Capital Area Chapter contacts:

Joe Webster Outreach Coordinator (703) 799-2493

Eric Choi  Assistant for Outreach (301) 603-8014

At 12:56:36 a.m. EDT (4:56:36 GMT) today a heavy lift Proton rocket,
built by the Krunichev State Research and Production Center in Moscow,
successfully launched the critical Service Module for the International
Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

According to Ron Hess, Chairperson of the National Capital Area
Chapter of the Mars Society, "We applaud both the Russian Space Agency and
NASA for successfully completing this launch, which is a major milestone
towards the operational status of the ISS.  An operational ISS will finally
clear the way for a truly outward looking and exploratory U.S. and
international space program.  The focus of such a program should be the
human exploration of Mars."

Attorney Joe Webster, Outreach Coordinator for the Chapter, added:
"Recent innovations, such as using the Martian atmosphere to produce fuel
and oxygen (rather than transporting such items from earth), have reduced
the estimated cost of such a mission from over $400 billion to around $30
billion."

Founded in August 1998, the Mars Society is a non-profit organization
with over 3,000 members in 30 countries.  Its purpose is to further the
goal of the exploration of the Red Planet via both public and
political outreach, as well as private research.  For more information,
visit the Mars Society website at http://www.marssociety.org.

The Capitol Area Chapter endeavors to use its proximity to the seat of
government to foster support for these goals at both the local and national
levels.  For more information, please visit the Chapter's website at
http://chapters.marssociety.org/usa/dc/.  The local chapter also holds
meetings on the last Tuesday of every month at the Challenger Center for
Space Sciences Education, 1250 N. Pitt Street, in Old Town Alexandria.  The
public is welcome to attend the meetings, and admission is free.

### END ###