kelly Snook, mailto:ksnook@mail.arc.nasa.gov
No report.
+ California, South
Dave Jedynak, mailto:jedynak@sileas.com
No report.
+ Colorado (Rocky Mountain Mars Society)
Mark Peiffer, mailto:ICC@QADAS.com
No report.
+ Florida
Anthony DeTora, mailto:DeToraA@db.erau.edu
No report.
+ Red Dirt (the Georgia chapter of the Mars Society)
Mike Kretsch, mkretsch@compassusa.com
We are meeting every other Saturday, including 9/14/99, 9/28/99 etc
at Rocky Mountain Pizza in Atlanta, at the intersection of Hemphill and
10th near Georgia Tech. We are currently discussing our projects
for this year. One project is for the members of our chapter who can't
make it to meetings. It involves some research. The other project
is a hands-on project, involving actually building something. More on this
later in the next RPSR!
+ Hawaii
Matt Rohrer, mailto:matt@prognostikos.com
No report.
+ Idaho
Chris Struble, mailto:cstruble@netboise.com
Not organized yet. I need an updated list of other members in my state,
with names and addresses if possible. I contacted my congressman by e-mail
about the budget cuts, and have joined the Arctic task force. Also working
on a web site for a local chapter.
+ Ilinois Chapter, Chicago
Matthew Lowry, mailto:mplowry@ibm.net
The 22-member Illinois Chapter is made up of a very diverse cross-section
of Chicago area residents, including leaders of local business, scientists,
attorneys, engineers, high school students, psychologists, computer specialists
and others. We meet the 4th Sunday of every month at the Harold Washington
Library, with about 6-12 in attendance at each meeting. The next
meeting is set for Sunday, Sept. 26th from 2-4pm. We are currently attempting
to make arrangements with the Adler Planetarium in Chicago to be present
at Bob Zubrin's public lecture there on October 22nd. We hope to
develop a longer term relationship with the Adler using this event as a
starting point. In addition, we've made contact with a chapter north
of us in Wisconsin about taking part in a rocket launching event at Bong,
WI the weekend of October 2nd.
+ 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.
+ Kansas City
George Howard, mailto:Ghoward683@aol.com
No report.
+ Louisiana
Shelly Hynes, mailto:cshynes@cp-tel.net
No report.
+ Maine
Mary Ellen Symanski, mailto:mesphd@aol.com
No report.
+ Massachusetts
Troy Hudson, mailto:thudson@MIT.EDU
No report.
+ MD, DC, VA
Morris Levine, mailto:mlevine@isr.org
No report.
+ Michigan
Aaron Oesterle, mailto:CharlesO@voyager.net
No report.
+ Minnesota
Ben Huset, mailto:BenHuset@skypoint.com
No report.
+ Minnesota Youth Chapter
Kevin Kelly, mailto:pkelly@pop.isd.net
No report.
+ Mississippi
Garry Speer, mailto:VMSmith1@aol.com
No report.
+ Nebraska
Harry Jordan, mailto:hajordan@esu3.esu3.k12.ne.us
No report.
+ Nevada
Shawn Plunket, mailto:SPlunket@aol.com
No report.
+ New Jersey
Paul Rockman, mailto:prockman@turbo.kean.edu
No report.
+ New Mexico
Ken Rutherford, apparently corrupt e-mail address
No report.
+ Northern New Mexico Chapter (or Los Alamos Chapter)
Lisa Ice, ice@cs.unm.edu
Our chapter is still in the formation stage. We will probably
become a "sub-chapter" of the yet-to-be-formed New Mexico chapter. Current
activities: We will be sharing an informational booth with the New
Mexico Space Society during the book signing and after a speech by Ray
Bradbury in Los Alamos on Sept. 25th. An article about the speech
that appeared in the Los Alamos Monitor (the local newspaper) included
information about the Mars Society and its goals.
+ North Dakota, Central
John Cable, mailto:jrjohn@martin.ndak.net
Derek Shannon from Caltech still a ND resident. He and I will be meeting
with
Congressional offices soon.
+ North Dakota, Eastern
Jonathan Hovland, mailto:fenix@thequest.net
No report.
+ Ohio
Tamarack Czarnik, mailto:patttam@erinet.com
Ohio Chapter has about 100 Newsletter-reading 'members', of whom only
two dozen or so are paid members; our Branches are in Dayton, Columbus,
Cincinnati and Cleveland. Last year we made 7 presentations and contacted
4 elected Representatives: this year our goal (from Dr. Zubrin) is 50 presentations
and ALL our Representatives.
We put out a biweekly electronic Newsletter (goes out in paper form to those w/o e-mail) to stay in touch, you can find an archive of the past year's worth at http://www.drfast.net/mars/chapter.htm and http://www.drfast.net/mars/chapter2.htm. I also web-publish every other month a series of 'Aerospace Medicine 101' papers for our members; links to them are on our website, at http://www.drfast.net/mars/.
Our recently-elected Public Outreach Coordinator has contacted 3 dozen schools, museums, media and local groups over the last 2 weeks. Upcoming events include information tables and 'Mars Direct' presentations at the Midwest Space Development Conference (Cleveland), CONTEXT (Columbus) and EARTHGATE 2 (Lexington, KY, very near Cincinnati). I am actively training Branch Heads and interested members in how to give the 'Mars Direct' presentation, so as to reach our goal of 50 talks. Our Political Action Leader, Jeff Roche, is contacting Representatives.
+ Oklahoma
John Ohlheiser, mailto:JPO10708@aol.com
No report.
+ Oregon, Eugene-Salem
Erik Carlstrom, mailto:esms@nw.net
No report.
+ Oregon, Northern (Portland)
Robert Lilly, mailto:Breakout@compuserve.com
No report.
+ Oregon, Southern
Harold Miller, mailto:peabody@wayback.com
No report.
+ Central PA /Penn State University Mars Society Chapter
Wojciech Klimkiewicz, Ph.D., mailto:w wxk10@psu.edu
Formally the chapter has not been established yet. I am not collecting
a fee of any kind. There are simply not to many participants (except me)
that are willing to actively support it. As an organization associated
with the university it needs to have home in one of the departments or
colleges. In addition, people here (students, faculty) wants to actively
participate in Space Exploration and not in building some organization
only. At this moment I have ten professors acting as a advisors and two
students. We have a place to meet (my Mobile Robotics Laboratory) and web
space to put our web page (Under construction). I have focused on trying
to build some Mars related programs by:
1. Sending proposals to NASA, DARPA, etc.
2. Encourage to participate in HEDS-UP Student Competition for Mars
Exploration
3. Build some relations with Space Grant Consortium (two members are
in our chapter)
4. Get a permanent room for meetings
+ Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Independence Chapter
Gary Fisher, mailto:GCFisheris@aol.com
No report.
+ 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.
+ St. Louis
Erv Baumann, mailto:erv.baumann@boeing.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:SBell@JPI.com
No report.
+ Texas, Houston
Chris Barnes, mailto:USAMarsMan@aol.com
We are in the process of some reorganization, as some members have
had some other obligations. Core members are being reassessed and appropriate
positions will be fulfilled. The office of President is stable and will
remain so, and a new Vice President will be elected, along with the other
office positions.
Projects that are in the works include: a rework of the Mars exhibit at Moody Gardens in Galveston, letters to Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison and Tom DeLay expressing concern about the proposed budget cuts to NASA (thanks in part to the Zubrin book signing and also in part to efforts made by Than Putzig), and a possible 'MarsFest' coinciding with the landing of the Mars Polar Lander on Dec. 3rd. The talk of a 'MarsFest' was introduced in our last meeting Sept 12th, and the possibility of live feed from JPL was discussed. It is unknown what the cost of getting live feed will be, nor the procedures to obtain it are. Perhaps other chapter contacts or the Mars Society steering committee has ideas on how this can be accomplished.
Right now, our focus is getting a solid core membership in the chapter. The meeting place will be moved back to the Clear Lake area from West Houston to attract more JSC employees. A meeting time survey will take place to ascertain the best possible meeting time which will be agreeable to most people.
In short, this chapter is going through growing pains, but we still have our sights set on Mars! As someone once said, "The hardest parts of any journey is taking the first steps". Once we get a reliable core presence and attract JSC and LPI employees, the Mars Society of Houston shall become a solid, strong chapter blazing a beacon 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 (Seattle, WA chapter)
Jim Burk, mailto:jburk@jburk.com
(chapters.marssociety.org/pugetsound)
Our chapter, with about 10 core members and 40-50 on our list, is one
of the most active in the Mars Society. For a complete listing of
our current projects, go to our chapter website at the address above.
Our current projects are numerous: holding speaking engagements, writing
letters/calling/meeting congressmen, gathering video from the founding
convention (and this year's), building Mars displays, and helping with
the Internet Task Force, Ares CD, and MarsNews.com endeavours. To
join our list, go to www.egroups.com/list/marspuget We are also thinking
about having a regional Mars Society convention here in Seattle with the
help of the Oregon, California, Vancouver, and other regional chapters.
+ West Virginia
Robert Strong, mailto:strongro@WLSVAX.WVNET.EDU
No report.
+ Wisconsin
Jason Orloff, mailto:Orloff@cae.wisc.edu
No report.
+ Wyoming
Robert Hodges, mailto:forty4@sprynet.com
No report.
+ Youth Chapter
Kathleen Bohne, mailto:tatenova@aol.com
No report.
** International Chapters **
+ Argentina, Latin America
Jorge Mermoz, mailto:JMermoz@bds.esc.edu.ar
No report.
+ Argentina, Latin America
Gabriel Rshaid, mailto:GRshaid@marsacademy.com
No report.
+ Australia
Andrew Hamilton, mailto:ahamilto@nsw.bigpond.net.au
1, We are planning to get Bob Zubrin out to Australia in March next
year for a tour speaking engagements etc.
2. We are planning a couple of possible practical contributions to
the M.A.R.S. base:
a) solar cells for some part of the base;
b) old "space junk" rocket nozzles from Womera Rocket range;
c) mobile X ray astronomy for MARS base.
We are planning to have full meetings more regularly (once every 2
months) from now on with sub-groups for projects meeting as needed
+ Belgium
Antoon Van Boxstael, mailto:Antoon@hotmail.com
No report.
+ Canada
Marc Boucher, mailto:marc@aterra.com
The Canadian Chapter has been quite active in Toronto, Montreal and
Victoria. Toronto is gearing up to host the 2000 Mars Society Conference.
The conference will most likely be held at Ryerson University in downtown
Toronto. Early reports indicate that the University is excited at hosting
this event and that some 550 rooms in the student residence could be available
to us at reduced rate.
The weekend of October 29th will see a meeting of the Toronto Chapter with Pascal Lee, head of the Mars Arctic Task Force in attendance to talk about the Mars Arctic Research Station and how Canadians can help. For more information please visit the Toronto Chapter web site at http://chapters.marssociety.org/toronto/.
Also in October on the 28th and 29th the Canadian Space Agency is sponsoring its annual workshop at the University of Calgary. This event is free. Discussion will focus on what the CSA and Canadians will be doing with our space program. Those people interested in adding their voice to this discussion should attend. The Mars Society will be represented. More information is available at this web site. http://beast.utias.utoronto.ca/csew99/csew99.htm
+ Chile
Cristian Puebla-Menne, mailto:cpuebla@cmet.net
No report.
+ Cyprus, Mediterranean
George Lordos, mailto:Lordos@mit.edu
No report.
+ 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, mailto:opo@rhi.hi.is
No report.
+ Israel
Alin Moss, mailto:alinm@hotmail.com
No report.
+ Italy
Fabrizio Pirondini, mailto:pirro@tin.it
No report.
+ Japan
Michitaka Onizuka, mailto:onizuka@colorado.edu
We have 11 members (including non-headquarter-registered members) Since
formation of the chapter in August 1998. There has been two face to face
meetings.
Past activities
-We have met several scientists and engineers from academics, ISAS,
NASDA etc to promote our objectives and to seek cooperation.
-Lunar and Planetary Society (industry/academic think tank regarding
planetary science in Japan) has offered space in their journal. The journal
is well distributed among scientists and decision makers of the industry.
Three page article has been submitted. They also expressed in interest
of co-sponsoring conference. (they have great experience in this regard.)
-Held table at one Academic conference.
-Produced our own slide show. (the national slide show obviously is
not effective due to language difference and historical back ground)
-Several flyers have been made and distributed. Flyers Introduces background
of the Mars Society, objectives, Steering comittee member's background,
and M.A.R.S. project.
Current objectives
-Obtain legal status as NPO
-Develop better Web site.
-If possible, translating Mars Polar Lander web site and possibly relay
live broadcast in Japanese.
+ Mexico
Rich Robins, mailto: Mars@SpaceProjects.com
We have a new Spanish language website for the Mars Society de Mexico
at http://www.SpaceProjects.com/Marte.
Meanwhile, there's talk of a relevant university conference brewing in
Puebla, Mexico, about two hours from Mexico City (where we are). I'm just
waiting to hear as to when it would be as I hope to be able to attend and
represent the Mars Society.
Originally from the U.S.A., I´ve been in Mexico pursuing pioneering North American Free Trade Agreement dreams since graduating from law school at U.Va. in ´93. I'm a law faculty member at the oldest law school in the hemisphere (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, founded in 1519), and an internet & pharmaceutical entrepreneur who can´t wait to start commercializing in space.
+ Netherlands
Arno Wielders, mailto:arnoux@strw.leidenuniv.nl
Currently the Netherlands have no active chapter. In the beginning
of October 1999 the Chapter contact will start to give some presentations
to increase the fame of the Mars Society in the Netherlands. At the
same time I will try to get some help from fellow PhD students and
friends to start some publicity activities. I hope to organize a
meeting some where in April 2000. Details are not yet clear, but
will follow in due time.
+ 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
No report.
+ Mars Society Polska (Polish Chapter)
Piotr Moskal, mailto:piotr.moskal@lupus.pl
The chapter formed 5 months ago. Now we have some 30 people and are
preparing to register in court (it is necessary according to polish law).
We started by creating a www site, which is now available on the new chapters.marssociety.org
server. Half a month ago we had our first public speech during Polcon,
an annual convention of s-f and fantasy fans. In two months we are planning
a second presentation, during a similar convention. This time we will make
a slide show and computer demonstrations (I just received the TMS materials
from Robert Zubrin). Also, we are beginning to enter in contact with people
in Poland who participate in ESA projects (Rosetta mission for example)
and other polish organizations that share our interests. We're trying to
gather as many members as possible. When we'll be done with the registration,
we'll be able to collect membership fees and start with some more ambitious
projects. It should happen in 2-3 months.
+ Russia
Gennady Gusev, mailto:gusev@ana.spb.ru
(following via Marilyn Dudley-Rowley)
Russian Chapter faced an official challenge on the eve of departure
of its chairman, Gennady Gusev, to the Boulder meetings. Gusev was
detained during the entire course of the meetings in Moscow, not even being
allowed to return to St. Petersburg, his home. As the investigation
continued, members of the Russian Space Agency came forward in support
of the Russian Chapter and the Mars Society as being a bona fide international
scientific organization. The Chapter is closed for business till
25 September while Russian officials conduct their inquiry into the affairs
of the Society in the Russian Federation.
+ 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, Pennisular
Alexander Hristov, mailto:ahristov@psd.es
No report.
+ Sweden/Scandinavia
Claes-Gustaf Nordquist, apparently corrupt e-mail address
No report.
+ 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
No report.
+ United Kingdom
Bo Maxwell, mailto:sagan@dircon.co.uk
Arranging talks for Robert Zubrin across the UK for the 5th through
7th October. Arranging to incorporate the Chapter as a Company Limited
by Guarantee. Developing further outreach opportunities and UK technical
projects (small-scale lander, rover designs, etc.).
** Task Forces/Special Interests **
+ Administrative Director
Maggie Zubrin, mailto:mzubrin@aol.com
Am working with Harold Miller to get some system in place to automate
email membership and data base update. I have a big backlog of membership
cards to send out, which should go out soon. Membership continues to grow
and is now at 1925 plus.
Kurt Micheels is now settled into Colorado. We still have his cats in foster care, but that will end soon. Kurt will be working with Robert and I to develop some strategies for fundraising for the M.A.R.S. Glenn Berry is approaching Polaris Corp about contributing ATV's or other equipment.
Marc Boucher has the Mars Store up on the website (with some logo help from RW). We are contracting with some nice affiliate programs, which is a fairly painless way to raise money. We do have Amazon, so if you're going to order a book, might as well get it through the MS website. Some but not all of the vendors offer member discounts. Check out the store for some interesting products.
We have added some new chapters lately, including Hong Kong and Taiwan. Some others are becoming more active. We are still looking for chapter contacts for San Diego, Sacramento area, San Antonio and Southern Illinois and other areas where driving distance to the current chapter is impractical.
The Toronto chapter is very busy with convention planning. They are examining venues, prices, dates, caterers, etc. I have heard a great deal of positive feedback on the choice of Toronto and look forward to next summer's get together.
+ Education
Tom Becker, mailto:tombecker@primary.net
The ETF has just completed Phase 1 of its start-up strategy.
A 42-page report to the Steering Committee titled "Education For A New
World" was turned over to Bob Zubrin at the recent convention, containing
a complete curriculum K thru 16. Jon Wiley is presently putting the
finishing touches on an ETF brochure that can be dispersed to the general
public/members on request, and we are all hard at work on the intended
November Ares CD-ROM which will have a heavy emphasis. The new CD
will contain the complete curriculum - a nationwide guideline for Mars
education; in fact, an international guide.
Phase 2 for the ETF is an operating strategy - gearing up to start work on creating products (teaching materials) using the Curriculum Guide as a blueprint. In Phase 2, the ETF will be attempting to gather around itself talented and committed teachers who will develop teaching materials.
It is highly important for the membership to understand that implementing an educational program for the Society is not an overnight thing; it takes considerable time, patience, and the use of very wise judgment in order to do things right. Public education in America is an absolute mess and I don't intend for the Mars Society and the ETF to fall into the same kinds of traps that plague the public education scene. Right now I'm looking for high-ability, committed, achieving teachers who are willing to follow my direction in order to begin creating incredible teaching materials.
+ Fundraising
Kristin Boekhoff, mailto:kristin.k.boekhoff@us.pwcglobal.com
To date, the Fundraising Task Force has mainly done research on companies.
After this year's convention, we plan to take a more active role in raising
funds for the society. At the Second Annual Mars Society Conference, we
raised over $8000 from the pledge campaign that was introduced during the
banquet. Going forward, we plan to roll out this pledge campaign to the
chapters. I strongly encourage chapter contacts to volunteer to participate
in this program. It is a simple way to raise money for the organization
just by asking the members who are already involved for a pledge. The monthly
payment and credit card options make it so easy to give us money!
To get involved, just send me your name and e-mail address. If you do not have an IBM-compatible computer with Microsoft Word, please also send me your snail mail address so that I can send you the actual cards (let me know how many you would like as well.) Along with the cards, I will send you instructions on the best and easiest ways to ask your group to participate in the pledge campaign. When I gave the pitch to the New York chapter I ended up raising $2100 (and only 8 people attended our meeting!) Also, if you have not already filled out your pledge card, what are you waiting for?! For the mere price of a dinner out a month (and I mean a PIZZA dinner!) you can help financially support the organization and its projects.
+ Graphics & Production
Gary Hollingshead, mailto:garyah@imagineering-usa.com
No report.
+ Internet
Marc Boucher, mailto:webmaster@marssociety.org
/ Harold Miller, Peabody@wayback.com
The Mars Society is moving ahead on four fronts on the Internet.
1. Chapters and Task Forces are now setting up their web sites on the new Chapters server. Using CyberTeams, a collaborative web based workflow management program, chapter webmasters and designated users can update their web sites easily through any web browsers. As well mailing lists are being transfered to this server and a new Members database of voluntary membership infomration will be built.
2. The main Mars Society site is also undergoing some changes. A new affiliates shopping area has been revamped and is being expanded. Members can shop for products and receive discounts will the society will get receive anywhere from 5 to 15% of all net sales. Some other cosmetic changes are happening o the site as well that will make it "printer friendly".
3. The Mars Society is currently in the process of setting credit card merchant online services so that members can use their credit cards to pay for their annual membership fees and purchase products.
4. The Mars Society is currently looking at purchasing a new web server to host the Mars Polar Lander mirror web site. This new server will also host the main web site and other society sites in the future. We expect to have this new server online by mid-october.
The Mars Society is currently looking for a volunteer lead webmaster to work on the main site. Duties would include updating content on a regular basis and helping to create new content. An average of 5 hours a week is required for this work. Experience in HTML is a must. Scripting experience in JavaScript or VBscript is desired. Please contact Marc Boucher at webmaster@marssociety.org. Only committed serious people need apply.
+ Martian Civilization and Culture Group
(late Law and Governance Task Force)
Ruth Waterton, mailto:ruth@h2oton.freeserve.co.uk>
We've changed to a (hopefully) more inclusive name and introduced a
new Topic of the Month system to stimulate and focus our debates. First
up was Time and Calendars with special guest Tom Gangale, who introduced
us to his Time-sig list. Participation has been phenomenal with over 60
posts so far. Next month we'll be discussing Fiction and Mars. Suggestions
for future topics are welcomed.
+ Marketing
Maggie Zubrin, mailto:mzubrin@aol.com
See Administrative Director's report
+ Mars Arctic Task Force
Kurt Micheels, mailto:Kmicheels@aol.com
We are in the midst of preparing a bid package to be sent to
our selected contractors. This should be mailed by next week. Contractors
are asked to respond in 2 weeks, so we should have one selected by the
first week in October. The task force is undergoing further organization
to facilitate our working as distinct groups on various aspects of the
MARS operations. There will be a meeting of the Terrahab group and
all Colorado based MARSTF members on 23 Sept. This meeting will be to discuss
the implementation of design and construction of a full size transportable
mock-up.
+ Political & Public Outreach
Brian Frankie, mailto:brianf5070@aol.com,
Chris Carberry (ccarberry@masshist.org)
The Political Action Task Force has been reorganizing into a more streamlined
form to accelerate political activities. The Task Force has been actively
contacting and encouraging others to contact their Congressional members
to restore the funding that was cut from NASA's budget by July's appropriation
from the House. Time is running short before the new fiscal year
starts, but the Mars Society, in cooperation with other space societies,
believes that our efforts will help restore at least a significant portion
of the NASA cuts.
+ MarsNews.com (www.marsnews.com)
Jim Burk (jburk@jburk.com) -- Managing Editor / Webmaster
We are forming a "corps of volunteers" to help maintain the site on
a daily basis (surf for news articles, enter them a web-based form, clean
out old links, update the information sections, write reports/editorials,
etc. etc) We'll soon have a majordomo list on the home.ms.org server, but
in the meantime send me email if you're interested in helping. I've
received about 2 dozen emails offering help (not including members of my
chapter)
+ Ares: The Mars Society's CDROM (home.marssociety.org/ares)
Jim Burk (jburk@jburk.com) -- Project leader / Content Director
The premiere issue of Ares was given out at the conference and mailed
to all members worldwide. Other than being mac-incompatible (something
we'll fix next time), it's been a great success and I've received a lot
of praise. We are already working on the second issue, due out November
1st, that will focus on educational outreach. If you're interested
in helping, join the mailing list by sending a message to majordomo@chapters.marssociety.org
with "subscribe ares-cdrom" in the body of the message. You can email
the list using this address: ares-cdrom@chapters.marssociety.org
There are about 15 people on the list now.
+ Provisional Members' Council
Chris Vancil, CVANCIL@aol.com
The provisional member's council has worked out a good system of long
distance democracy for ourselves which we hope can be used as a starting
point for the permanent council. We have been vigorously debating
the appropriate amount of representative versus direct democracy needed
to best promote member concerns. We have also been debating
how representatives should be chosen. We have received little input
from others, but are most interested in hearing from other active members.
We can be reached at list-B@lists.MarsSociety.org .
+ New Mars
Richard Wagner, mailto:campr2@javanet.com
The 'zine is currently in a state of suspended animation (i.e., dead,
but a pulse is expected soon), as I redesign the publication with an eye
to both graphic and text content. Current news items will be dropped and
the focus will shift to bi-monthly updates focused on specific topics of
interest to Mars hounds (the search for life, surface operations, Mars
in books/movies, power on Mars, etc.) Suggestions for issue topics plus
possible articles are always welcome, and, more to the point, needed.
+ Mars Polar Lander Mirror Site
Richard Wagner, mailto:campr2@javanet.com
Server expected on-line in mid-October (see Internet report above).
Beyond simply acting as a mirror, we intend to develop "complementary"
content for the Polar Lander mission, i.e. special materials relating to
the mission, Mars, and the people behind the mission. As well, we will
create pages directed toward "selling" membership in the Mars Society --
who we are, what we do -- during this period of heightened public interest
and awareness regarding Mars.
=====================================
Richard Wagner, editor/writer
25 Main Street, Suite 214
Northampton, MA 01060
campr2@javanet.com
voice 413/584-9941 fax 413/584-8170
If you haven't joined the Mars Society yet ...
what on Earth are you waiting for?
http://www.marssociety.org
New Mars - a journal of the Martian frontier
http://www.newmars.com/