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| Vol. 2, No. 05 | May 2000 |
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The purpose of the Red Planet Satellite Report is to provide up to date information to both our membership and the general public on the many activities of the Mars Society chapters, task forces and Chapter's Council. Please use the Table of Contents to quickly access those sections of the report that are of primary interest to you.
Welcome to the Red Planet Satellite Report for May 2000. Here you will find a summary of the activities of the many chapters of the Mars Society and of the numerous task forces. You may also pick up an idea or two for an activity for your own chapter. To show just what a chapter is capable of accomplishing, check out the reports from the German chapter and the Australian chapter. While you're here, catch up on what the Chapter's Council is up to.New this issue is the Photo of the Month section. Now you can actually see what chapters and members of the Mars Society are doing to promote the exploration of Mars.
Did you know that you can contribute to the Red Planet Satellite Report? If you are interested then please read the Submission Guidelines section. The deadline for submitting materials for inclusion in the next issue is the last day of the month. I want to hear from you!
If you would like to make suggestions regarding the format of the Red Planet Satellite Report or its content, just send me an email.
Thank You,
Jim Plaxco, Editor
Welcome to the Chapter's Council News. Here you can read about the most recent activities of the Chapter's Council as well as finding out how you can participate in our various projects and contribute to our success.Despite April being the month of taxes for those of us in the US, the Chapter's Council was still able to make progress on several items. Chief among these were work on a Mars/Mars Society FAQ, development of a chapter starter kit, discussion about council representation on the Mars Society Steering Committee and laying the groundwork on the production of a Chapter's Council Status Report.
One heavily discussed topic was a motion to shorten the voting period on certain types of motions. The arguments in favor of the shortened period centered on speeding up work. The arguments against focused on the fact that some people might miss out on votes merely because they were away for a few days.
In addition to the above items, council member Jim Beyer of Michigan was able to attend the Mars Society Steering Committee meeting that was held on April 21 and 22. Upon return, Jim provided the council with detailed minutes of the meeting.
For expanded coverage of these and other Chapter's Council issues, you may use the following index to go directly to the topic that is of primary interest to you.
Index to Chapter's Council News
The Monthly Agenda
To assist in planning for each month's activities, the Council votes on a conceptual agenda. Items to be included in the agenda are first identified and then voted upon by the Council so that a priority may be assigned. The following table documents the agenda for the current month.
The Monthly Agenda
Rank Brief Description Detailed description or URL for one 1 BOD and Steering Committee Council Rep Elect members from the council to have reps on both the Steering Committee and BOD 2 Building a chapters council website within the Mars Society domains See Chapter's Council Home Page 3 Setting up Mars FAQ web page Create a FAQ on the Chapter's Council web site to answer questions about Mars and the Mars Society. 3 Prepare council introduction tools for new members Create documentation that new members of the Chapter's Council can use to quickly get up to speed. 4 Chapters starter kit Create documentation that will be useful to those individuals interested in starting a chapter. 4 Discussion regarding Mars Society governance Discussion to determine whether the lack of democratic organization within the Mars Society is something the Council should address, and, if so, brainstorming of ideas regarding methods for addressing. 5 Writing chapter handbook Create a handbook that can serve as a reference tool for chapters. This could include the Chapter Starter Kit. 5 Setting up a Speaker's Bureau To place volunteer speakers at chapter and outside group meetings, especially when they are traveling. 6 How to get more people on the council The PMC envisioned a council with 30 to 75 members in order to be able to tackle a wide variety of issues. We are short on both officers and people willing to actively participate in committees. We have more ideas than time. We need more members. 7 Setting Up Technical Advisory Task Force This task force will be composed of experts which will answer technical questions chapters and task forces may have outside the expertise of their members. This task force is not intended to replace the technical task force. 7 Setting up space advocacy group coordination committee This committee would work to coordinate policy and activities with other space advocacy groups. 8 Measuring outreach success objectively We must develop objective measures of success in order to improve our outreach methods and empasize those that are most effective. 8 Toronto CC meeting Conduct a face to face metting with all council members at the Toronto Conference 8 Mars Society Bylaws Discussion regarding whether the Mars Society's bylaws regarding members' rights is detrimental to the chapters and ideas for addressing this concern if it is. 9 Setting up bylaws review committee This committee will review both the council and national bylaws and make recommendations on any changes they see needed. 9 Setting up committee to review dues collection and distribution Examine the issue of chapters dues and funding in the context of the Chapter's Council. 9 Setting up communication committee. This committee will work to improve communication between all parts of the Mars Society starting with improving communication of council business. 9 Setting up a policy review committee. This committee would respond to member and council questions on policy. It would develop policies to be approved by the entire council and then the board of directors. 9 Encouraging member suggestions for the monthly agenda. How can we encourage members to make agenda suggestions? 9 Preparing media kit for 2000 convention. See URL=<http://www.egroups.com/message/mschapterscouncil/770> 9 Mars Society dues Discussion regarding whether Mars Society dues are reasonable and ideas for addressing this concern if not.
Action Taken to Speed Up Voting
A lengthy discussion took place concerning a proposal to shorten the voting period for certain classes of motions. The proposal was to shorten the voting period from one week to two days for those motions that qualified as "Quick Action Items". The main rationale for the proposal was that for a class of motions, referred to as "Quick Action Items", quicker action could be taken. The counter-arguments centered around the fact that with a two day voting period for these items, it was highly likely that a number of Chapter's Council representatives would miss the opportunity to vote. In the end, the desire for more efficient operations swayed the majority to approve this measure. Following is the text of the motion that was voted on:POLL QUESTION: Vote To Shorten Voting Period For Selected Actions:The vote on the above motion was 7 for and 1 against.REPLACE
"The vote shall continue for one week." in Section 3: Setting Up A Motion For VotingWITH
"The vote shall continue for one week unless the action falls under one of the categories on the quick action list (see section 8 below)."AND ADD
Section 8 Quick Action List to Article 7: Amending Council Rules and/or Proposing Council Actions as follows:The council may designate certain actions or types of rule changes as quick action items. The Secretary of Documentation or his designee will keep this list current on a publicly accessible website. Items may be added or deleted from the list through the normal motion process with the full 7 day voting period.
Placing an item on the quick action list will allow shorter voting periods when consensus is reached for a motion that falls under one of the categories on it. Revising the bylaws is expressly forbidden from being placed on the quick action list. Quick action list votes will be considered complete on the first poll closing day after a minimum of two days if a consensus has been reached. For the purposes of this section consensus will be considered to be reached when a majority of both the voters voting in the current poll and those voting in the previous poll (of any official vote type) have voted for or against a particular motion. Any vote, including an abstain vote, will keep or renew a representative's name on the list of active voters. Quick action list poll closing days are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 11:30 PM EST.
End of Motion
A separate vote was taken to identify those items that would be classified as "Quick Action Items". Items that qualified for the "Quick Action Voting" were:
- Votes to start committees. Passed by a vote of 7 for and 0 against.
- Votes to change an agenda item's priority. Passed by a vote of 6 for and 1 against.
- Votes to grant committees rights or privileges. Passed by a vote of 5 for and 2 against.
- Votes to assign people council projects. Passed by a vote of 7 for and 0 against.
Chapter's Starter Kit
Veronica Ann Zabala of the Phoenix, Arizona chapter has taken the lead on developing a Chapter's Starter Kit. At this time, the kit under development will include:
If you have suggestions for materials for the Chapter's Starter Kit, please contact Veronica Ann Zabala.
- Introductory letter from Robert Zubrin
- MS Membership application
- MS Brochure
- ARC Brochure
- Introductory letter from Dr. Pascal Lee about the ARC project
- List of Mars Society chapters with contact information
- Copy of the Mars Petition
- Info sheet with a brief summary on how to start a chapter
- Info sheet on the financial responsibilities of a Chapter and guidelines to follow as a non-profit organization
- Info sheet with the types of volunteer positions available and a brief description of those duties
- 35mm slide set for presentations to local schools, conventions, etc.
- Info sheet on how to create a web site for your chapter
- Info sheet on recruiting new members
- A lithograph of Mars
Chapter's Council Status Report
Discussion began regarding the production of a Chapter's Council Status Report. This report would be produced on a varying schedule of between every one to three months, depending on the level of activity for the various committees and the Chapter's Council.The purpose of the report will be to provide a detailed review of the progress that the various committees are making towards completing their work on the agenda items to which they have been assigned. This would include what has been accomplished, what problems have been encountered, what obstacles remain, and an estimate of when the tasks associated with the agenda item will be complete.
To be determined is exactly how the report will be distributed. The initial method will be to email a full text version to all members of the Chapter's Council. Along with the full version, an edited version for public access will be emailed to each councillor for their feedback and approval as to the content of the edited version.
Chapter's Council and the Steering Committee
During the month of April there was much discussion about the Chapter's Council having a representative on the Mars Society Steering Committee. The underlying rationale is to insure that there exists a line of open communications between the Chapter's Council and the Steering Committee. This is in keeping with one of the primary purposes of the Chapter's Council, which is to "enhance communication between all of the groups within the Mars Society." Discussion of this issue continues.Another subject of discussion was that of making it easier for the members to nominate individuals for membership on the Steering Committee. With respect to this issue, the following motion was voted upon and passed:
The Chapters Council wishes to ensure that members can easily make nominations for the Steering Committee elections. We are concerned that the current Mars Society bylaws will result in few member nominations for the steering committee. The Chapters Council would like permission to assist members in nominating candidates by setting up a web based format for nominations such as that used for signing the Mars Society's founding declaration or the Thinkmars petition along with a member verification protocol.Council member Jim Beyer of Michigan attended the April 21-22 meeting of the Mars Society Steering Committee. On his return, Mr. Beyer provided the Chapter's Council with minutes of the meetings. Per these unofficial minutes, topics discussed included the following:The Council will start collecting nominations and "signatures" two months before the annual convention and present a list of candidates meeting the "signatures of 50 Mars Society members, with at least 5 members included from each of four separate chapters" qualification along with the Board of Director's list of candidates at the annual convention.
The Chapters Council would also like the Steering Committee and the Board of Directors to consider a similar process to select a list of candidates for members to choose from in order to elect a single member representative to the board of directors with a two year term.
- society finances
- membership
- the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station
- the Pressurized Rover Project
- the Mars Society and NASA
- Operation President
- Chapter activities
- the Toronto 2000 Convention
- the Stanford Mars Project
- the Education Task Force
Call for Volunteers
The Chapter's Council is looking for volunteers who can help us with our various projects. Projects already underway include:In addition, there are a number of Monthly Agenda Items not being worked due to a lack of manpower. If you would like to assist the council with any of our projects, have an idea for a project that should be undertaken by the Chapter's Council, or have a suggestion regarding an item on the agenda, then please send an email to the Mars Society Chapter's Council.
- developing a Chapter Starter Kit to assist both new and old chapters in their endeavors
- creating a Mars/Mars Society FAQ for the Chapter's Council web site
Chapter Representation
As of this writing, there are still a number of chapters that have not elected a representative to the Chapter's Council. This under-representation has an adverse impact on the council's activities. Every chapter should be participating in the activities of the Chapter's Council.To find out how your chapter can elect a representative to the Chapter's Council, please send an email to the Mars Society Chapter's Council.
The Chapter's Council Web Site
The Chapter's Council has a web site to document the activities of the Council and to serve as an online resource for both the chapters and the general membership of the Mars Society. The main page for accessing this site is athttp://chapters.marssociety.org/council/.
In addition, the Red Planet Satellite Report can also be accessed from this page.
Jim Burk is the webmaster for the site. If you have questions about the site, or would like to make suggestions, please send email to Jim Burk.
The Mars FAQ
The Mars FAQ committee continues to work on a Mars/Mars Society FAQ that will answer a wide range of questions about both the Mars Society and the planet Mars. Once completed, this FAQ will be accessible at the Chapter's Council Web Site.An egroup was set up to support the work of the committee. You can follow the progress and proceedings of the Mars FAQ Committee by visiting our egroup site.
In April, a council vote was taken on a motion to give the Mars FAQ Committee decision-making authority with respect to the content and form of the FAQ. This motion also made it possible for volunteers serving on the committee to take part in committee votes. The vote passed with 5 in favor, none opposed and 2 abstaining.
If there is a question that you would like to see on this FAQ, or have some suggestion regarding the structure of the FAQ, etc., send an email to the Mars FAQ Committee.
The members of the committee are Jim Burk, Stephen DeVoy, Mark Eby, Brad Jarvis, Matthew Lowry, Jim Plaxco, Stacy Sklar, Bill Weitze and Chris Vancil.
Chapter's Council Membership
The Chapters Council is currently made up of the following individuals:
Jim Beyer Michigan
Sam Burbank California, Northern
Webmaster Jim Burk (volunteer)
Ombudsman Erik Carlstrom Oregon
Stephen DeVoy Arizona, Tucson
Serina Diniega California, CALTECH-JPL
Matt Dumstorf Ohio
James Eberhardt Georgia
Sec. Agenda and Mark Eby Alabama Ombudsman
Sec. Voting and Gary Fisher Pennsylvania Sec. Documentation
Matthew Giovanelli Wisconsin
Richard Heidmann France
Lisa Ice New Mexico
Carmen Marra Canada, Toronto
Council Vice-Chair Piotr Moskal Poland
Vesna Nikolic (volunteer)
Sec. Communication Jim Plaxco Illinois
Raimund Scheucher Germany
Stacy Sklar (volunteer)
Council Chair Chris Vancil Washington, Puget Sound
Paul Wooster New England
Veronica Ann Zabala Arizona, Phoenix
Getting the Council's Attention
Anyone, members or nonmembers, can bring issues to the attention of the Chapter's Council by sending an email to the Mars Society Chapter's Council.If you want to keep tabs on what the council is up to, then point your browser at the Mars Society Chapter's Council Group area on the eGroups web site.
You can use the following index to go directly to the chapter of your choice. Use your Browser's "Back" button to return to this index.
Contact: Mark Eby, maeby@zebra.net
No report.
Contact: Marilyn Dudley-Rowley, MD-R@msn.com
No report.
Contact: Stacy Sklar, JMakus3339@aol.com
No report.
Contact: Veronica Ann Zabala, GEOBUM@prodigy.net
Web Site: http://frontpage.inficad.com/~azmars
No report.
Contact: Aaron Schultz, aschultz@Seds.org
No report.
Contact: Wayne Bowen, bowenw@alpha.obu.edu
The school year is winding down, and so most activities are ending until things kick back in again in late August. No news to report from the Natural State.Wayne Bowen, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of History, Ouachita Baptist University
Contact: Derek Shannon, dms@caltech.edu
Web Site: http://mars.caltech.edu/
No report.
Contact: Domenique van der Goore, traveler@cyberlynk.com
No report.
Contact: Bill Weitze, bweitze@california.com
Web Site: http://chapters.marssociety.org/northca/
Mailing list: Majordomo@lists.Stanford.EDU
with the command subscribe norcal-mars-society as the message.The Northern California chapter held its 13th meeting on April 30 in San Francisco. We are in the preliminary planning phase for a high-visibility fundraising dinner. A well-known Hollywood director has agreed to be the host. I don't want to jinx it by putting the director's name here, but it's on our website on the meetings and minutes page.
Sam Burbank is still working on his film of the 1999 Annual meeting, commissioned by the Mars Society. He is in editing mode now and should be done in a few months.
We also discussed details of the sister chapter agreement with the Swiss chapter (see March 2000 report), the Annual meeting in Toronto, and how to link with the environmental movement.
During the Northern CA meeting, Bill Clancey was in Idaho, participating in the NASA-funded "Window on the Universe" program, run by the Challenger Center. He spoke to eleven K-12 classrooms in the Moscow, Idaho area. I also presented an evening public lecture in Pullman, WA to 100 people, titled "Mars on Earth," about the Haughton-Mars Project and the Mars Society's work.
Our next meeting will be held on June 11, probably in the South SF Bay.
Contact: Dave Jedynak, jedynak@sileas.com
No report.
Contact: Brad Jarvis, bjarvis@ezlink.com
Web Site: http://www.rmms.org/
No report.
Contact: Dick Brodeur, r.e.brodeur@mindspring.com
No report.
Contact: Mike Kretsch, mkretsch@compassusa.com
We are still accepting entries into the VRML spacecraft design competition. See http://mike1mars.tripod.com/aprilshower.html for details. The judging will be the first week of June, so dont delay!
Contact Needed. Volunteers, please contact Maggie Zubrin, mzubrin@aol.com
No report.
Contact: Chris Struble, clstruble@earthlink.net
No report.
Contact: Matthew Lowry, lowryclan@geocities.com
Web Site: http://www.astrodigital.org/marschicago/
See the Illinois, Schaumburg report.
Contact: Matt Lowry at lowryclan@geocities.com
Web Site: http://www.astrodigital.org/nsms
Well, the month of April was very productive for the North Shore chapter. On the evening of Friday, April 7th some members of our chapter went to the Adler Planetarium in Chicago to listen to Chris McKay of NASA Ames Research Center lecture about the past, present, and future environment of Mars. Included in the talk were questions of water and life on Mars, comparison of early Mars and early Earth, and the possibility of terraforming Mars in the future. Members from the Chicago chapter were present as well, and collectively we handed out scads of the new Mars Society brochures. For more details, see the Illinois, Schaumburg report.On Tuesday, April 18th three members of our chapter (Craig Segall, Salman Aasi, and myself) gave a presentation entitled "Mars: The Next Frontier" to a group of roughly 25+ high school students and adults as part of this year's Dimensions activities at Lake Forest High School. After the brief presentation (~30 min) there followed a very constructive Question and Answer session, with students and adults alike getting in on the action. From all accounts, the presentation was very well received, and it will likely serve as a template for future lectures.
The North Shore chapter has moved its email list to Egroups.com. For more information, see http://www.egroups.com/group/mars-northshore
In addition, it seems like the North Shore chapter could be getting some more press soon -- consider this the inside scoop. Stay tuned for more!
Ad Astra! -- Matt Lowry, North Shore chapter contact
Contact: Jim Plaxco, astro@astrodigital.org
Web Site: http://www.astrodigital.org/mss/
On Friday April 7, the Chicago, North Shore and Schaumburg chapters were invited by the Adler Planetarium to participate in one of the Adler's Mars Millennium special events. This event happened to be a speaker program featuring renouned NASA scientist and Mars Society Steering Committee member Dr. Christopher McKay.That evening, more than 150 people gathered to hear Dr. McKay speak about Mars: from the origins of life to a future terraformed Mars. The Adler generously permitted our chapters to set up a Mars Society information exhibit just outside the entrance to the auditorium. In addition, North Shore chapter member Matt Lowry helped serve as a greeter and saw to it that everyone entering the auditorium received a Mars Society brochure. We also saw to it that the podium was draped with a Mars flag.
Following Dr. McKay's presentation, several Mars Society members and two representatives of the Adler Planetarium joined Dr. McKay for a late night dinner. The conversation was most interesting and a good time was had by all.
A more detailed article featuring in-depth coverage of Dr. McKay's presentation and photos will be forthcoming at the Astrodigital web site, home to the Illinois chapters of the Mars Society.
Contact: Steve Resler, sresler@eyeworld.net
No report.
Contact: Katharine Osborne, kosborne@eai.com
No report.
Contact: Holly Kellogg, HKellogg@feist.com
No report.
Contact: Shelly Hynes, cshynes@cp-tel.net
Well, we have alot to tell this month! We had our first meeting on April 15. Only 5 people were in attendance, but a few others emailed me stating that they could not make it, so that is encouraging. We had a productive meeting. The minutes of the meeting are as follows:Goals and Action Items for the Louisiana Society:
I. Political Outreach
A. Senator John Breaux
Action Item: Shelly Hynes will write a postal letter to send to members of the Louisiana Mars Society for their signatures and send an electronic copy of the letter to Craig Dooley so that he can send it by e-mail to Senator Breaux from his work email:
Craig.D.Dooley@maf.nasa.gov.
B. Set up a face-to-face meeting with Senator Breaux.
Action Item: Shelly HynesII Membership Outreach
A. College Outreach
B. Movie Outreach
1. Set up signing booths at future movies of Mars - Target: Palace Theater in New Orleans.
C. School Outreach
Action Item: Leah Broussard and Bob Trull will coordinate this effort.III. Outreach To Other Organizations
A. Planetariums
B. JC Clubs, Rotary Clubs, etc.
C. American Chemical Society (ACS), etc.
D. Conventions in New Orleans
E. Outreach at Michoud Assembly Facility and Stennis Space CenterIV. Proposal for Simulated Fuel Storage Tank for the Flashline Mars Arctic Station
Action Item: Writing Proposal - Shelly Hynes
Action Item: Collecting Cost Data, etc. - Craig DooleyIt was decided at the meeting that the Louisiana Mars Society Chapter will meet every two months. Next meeting will be in New Orleans area in June 2000. Craig Dooley will set up the next meeting.
Craig Dooley and Shelly Hynes agreed to bimonthly face-to-face in Lafayette, Louisiana.
Shelly Hynes will set up the agenda and status of the action items for the meeting in June 2000 in New Orleans.
Craig Dooley will make efforts in establishing a New Orleans area chapter of the Louisiana Mars Society.
Craig Dooley will talk to Dan Morris morridx@excite.com about assisting the Louisiana Mars Society in establishing a web page. All efforts will be coordinated through Shelly Hynes and others whom she believes can help.
Since the meeting there have been some amendments. Our "project" will focus more on outreach. With the success of the M2M outreach, we have decided to plan displays at various museums to coincide with James Cameron's IMAX release as well as the next two Mars movies. There are several good places to do this in the New Orleans area plus there is a science museum in Shreveport, so we should be able to cover the whole state. Right now we are concentrating our efforts on outreach to Sen. Breaux since he is on the Commerce, Technology and Transportation committee.
Also, one of our members, Tom James has started a Mars/Planetary database. Please visit his website at http://www.myplanet.net/enki23/the_deimos_project__home_page.htm He will also help coordinate our LAMS website. Thanks Tom!
Lastly, and most importantly, our next meeting is already scheduled! Craig Dooley of New Orleans is hosting the next meeting, and the details are below. Thanks for all your help Craig.
Louisiana Mars Society Meeting
When: Saturday, June 10, 2000
Time: 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Where: North Kenner Library
630 W. Esplanade Ave.
Kenner, LA 70065
Directions: Take I-10 and get off at Exit 221 - Loyola Drive - Kenner, LA. Head North ( approximately one mile) on Loyola Drive until you get to W. Esplanade Ave. (there will be a Rite Aid Pharmacy on your right-hand side). Take a right onto W. Esplanade Ave. and go approximately 0.5 - 0.75 miles and you will see a gymnasium, an elementary school (Alexander) and a Track and Field area. The North Kenner Library is on your left-hand side by the Track and Field area.If you need further detailed instructions, you can go to Maps On Us or call me, Craig Dooley, at (504) 466-3955.
See you there.
Contact: Theresa Klein, tjk2@ix.netcom.com
No report.
Contact: Julie Edwards, jedwards@umich.edu
Web Site: http://chapters.marssociety.org/usa/mi/
In the past 2 months, our chapter has made the decision to enter the Mars Society Rover design contest. Over 20 members of this team, mainly University of Michigan students, attended an introductory meeting, and an e-mail discussion list was set up from these members. Weekly meetings are attended by about 8 student members as well as several from our Michigan Mars Society chapter. Things are proceeding fairly well toward submitting our first general plan by the deadline.Jim Beyer, our chapter president, was able to attend the Mars Society Steering Committee meeting in CO in April, mainly to express his concerns over the general plan for the running of the rover contest. He was able to discuss his ideas with several members, as well as during the meeting, and returned fairly satisfied with the discussions.
Our Michigan Mars Society chapter will have a booth at the Jackson Space Center for their "What's Up Weekend" on May 20-21. We plan to exhibit the Hab model that we have been working on intermittently for several months. Also we plan to hold our regular chapter MEETING from 1-3PM on Saturday 20 May, at this event.
The Michigan Space and Science Center is located at 2111 Emmons Road in Jackson MI. Admission to this event is $4 for Adults and $2.75 for Students and Seniors. Hope to see everyone there!
Contact: Ben Huset, BenHuset@skypoint.com
No report.
Contact: Garry W. Speer, VMSmith1@aol.com
No report.
Contact: George Howard, Ghoward683@aol.com
No report.
Contact: Derrick M. Davis, dmdventures@hotmail.com
No report.
Contact: Shawn Plunket, SPlunket@aol.com
No report.
Contact: Paul Wooster, pwooster@mit.edu
Website: http://chapters.marssociety.org/usa/ma/
No report.
Contact Needed. Volunteers, please contact Maggie Zubrin, mzubrin@aol.com
No report.
Contact: Eric Orrill, mailto:eorrill@jntsw.com
No report.
Contact: Lisa Ice, ice@cs.unm.edu
No report.
Contact: Paul Contursi, pcon@pipeline.com
No report.
Contact: John R. Cable, jrjohn@martin.ndak.net
No report.
Contact: Jonathan Hovland, fenix@thequest.net
No report.
Contact: Tamarack R. Czarnik, patttam@erinet.com
PresentationsActivities
- 08 Apr 2000 - Martin Schwab gave the 'Mars Direct' presentation at Astronomy Day in Dayton, while Dayton Public Outreach Coordinator Monica Simmons staffed the informational 'Mars Society' table.
- 27 Apr 2000 - Cleveland Head Jeff Roche gave the 'Mars Direct' presentation to the Cuyahoga Valley Space Society in Cleveland.
- 25 May 2000 (upcoming) - Ohio Chair Tam Czarnik will give the 'Mars Direct' presentation at MARCON 35 (SF Convention) in Columbus; a Mars Society table will also run all weekend.
- Jerry Black, a Cincinnati engineer who worked on testing the Apollo rocket engines, wrote the 'Concept Section' for the 15 Apr 2000 Newsletter.
- Ohio Chair Tam Czarnik spent the month at Kennedy Space Center, discussing the 'Mars Direct' mission profile with employees and distributing "Mars or Bust" buttons.
- Ohio Chapter has obtained a copy of The Learning Channel's "Mars - Pioneering a Planet" for showing at small groups, SF Conventions, etc.
- We now have pictures of our Mars Society tables at the Cleveland, Cincinnati and Dayton premieres of "Mission to Mars", as well as our table at MILLENNICON; hope to have them on the website soon.
Contact: John Ohlheiser, JPO10708@aol.com
No report.
Contact: Gus Frederick, gus@norwebster.com
Web Site:http://chapters.marssociety.org/or/
In April, the Oregon Chapter joined the Oregon L5 Society and the newly formed Oregon Chapter of the Artemis Society to set up a joint effort at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry's "Russian Rocketry Weekend" in Portland. This was a companion gig to coincide with the Portland Art Museum's "Stroganoff" exhibit of fine art from Russia. We dispenced brochures, information, and showed the "Windows on Mars" video tape received from Mars Millennium Project National.The Oregon Mars Millennium Project resource Web site continues to evolve. Coming online within the next couple of weeks will be the first wave of our "ET Agriculture" lessons. To kick this off, we set up a table at the Oregon Ag Fest held at the Oregon State Fair Grounds. This an annual fair designed to high light Oregon's Agriculture industry. A special Educational section was setup, and we were invited to participate. We had our prototype "Martian Herb Garden" hydroponic setup on hand, and also had Mars videos playing. We got a great deal of mileage with our proposed FFM - "Future Farmers of Mars."
Our Oregon Presidential Candidate's Space Summit never got off the ground, as all the Campaign Critters declined our offer for a forum. However, that date now is filled with several OSU students from the Chemical Engineering Department that will be demonstrating their "Fluidization in a Free-fall Environment" experiment which recently was selected by NASA Ames to fly on the KC-135. That meeting information is available from the Chapter Web space listed above.
R.D."Gus" Frederick; Secretary, The Mars Society - Oregon Chapter
Contact: Wojciech Klimkiewicz, Ph.D., wxk10@psu.edu
No report.
Contact: Gary C. Fisher, gcfisheris@aol.com
No report.
Contact: Daniar Hussain, daniarh@yahoo.com
Mailing List:mars-penn@onelist.com
Sameer Soi, member from Johnstown, PA, and I attended the HEDS-UP presentation at Penn State on Saturday, April 29 in State College, PA. This project is headed by Dr. Klimkiewicz from Penn State University, and their team has designed a novel mission approach. A main lander with a rover and a cliff-hanger will land near Valles Mariners. The rover will carry the cliff-hanger to the edge of Valles Marineres, and will deploy it down a 3km long tether rope! This will allow the team to study sedimentary layers of rock on the side of the cliff. It appears to be a very innovative and exciting approach! This Wednesday, the team will fly down to Houston, TX to present the proposal to NASA, in competition with 13 other national universities. We from Mars Society of Pennsylvania wish them the best of luck! The results of the competition will be announced on Friday, and we are anxious to hear about the other projects and the outcome of the competition!
Contact: Jose Lopez Reyes, skyloop@caribe.net
No report.
Contact: Steve Connors, connors@ici.net
No report.
Contact: Richard Allen Brown, Charlestonideas@hotmail.com
No report.
Contact: Trae Winter, hwinter@latte.memphis.edu
No report.
Contact: Tim Crain, crain@csr.utexas.edu
No report.
Contact: Scott Bell, ntms@usa.net
No report.
Contact: Chris Barnes, USAMarsMan@aol.com
No report.
Contact: Tom Allred, AllredTj@ubtanet.com
No report.
Contact: Johannes Helgeson, noachis@hotmail.com
No report.
Contact: Jim Burk, President, jburk@jburk.com
Chapter email: marspuget@egroups.com
Web Site: Mars Society Puget Sound
We had a member on several Mars related panels at this years Norwescon, a Seattle area Science Fiction Convention held each year near SeaTac International Airport. Chris Vancil was on "Terraforming" and "Humans on Mars", both panels where well attended having larger than normal crowds for science panels at this particular SF Con. On Friday night we had a joint meeting with the National Space Society's Seattle chapter who videotaped it for later airing on Public Access Television. We also shared a Club table with NSS Seattle down in the hotel's main lobby Friday thru Sunday. All in all this was pretty good public outreach with lots of people coming by the club table and many interested people at the panels and meeting.Four Corners Meeting report: Our chapter plans a small informal meeting in the June 16th to 18th with other regional Chapters, Oregon, British Columbia and Idaho. We have changed the location to Ephrata Washington at the suggestion of Matt Golombek. This area of Washington State is an analog for the area of Mars in which Pathfinder landed. Some 12000 years ago several cataclysmic floods raged thru the Columbia Plateau leaving the Channeled Scablands and a dry waterfall ten time as large as Niagara falls. We have been looking for a geology expert on both the Spokane Floods and it's analog to Mars floods with several possibilities being interviewed soon. This should be a fun little meeting and we hope all four Chapters can send some representatives and of course we welcome any other Mars Society members who are interested in attending.
Filed by: Chris Vancil (clvancil@aol.com), National Liason, Mars Society Puget Sound and Chair, Mars Society Chapters Council
Contact: Robert Strong, strongro@WLSVAX.WVNET.EDU
No report.
Contact: Scott Davis, scud1@execpc.com
On April 15th, Wisconsin Mars Society had an information and exhibit booth at a Tripoli Rocket Association rocket launch event at the Bong Recreational Area west of Kenosha in the SE part of the state. Five WMS members took part and we got to see some pretty impressive level 3 launches, including some rocket drag races, and one 3-stage launch.We held our monthly meeting on April 22nd, a week later because of the rocket launch. We are busy looking for more opportunities and not ruling out anything.
WMS member Heidi Hensley, a Kenosha school teacher, will be giving a summer school session on Mars this summer.
Scott Davis continues to make progress with his Mars Simulation game.
Ron Zdroik produced a very high resolution panorama of the Martian surface from Pathfinder files, and it is framed (12x30?).
Peter Kokh proposed to take an off the shelf 6 inch globe, build up the surface to exaggerate the Martian topography, and paint it in the false color scheme in which potential water basins are blue. Shown with a standard 12 inch Earth globe, it would give the right impression of Mars' size and convey the exciting information that Mars was once a wet world (and conceivably could be made to be so again.)
WMS President Matt Giovanelli would like to see us produce additional eye-catching exhibits.
Submitted by Peter Kokh
Contact: Patrick Banks, PAT@uwyo.edu
No report.
Contact: Margarita Marinova, mmm@mit.edu
Web Site: http://chapters.marssociety.org/youth/
The May Issue of the Martian Chronicles is now out! Check it out at the Youth Website. In this issue:
The Hakluyt Contest; Flying to Mars; Emissary: A Mars Colony; Mars Vacation Pictures; Meet the Scientist - Darlene Lim, Paleolimnologist; Plastic Mars; The Mars Challenge; Diatom Fact; The Recluse - Part III; Mars Q&APlease distribute the Chronicles and this e-mail freely!
Please send your submissions to the Chronicles! Without your help this publication cannot happen!
Deadline for submissions for Issue 5 - May 20
Send to: mmm@mit.edu
You can use the following index to go directly to the chapter of your choice. Use your Browser's "Back" button to return to this index.
Contact: Gabriel Rshaid, grshaid@marsacademy.com
We are currently working on the organization of an educational event for middle school and high school students and teachers in late September. This will be a two day course to be held at St.Mark's School in San Isidro, and based on Mars Settlement Design. It will feature teleconferences, web based interactivities and testimonials from the August Convention.
Contact: Andrew Hamilton, ahamilto@nsw.bigpond.net.au
Dr. Robert Zubrin Australian Lecture Tour - Melbourne Visit
Dr. Zubrin arrived in Melbourne from Sydney at 3.20pm on Thursday 16th March and departed 8.10am on Saturday 18th March for Brisbane. He stayed at the home of Mars Society members Sandy and Felix Dance on Thursday and Friday night. During the period he was in Melbourne he attended three scheduled events and also gave media interviews. On Thursday night there was a dinner, while on Friday there were two lectures.The Dinner
A banquet dinner was held at a Chinese Restaurant on Thursday evening. About 30 people attended, these being Mars Society members, NSSA members, sponsors and other guests. organising Dr. Zubrin's tour has been the first major event for the Melbourne Chapter of the Mars Society and offering an opportunity to meet Dr. Zubrin was very much appreciated by the members. Dr. Zubrin presented a talk and showed some overheads about the Mars Society's current projects. A general suggestion for the organisation of such dinners is to try to arrange for there to be one large table, rather than several smaller separate ones, so that contact with the guest speaker is more evenly spread.The Scientist's Lecture
The first lecture was held at the University of Melbourne at 1pm and was followed by discussions with academic staff and students lasting until 3pm. It attracted approximately 150 students and academic staff.Its purpose was to attract students and academic staff with an interest in Mars exploration from universities across Melbourne all into one place in order to:
The method of organisation was to contact a member of the academic staff with an interest in Mars exploration, (physicist Professor David Jamieson), communicate the above objectives, allocate a generous amount of time from Dr. Zubrin's schedule, then leave the details of organisation to his discretion. The rationale for this was that academic staff usually have the best sense of how to organise productive scientific exchanges, and they also usually know all the other people in the local scientific community with similar interests. Names and contact details of people wanting to find out more about the Mars Society were collected.
- encourage scientific exchange and general interest in Mars exploration
- encourage networking within the scientific community
- encourage those present to become associated with the Mars Society
Feedback from academic staff and students was very positive, and there was a desire to establish a number of new initiatives as a result of the gathering.
The Public Lecture
The second lecture was held at RMIT Storey Hall beginning at 8pm. This venue is located in Melbourne's CBD and seats approximately 750. It was hired at greatly reduced cost with assistance from Department of Aerospace Engineering at RMIT University. Total attendance was around 600.We initially planned to charge for entry to this lecture. A lecture by Matthew Golombok in Melbourne Town Hall in 1998 charging about $10 had attracted enough people to fill Storey Hall. Given that we did not have the time and labour resources available to process cheques or credit card bookings, we considered using a ticketing agency. (We did not want the stress of directly handling large amounts of money on the night.) We rejected this option however because we soon realised that in the event of Dr. Zubrin having to cancel the lecture, we would still have to pay the ticketing agency booking fees for tickets sold, which could theoretically have been a lot of money. Unfair stress for everyone! After investigations, insurance was deemed too expensive. We decided to make the lecture free, and generate extra income via the risk-free means of seeking further sponsorship and selling books, magazines etc on the night. A useful guide for judging the soundness of arrangements is to always ask 'What is the worst thing that could happen?'
It was decided to use a booking system to (a) ensure that people would not be turned away at the door, which is bad public relations and (b) to determine as the lecture date approached whether more intensive advertising was required in order to fill the venue. An on-line booking system was used because it eliminated the time/labour intensiveness of telephone booking and was easy for people to access. It also efficiently collected information such as patron contact details and where they found out about the lecture, enabling us to contact people if the lecture was cancelled at short notice. As people arrived their names were crossed off a list.
The lecture was advertised in the following ways
An article appeared in the daily newspaper 'The Age' on Thursday morning including details of the lecture, which caused a last minute surge in bookings.
- posters around universities and other public noticeboards
- mention of the lecture in media interviews
- postings on electronic 'what's on' noticeboards
- contacting various space societies, geological societies, professional organisations
- advertising on NSSA/Mars Society websites
- faxing schools
Dr. Zubrin sat at the bookings table welcoming patrons as they arrived and also spent time talking in the lobby afterwards, gestures which were much appreciated. Copies of 'The Case for Mars' were sold and signed by Dr Zubrin ('Buy one and I'll sign it - a win-win situation.') Names and contact details of people wanting to find out more about the Mars Society were collected. The programs on the seats in the auditorium contained membership forms.
Contact: Antoon Van Boxstael, Antoon@hotmail.com
No report.
Contact: Marc Boucher, webmaster@marssociety.org
Web Site: http://canada.marssociety.org
The Canadian chapter is currently preparing for this summer's convention. Besides the usual tracks we are looking into setting up some new tracks and panels. A green light was given at the steering committee to proceed with this.
Contact: Jean Lagarde, jlagarde@bigfoot.com
No report.
Contact: Rocky Persaud, rocky.persaud@utoronto.ca
Web Site: http://Chapters.MarsSociety.org/toronto/
No report.
Contact: Stephen Braham, warp@polylab.sfu.ca
We're planning on a second meeting, and members are meeting locally.
Contact: Cristian Puebla-Menne, cpuebla@cmet.net
No report.
Contact: George Lordos, Lordos@mit.edu
No report.
Contact: Richard Heidmann, Rheidmann@aol.com
The APM (Association PLANETE MARS) had a stand at the fourth Adventure Book Show of Vernon (Normandy) on March 30 and 31 and April 01 and 02. We presented the APM purpose to the public and sold a lot of books from three famous authors/members of APM (and present at the show) : Philippe Buffet, Charles Frankel, Olivier de Goursac.The APM published in mid-April the bulletin "Planete Mars" intended for members.
Our President Richard Heidmann was at TMS Steering Committee on April 21 and 22 at Boulder.
Best Regards,
Dominique GUILLAUME, Secretary of PLANETE MARS
Contact: Michael Bosch, Michael.Bosch@wiwi.uni-regensburg.de
Web Site: http://www.marssociety.de/
10 April 2000:
We arranged a meeting with Mr. Karamanolis who is writing a book about Mars. Now there will be a chapter about the Mars Society and the Mars Arctic Research Station in the book. Bob Zubrin spoke with the architects working on the design alternatives for the Mars Habitat and additions to the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station, especially concerning the interior. After an important interview with RTL (Germany's second biggest national TV Station) Bob had some other interviews. In the evening we organized a lecture event with him as the star guest. It was recorded by a TV Station which can be seen via satellite in the whole of Europe. It was a big success with an auditorium of 200 people. Some other famous space flight people were present: like people from the Wernher von Braun team and the son of space pioneer Eugen Saenger. The next day, the biggest Newspaper in South Germany wrote an article about Bob's presentation.11 April 2000:
In the morning, we were invited by the German aerospace agency DLR to visit. From the Mars Society were (of course) Bob, Kristian Pauly (President, German Chapter), Manfred Hettmer (President Austrian Chapter), Raimund Scheucher (German Chapter's Council Representitive) and Sven Knuth (Task Force Leader for Public Relations and Fundraising). We were invited by Prof. Bachem, a member of the board of the DLR, the highest gremium of the DLR. Prof. Messerschmidt, a former astronaut, spoke with Bob about the positive effect of manned space flight on the number of students who want to study technical engineering.Bob offered the DLR the possiblity to do research work at the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station. They decided to discuss this in the DLR. This visit estabished a formal contact between the DLR and the Mars Society. It is planned that the two organizations will work together in the future. The Mars Society would help to plan and proof the Mars missions on longer time scales, so that troubles could be detected much earlier and not be overlooked.
The "Red Mars" event in the evening was a great success. There we met Mr. Schwamborn, who is the organizer of the great space exhibition which will travel from 2001 to 2004 through all great shopping malls in Germany. These malls are normally visited by 15 Mio. people so the exhibition has a potential of being viewed by 15 Mio. visitors! This is 20% of all Germans. We are in talks with potential sponsors who will finance a second Mars Arctic Research Station and a Mars Rover for this exhibition. We are also working on an animation of the Mars Direct Plan in Star Wars quality for this exhibition. At the Red Mars Event (this Event was started after the students read the book "Red Mars" from Kim Stanley Robinson) they explored the possibilities to terraform the Mars. Bob spoke there in front of 320 persons and some press.
Bob Zubrin's visit to Germany was a great success. We are looking forward to his next visit here.
Since his visit here, we have many more TV dates. At the end of April, Prof. Michael Bosch (International Steering Committee) will be on a morning TV show. We will show there and at the ILA 2000 (International Aerospace Exhibition) in Berlin this summer the models of the Mars Habitat that the architects from Munich have built.
On to Mars!
RaimundCheck out the Photo of the Month section to see a picture of the German chapter in action.
Contact: Olafur Patrick Olafsson, opo@hi.is
No report.
Contact: Alin Moss, alinm@hotmail.com
No report.
Contact: Fabrizio Pirondini, pirro@tin.it
No report.
Contact: Onizuka, Michitaka, onizuka@colorado.edu
Contact: Kiosuke Murakawa, murakawa@csp.co.jp
No report.
Contact: Rich Robins, Mars@SpaceProjects.com
No report.
Contact: Arno Wielders, arnoux@strw.leidenuniv.nl
or Arno Wielders, arno@marssociety.nl
Web Site: http://www.marssociety.nl
No report.
Contact: David Maclenna, mac@xtra.co.nz
No report.
Contact: Johan Veerman, jveerman@yahoo.com
No report.
Contact: Kin Enriquez, kin_toy@hotmail.com
No report.
Contact: Piotr Moskal, piotr.moskal@lupus.pl
29.04.2000 we organized our first general assembly at the Space Research Center in Warsaw. During the meeting we discussed several subjects concerning the future projects of MSP. Here are the main points:Our main focus right now is the rover project, as the first infos have to be sent to HQ by 5 of May. It seems we'll be able to meet that requirement. Apart from that we will try to make contact with the Polish publisher of "Entering Space" by Robert Zubrin and propose some common promotional campaign. Also, within a few days "Mission to Mars" is entering movie theaters in Poland, so probably we will try to organize some events. Finally, I'm preparing to travel to London, where a meeting of european chapters will be held in June. I hope it will result in close cooperation between all chapter on this side of the ocean.
- a quick overview of projects that have been already realized
- a list of projects for the year 2K
- a report by Dr. Marek Banaszkiewicz on the status of the Red Rover Goes to Mars contest in Poland. We have ~ 40 contestants for the moment.
- an exhaustive presentation by Krzysztof Lewandowski about our entry in the contest for the pressurized rover. The speech was accompagnied by a slide show and a computer presentation
Best regards, Piotr Moskal
Contact: Gennady Gusev, marssociety@mail.ru
No report.
Contact: Evan James Dembskey, evan@telemessage.co.za
No report.
Contact: Cayetano Santana Gil, csangi@idecnet.com
No report.
Contact: Alexander Hristov, ahristov@psd.es
No report.
Contact: Claes-Gustaf Nordquist, c_g_nordquist@yahoo.com
No report.
Contact: Claude-Alain Roten, claude-alain.roten@igbm.unil.ch
Contact: Gabriel Borruat, gabriel.borruat@igbm.unil.ch
No report.
Contact: Vladymy Shevernytskyy, charity@akcecc.kiev.ua
No report.
Contact: Bo Maxwell, sagan@dircon.co.uk
Web Site: http://www.marssociety.org.uk
Mission to Mars opened to less than enthusiastic responses from UK audiences. The Society had planned to be present at the London West End opening weekend of the film, but the inability of the cinema management to make a decision on this (and finally cancelling on the Thrursday before the film was to open) put paid to this. Instead, a smaller event was held in Sheffield, but the response was somewhat poor (Mission to Mars is competing against the Pokemon film here in the UK).Phillip Dembo, Executive Director of the Society in the UK presented a talk to the Birmingham Astronomical Society, which was well received.
Bo Maxwell, the UK President, was given an impromptu interview (in his kitchen!) by the BBC for a 1/2-hour science programme on Mars to be aired sometime in June. The interview was crammed in by the BBC between filming their own science correspondent at a local studio and going to interview Colin Pillinger of the Beagle 2 project. The interview concentrated on the FARS project, with some coverage of Mars Direct, and the Producers indicated an interest in returning to the Society in the future to develop a more in-depth documentary on our work in the UK.
Peter Loftus, Membership and Resources Director, continued his tour of the UK, visiting local groups and providing advice and support. In April he was in Scotland, and in May he will be in Ireland, helping a new chapter become established there.
Also in April, the Society organised and co-chaired (Philip Dembo, with Andy Nimmo of the Space Settlers) the inaugural meeting of the UK Space Development Council (SDC). The SDC is an umbrella organisation comprising all the major space advocacy groups in the UK. It's purpose is to help identify common goals between the various organisations, and develop the means for co-operative development of political lobbying to encourage the government to commit to more investment in space development and to particularly increase the UK's involvement in international manned and automated space programmes.
The meeting was an enormous success, with an Executive Committee being formed (with a representative - William Marshall - from the Mars Society UK), and further MS-UK representation on the SDC Advisory Panel in the form of Philip Dembo.
ROVER PROJECTS
The MS-UK formed a project team in April to consider the pressurised rover project announced by the Society. Lead by Mike Atkinson, the team has carried out a tremendous amount of research into the rover concept and is currently finalising the initial project proposal / outline to be forwarded to Kuty Micheels by May 5th.The team initiated work with a comprehensive analysis of the original project requirements posted to the US website. This response can be found at:
http://www.marssociety.org.uk/Projects/rover/analysis.htmAt the same time, the Society has re-initiated the MARV (Mars Automated Rover Vehicle) project originally started in 1998, but suspended due to operational problems in 1999. The focus of this project is to develop an automated rover vehicle that can operate in direct support of human missions to Mars. An abstract of the project can be found at:
http://www.marssociety.org.uk/Projects/marv/prjroverabs1.htmThis project is being managed by Nick Cross and Ivan Dale.
WEBSITE
The UK website continues to grow, and is currently undergone a gradual facelift, with a number of improvements in links management, layout, and information content underway. The Home Page was extensively revised and cleaned up in April, and navigation within the website was further streamlined and on-line presentations on the Society and Mars Direct were set-up with links from the Home Page.BROCHURE
To help with the Society's image of a professional organisation in the UK, and to help with our overall visibility, we are producing a special brochure, entitled THE WAY TO MARS and sub-titled An Introduction to the Mars Society UK. Comprising some 12 pages, the brochure includes a glossy cover with a high-quality rendering of an Earth Return Vehicle decending towards the surface of Mars, and information on the Society's international presence, the work of the Society in the UK, an overview of Mars Direct and the FARS project reasons for going to Mars, opportunities for people and organisations to get involved in the Society and a number of informative sidebars. Illustrated throughout, the brochure is due to be completed in May and made available to potential sponsors / project partners.A copy of the brochure will be made available on-line through the UK website.
PLANS FOR MAY
The MS-UK will continue work on the rover projects throughout May, defining a detailed project proposal for the pressurised rover analogue and developing the MARV concept further. Co-operation with other space organisations will continue through the SDC, and further links with organisations involved in Martian exploration will be developed with a visit to the University of Aberyswyth to meet with staff and students there who are developing robot airships for possible deployment on Mars.
You can use the following index to go directly to the Task Force, Committee, or Special Interests Area chapter of your choice. Use your Browser's "Back" button to return to this index.Ares CD-Rom Task Force
E-Commerce
Education
Executive Director
Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station Task Force
Fundraising Task Force
Graphics and Production
Internet Task Force
Marketing
Mars Arctic Life Support System Group
Mars Civilization and Culture
New Mars
Political and Public Outreach
Technical Task Force
Contact: Jim Burk, Task Force lead, jburk@jburk.com
Web Site: Ares CD-Rom Task Force
Task Force email: ares-cdrom@chapters.marssociety.org
I'm told the final touches are being put on Issue #2 by the Imagineering company (who handles post-production and duplication for the task force.) Dr Zubrin wanted to include the entries in the Mars Song contest, and some of them "had to be re-recorded". Issue #2 - "Ares: Learning About Mars" is our Educational outreach issue, and contains materials prepared by the Mars Society's Educational Task Force, and space curriculum designed by Tom Becker (former chair of the Task Force). I'm not clear yet on the exact timeframe or distribution methods, but all Mars Society members should recive this CD-Rom within the next few weeks.I will be sending out copies of the beta version of Issue #3 - "Ares: Life on Mars?" this week. If you would like a copy, please send me your postal mailing address. This is our Astrobiology / Exopalentology issue and includes:
..and much more. Issue 3 will begin post-production as soon as Issue 2 is done by Imagineering.
- "MarsBugs" by Dr David Thomas of Lyon College - an electronic astrobiology newsletter - complete archive from 1994-2000 (hundreds of issues)
- "Life on Mars?" - a MarsNews.com special feature, with links to many Astrobiology sites
- Research papers from Mars Society members, NASA, British Interplanetary Soc, and more.
- "Animating Mars with Bryce 4" - a 3D animation tutorial by Jozef Michalek, Australian chapter
- "Roving Mouse Mars Atlas" - a *phenomenal* clickable Mars atlas with huge feature index
- NASA/Ames Mars Atlas - another clickable atlas (holdover from Issue 2)
- Mars Screensavers from Mars: The Red Planet DVD (holdover from Issue 2)
- Mars Society materials -- slideshow, special bulletins, Founding Declaration, etc
Copies of Issue #1 (the Ares premiere issue) are available for sale by the Puget Sound chapter for $10 retail or $6 for Mars Society chapters / members. We can also arrange for bulk sales at $3 a copy (great fundraiser and good for outreach activities.) Issue #1 contains a foreward by Dr Zubrin, the official Mars Society slide show and script, a movie trailer for the upcoming SimMars game from Maxis (makers of SimCity), chapter one of The Case for Mars, and much more. Issue #1 is PC compatible only, but Issues 2, 3, and future issues will work on all computing platforms (Windows 95/98/NT/2000, Macintosh, and Unix/Linux workstations) Contact us to arrange payment.
Filed by: Jim Burk (jburk@jburk.com), Editor, Ares CD-Rom Task Force
Contact: Tony Santana, TSMarsCo@aol.com
No report.
Contact: Gabriel Rashaid, GRshaid@marsacademy.com
Task force web site: http://www.marsacademy.com/marssoc/
The Education Task Force has redesigned its web site, which now reflects all the new projects and is focused on the upcoming Teacher Workshop at the Mars Society Convention. The web site can be found at http://www.marsacademy.com/marssoc (see link above).A Call for Participation has been issued to members of the Education Task Force who might be interested in helping out in the various initiatives currently being undertaken, like the Mars Curriculum Project, through which the Mars Society is trying to assemble a dynamic and searchable curriculum for teachers to find the project or activity that suits their needs.
Contact: Maggie Zubrin, mzubrin@aol.com
The results of the Rouget de Lisle contest are in! There were approximately 35 entrants in the contest, covering every genre from classic filk to techno-pop to symphonic. A baker's dozen panel of judges, composed of steering committee members and chapter representatives, undertook the difficult task of chosing the winners. We are pleased to announce the following result:Honorable Mention:
Second Home by Leslie Fish
Sands of Mars by Leslie Fish and D. Sanders
My Planet's Child by Cat Faber and Arlene Hills
Wings of Human Knowledge by Cat Faber
Sunrise on Mars by Jonathon SmithFinalists (order to be announced at Toronto!):
To Thee Great Hope by J. Bodie and M. Donoghue
On to Mars by Thomma Grindstaff
Honeymoon on Mars by Steven Hardy
Pioneers of Mars by K. Linsley and L. Landa
The Way to Mars by J. Bunnel and J. HopkinsAll 10 songs will be featured on the next Ares CD-Rom. Be sure to be at the conference banquet this August to hear the winning entry.
Congratulations to the winners and thanks to all who entered and made this such an exciting event.
Maggie Zubrin
Contact: Kurt Micheels, kmicheels@aol.com
No report.
Contact: Kristin Boekhoff, kboekhoff@excite.com
No report.
Contact: Gary Hollingshead, garyah@imagineering-usa.com
No report.
Contact: Marc Boucher, webmaster@marssociety.org
Contact: Harold Miller, peabody@wayback.com
A new web site is under construction for the Internet task force. Several people have come forward to participate. Participants will have a say in what the society does online and can help to make future Internet projects a success.
Contact: Maggie Zubrin, mzubrin@aol.com
No report.
Contact: Dean Calahan, dean@baloney.com
Web Site: http://home.marssociety.org/tech/life-support/
No report.
Contact: Bev Conolly, conollyb@terrigal.net.au
No report.
Contact: Richard Wagner, mailto:campr2@crocker.com
Pulling together articles on the financing of Martian exploration and other ventures. Anyone with a lead to intelligent, interesting articles on the subject, please drop me a line.
Contact: Chris Carberry, ccarberry@masshist.org
No report.
Contact: Stephen Braham, warp@polylab.sfu.ca
Web Site: http://home.marssociety.org/tech/
Our first main project is under way! The New Life Support Project team is analyzing bioregenerative life support technology with the hope of developing a wastewater treatment system that can be used at the Arctic base.
3rd International Mars Society Conference Poster Contest ResultsOn behalf of the Toronto, Canada chapter members, I would like to thank everyone who submitted entries into the Mars Society Conference poster contest. A great deal of time and effort obviously went into each of the creative submissions, and we are extremely grateful for the enthusiastic response to the competition.
The winners of the competition are Scot and Katherine Connor from Oriskany, New York, U.S.A. Their poster submission will be accessible online shortly, in both colour and black and white versions. The Toronto Chapter hopes to also be distributing large, 3 ft x 2 ft colour glossy prints of the poster to interested chapters. If you would like to request some copies, please let us know how many you can realistically post.
Once again, thank you to all who participated, and we hope to see you all at this year's exciting conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada!
All the Best, Darlene Lim
Recommended Reading
For those chapters seeking nonprofit status, check out the book "How to Form a Nonprofit Corporation in All 50 States" by Anthony Mancuso.
This month I've decided to go outside the family of Mars Society web sites to a site that I have found useful and that probably isn't all that well known. I am talking about the web site for the American Geophysical Union . One section of their site is particularly relevant and that is their Science & Society pages. A couple of items of interest that I have found in the Science for Everyone subsection were articles on "Roving for Rocks on the Red Planet: The Mars Pathfinder Mission" and "Mars Mosaic". I will leave it to you to further explore their site.Take me to the American Geophysical Union Science & Society page
Based on the following quote, it wouldn't surprise me that if Mark Twain were alive today, he would be a member of the Mars Society."Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
Mark Twain
To help promote a sense of both community and familiarity, this issue has a new section: the "Photo of the Month".To kick things off, I have two images for you this month. Figure 1 below is a photograph of Dr. Chris McKay and some of the Illinois Mars Society members who were in attendance for his lecture at the Adler Planetarium. See the Schaumburg, Illinois chapter report for additional details.
Figure 1. Dr. Chris McKay (center back in yellow shirt) and members of the Illinois Mars Society chapters at the Adler Planetarium on April 7, 2000
Figure 2 is a photograph of the team that put together the "Red Mars" event in Germany. See the German chapter report for details of this very successful program.
Figure 2. Some of the members of the German Mars Society team that made possible the highly successful visit by Dr. Robert Zubrin. Do you have a photo you want to show off? Well, email it to Jim Plaxco (that's me) and you may just see it here in the next issue of the Red Planet Satellite Report. Please, no photos larger than 40K. Please provide a complete description of the photo provided and the date on which the photo was taken.
This section gives members of the Mars Society the opportunity to comment on the items contained in the Red Planet Satellite Report and related issues. For instructions on making a submission, please see the section of this report titled "Submission Guidelines."Greens4Mars
Contact: Dan Hussain (daniarh@yahoo.com)
0 E-List: Greens4Mars@egroups.comAddress to Fellow Mars Society Members:
"It's a love of this world that allows us to imagine creating another one." Sam Burbank in response to my post on Earth Day
This past April 22, 2000 was Earth Day (http://www.earthday.net), the 30th Earth Day since the first Earth Day in 1970 was organized by former Senator Gaylord Nelson. There was an estimated 500 million people who participated in Earth Day 2000 around the globe. Several thousand people came from all over the country to Washington, D.C. to take part in the Earth Day Political Rally. It was quite a remarkable sight to see all those people demonstrating for the future of Earth in front of the Nation's Capital Building. There were many speakers (politicians, environmentalists, political activists, etc.) and live music and entertainment.
Seeing such an outpouring of popular political support for the environment was mind-boggling and heart-throbbing. And knowing that only thirty years ago, the environment was not even a minor political issue. Seeing the environment in such a central stage in today's politics is a testament to the power of a truly egalitarian people's movement. It is only through a similarly broad appeal that the Mars Society can hope to attract enough popular support to its cause to succeed on the political stage. The Mars Society must begin to reach out to people not already inspired to go to space; it must begin to reach out to the average American with little or no background in science. Noting the strong influence and enthusiasm of the environmental movement, the Mars Society can benefit enormously by reaching out and recruiting environmentally-conscious people.
In order to form a strong partnership with environmental groups, the Mars Society needs to make its position absolutely clear on the environment. The Mars Society must understand and appreciate the importance of the environment on our lives, and must support every effort for an environmentally-sound Mars mission.
In order to further investigate these possibilities, I have launched a new Taskforce called Greens4Mars. The taskforce will initially consist of a group of people actively interested in this arena who would participate in an e-list discussion group on this issue. A formal meeting of interested members at the Third International Mars Society Convention would follow in August. During the meeting, a discussion will take place on how to better engage people's environmental instincts. Perhaps an invitation to several environmental leaders would bring first-hand experience to the table.
If you would like to join this taskforce, please send your full name, email address, and affiliation (separated by white space on a single line in your message) to daniarh@yahoo.com.
Or you can join the discussion list directly by sending email to greens4mars-subscribe@egroups. com
Or by visiting the website http://www.egroups.com/group/ greens4mars/.
Plans are currently underway to establish an official website at www.greens4mars.org, which would act as a source of information on any research done by the Taskforce and as a communication site for interested members. We are awaiting official endorsement by the International Mars Society.
For more information, feel free to email me at daniarh@yahoo.com.
Your fellow Earthling-yearning-to-go-to-Mars,
Dan Hussain, Chapter Contact, Mars Society of Pittsburgh
Submissions that are relevant to the activities of the Mars Society are actively sought. Suggested submissions include reviews of chapter activities, event announcements, chapter election results, "how-to" articles that would serve as a source of ideas for other chapters, etc.You may make your submission as either a plain ASCII text file or you may use basic HTML elements to provide additional formatting. If you would like to use HTML for formatting your submissions, please don't use the font or any other tag that alters the size and color of the textual submission. This is to insure a consistent look and feel across all received submissions. Feel free to use the bold, italic, list and table elements. You may also include links to articles on your chapter's web site in your submission.
The Red Planet Satellite Report will be published by the 7th of each month. Therefore, the deadline for submissions will be the last day of the month.
To make a submission, send email to Jim Plaxco with a subject heading of RPSR Submission. Please note on the first line of your submission the section of the report in which your article is to be included.
For questions, comments or suggestions regarding the Red Planet Satellite Report please contact Jim Plaxco.
The Red Planet Satellite Report is a publication of the Mars Society Chapter's Council, copyright 2000. All Rights Reserved.
