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Mars Society

January 01, 1970

The Mars Society is a nonprofit organization that advocates for human exploration and colonization of Mars. It was founded by Robert Zubrin in 1998 and its principles are based on Zubrin's Mars Direct philosophy, which aims to make human missions to Mars as feasible as possible. The Mars Society generates interest in the Mars program by garnering support from the public and through lobbying. Many current and former Mars Society members are influential in the wider spaceflight community, such as Buzz Aldrin and Elon Musk.

The Mars Society
Formation13 August 1998
(25 years ago) (1998-08-13)
FounderRobert Zubrin
31-1585646
Legal statusNonprofit organization, 501(c)(3) eligible
FocusAdvocacy for Mars exploration and colonization
Region
Worldwide, with a focus in the United States
Websitewww.marssociety.org

Since its founding, the Mars Society has organized events and research activities. It has hosted its annual International Mars Society Convention and operated research projects such as the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station and the Mars Desert Research Station, both using Mars analog habitats. Both of the stations are placed in remote locations for research. Crew members perform simulated extravehicular activities, carry out research assignments and reside at the station on strictly rationed supplies. The organization also hosts a college robotics competition in Utah called the University Rover Challenge.

Structure edit

The Mars Society is a 501(c)(3)-eligible nonprofit organization that is funded by donations[1] and operated by volunteers.[2] Membership to the Mars Society is available to all on payment of a small fee.[3]: xvi  The society's aims are garnering public support for human Mars missions, lobbying government and space agencies, and verifying mission proposals via Mars analog habitats.[3]: xv–xvi [4]: 352 [TMS 1] These goals were set out in the Founding Declaration of the Mars Society.[4]: 352 

The Mars Society's founder and current president is Robert Zubrin. Notable current and former members of the organization include Buzz Aldrin,[5] Elon Musk,[6]: 99–100  Gregory Benford[5] and James Cameron.[7][4]: 347  The society is a member of the Alliance for Space Development[8] and has chapters in Australia, Canada, Europe, Japan, and many other countries.[3]: xv–xvi  Since its foundation in 1998, the society organizes the annual International Mars Society Convention, with presentations primarily about Mars exploration and colonization.[9]: 273 

In the 2019 filing to the Internal Revenue Service, the Mars Society reported to receive around US$400,000 in donations per year. Some noteworthy expenses include the annual Mars Society convention (US$58,800), the Mars Desert Research Station (US$200,000), and the University Rover Challenge (US$46,500). The Mars Society's Taxpayer Identification Number is 31-1585646.[10]

Philosophy and propositions edit

Video lecture from Robert Zubrin about Mars Direct and critiques on NASA's human Mars mission proposals, as part of Ames Research Center's 75th-anniversary lecture series

Many of the Mars Society's members believe that a human mission to Mars is achievable within a decade (as laid out in Zubrin's Mars Direct)[11] and such a mission would lay the foundation for the colonization of Mars.[12]: 10–11  The Mars Direct philosophy has permeated through the society's lobbying efforts. During testimony to the 2009 Augustine Commission, a panel set up by the Obama administration to outline the future of the U.S. space program, Zubrin advocated initiating a lean human Mars program in a similar manner to Mars Direct. The committee was indifferent to the testimony; in the final report, the commission concluded that a human Mars mission in general would "demand decades of investment and carry considerable safety risk to humans".[13]

In 2005, Robert Markley, a science fiction researcher, pointed out that Zubrin used his president of the Mars Society position to espouse his own views on how human missions to Mars should be carried out. To make the Mars Direct plan appealing to the American public, he compared Mars to the Great American Frontier and the colonization of Mars as a way to resolve social stagnation and "Hobbesian despair" within Earth. Mars would be a way to give birth to an ideal society. In effect, Markley commented, Zubrin has created an "interplanetary vision of manifest destiny". Most members of the Mars Society agreed with the less extreme version of Zubrin's ideal, in that colonizing Mars is critical for preventing a dystopian future for humankind.[4]: 350–353 

Oliver Morton commented in 2003 that the Mars Society is a fundamentally "utopian and escapist organization". He observed that many Mars Society convention participants were unhappy with government space programs. As a consequence, they favored funding alternatives that are often impractical, such as sponsorship deals, private philanthropy, and Martian bonds (on the basis of future resources and profits).[9]: 267–272, 309–311  Markley commented in 2005 that the Mars Society is somewhat similar to the Royal Society at its founding in the 16th century: "as much of a social club of enthusiasts as a professional scientific organization",[4]: 353–354  with influences from science fiction.[4]: 23  In a way, he continued, the Mars Direct plan provided a grand vision for future Martian endeavors to follow and the Mars Society is a platform for exploring the implications of Mars colonization.[4]: 353–354 

Background and founding edit

The forerunner of the Mars Society was a small network of space enthusiasts colloquially known as the Mars Underground, which emerged around 1978. The members of this network were frustrated by the U.S. administration's lack of attention to Mars exploration.[14]: 25  Most members belonging to the group were researchers and graduate students, which included Chris McKay, Penelope Boston, Tom Meyer, Carol Stoker, and Carter Emmart. This is part of the reason why some Mars Society members held environmentalism and counterculture ideals.[4]: 351  In April 1981, the Mars Underground organized the first Case for Mars convention about Mars exploration at the University of Colorado. The Case for Mars conventions were held every three years[14]: 25–27  until the sixth and final one in 1996.[15]

At the now-defunct aerospace company Martin Marietta, Robert Zubrin – who had attended the third Case for Mars convention in 1987 – and engineer David Baker developed the human Mars mission plan, titled Mars Direct.[9]: 260  They published their plan for NASA and the public to review in early 1990.[16] The core tenet of the Mars Direct plan is to use existing technologies and eliminate the need for dangerous space rendezvous or an expensive space station. A modified Mars Direct plan (called NASA Design Reference Mission 3.0) was budgeted by NASA at US$20 billion;[14]: 117  less than one-twentieth the cost[14]: 117  of the Mars mission plan in NASA's Space Exploration Initiative (US$250–500 billion).[15]

In 1996, Zubrin published The Case For Mars, the same year as the last Case for Mars convention took place.[17] The book criticized prior Mars exploration mission proposals for being too costly and complicated, proposed an alternative mission plan based on the Mars Direct plan, gave philosophical arguments for it and rebutted criticisms of the plan.[18]

The Mars Society was founded by Zubrin on 13 August 1998[TMS 2] during the Mars Society's first convention in Boulder, Colorado,[17] the same place where the first Case for Mars convention took place 17 years earlier.[9]: 259–260  With a duration of four days, the convention was attended by 750 persons[17] and can be seen as a successor to the prior Case for Mars conventions.[14]: 27  Some of those invited were from the Mars Underground or had written to Zubrin about The Case For Mars.[17] The Mars Society's founding convention in August 1998 emphasized its focus on the Mars Direct plan and efforts of lobbying the government,[17] holding that there was no technical reason that would prevent a human mission to Mars within a decade.[19] The first convention saw the signing of the Founding Declaration of the Mars Society which outlined primary goals for the society, amidst rifts between Mars Society members' Martian ideals.[4]: 352 

On the second day of the convention, there was an intense debate about the ethics of Mars terraforming, which science writer Oliver Morton described as 'rancorous'. The moderator of the debate is Chris McKay. On one side of the debate is Zubrin and a few other people, who championed that terraforming is the end goal of Mars colonization. On the other side of the debate, the audience reminded them that for life on Mars, the act of terraforming will be similar to that of Native American genocide.[9]: 309–311  The terms 'Lebensraum' and 'manifest destiny' used by the Zubrin side were prohibited in later conventions.[9]: 311  The next few conventions organized additional debates between proponents of nuclear power/terraforming and environmentalists.[4]: 352 

Past activities edit

 
Musk giving details about Falcon 9 and Dragon spacecraft at the 2006 Mars Society convention

In mid-2001, the Mars Society received a US$5,000 check from Elon Musk at a fundraiser event.[6]: 99–100  After briefly researching Mars concepts and missions, Musk joined the Mars Society's board of directors and gave it US$100,000.[6]: 112  In August 2001, Musk left the Mars Society after a meeting with its members and established a temporary foundation for his publicity projects,[20] despite pleas for collaboration from Zubrin.[21] In a public presentation at the 4th Mars Society convention, Musk stated that the Mars Society might have a purpose in his efforts.[21] By April 2002, Musk had abandoned the temporary foundation entirely; instead, he founded SpaceX to build a low-cost rocket and invited aerospace engineers whom he had met at Mars Society-sponsored trips.[6]: 112  In the following years, Musk kept in contact with the Mars Society, as is evident in his presentation of the Falcon 1 rocket in 2008,[22] his acceptance of the Mars Pioneer Award from the society in 2012[TMS 3] and his presentation at the society's 2020 convention.[23]

After the first convention, the Mars Society decided to construct a Mars analog facility named Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS) on Devon Island, Nunavut, Canada. The FMARS is the second Mars analog facility in the world; the first one is the Haughton–Mars Project. Some of FMARS's construction cost was paid by the Mars Society and the Haughton–Mars Project team.[24]: 74–75  Other funding came from commercial sponsorship, such as with the Discovery Channel.[25] FMARS was first occupied during a test run in July and August 2000.[26]: 98–99  It began the first simulated mission around 2001.[25] The money donated by Elon Musk was spent on the next Mars analog habitat, called the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS).[27] In December 2001,[24]: 74–75  the habitat's construction near Hanksville, Utah,[28]: 4  was completed.[24]: 74–75 

From 2001 to 2005, Mars mission simulations in FMARS were around 2–8 weeks long and consisted of ten rotated crews. The first four-month-long mock mission took place in 2007, which revealed cultural conflicts and inadequate coping strategies. Shorter missions were carried out in 2009 and 2013, before another long-duration mission called Mars 160 was conducted in 2017, in collaboration with the MDRS. The crew stayed in MDRS for eighty days before being transferred to FMARS, rotating the crew every month.[26]: 99, 101  As of April 2020, the MDRS had hosted nineteen field seasons (one per year) totaling 236 crews, with each crew consisting of six or seven members.[26]: 101 

The society also formulated plans to launch space-based experiments, which never materialized. In 2001, after a discussion between Zubrin, Musk and the board members, the Mars Society announced the Translife Mission, later renamed to the Mars Gravity Biosatellite.[6]: 99–100  The mission aimed to study the effect of Martian-level gravity on mice, with satellite construction supported by students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Georgia Tech.[TMS 4] In August 2008, the Mars Society announced the project TEMPO3 after a preliminary selection of proposals. TEMPO3 was conceived as a system of two CubeSats attached to a tether and spun with carbon dioxide-powered thrusters, aimed to demonstrate rotational artificial gravity system in space.[TMS 5] Neither of these proposals was built: the Mars Gravity Biosatellite was canceled in June 2009 due to a lack of funding[TMS 4] and no further development of TEMPO3 has been reported since the initial proposal.

At the Mars Society's 2015 convention, a debate was organized between two representatives of Mars One (CEO Bas Lansdorp and Barry Finger) and two researchers from MIT (Sydney Do and Andrew Owens).[29] Mars One, a now-defunct non-profit organization founded in 2011, aimed to establish a human settlement on Mars through a one-way mission called Mars to Stay. The MIT researchers criticized the plan as infeasible and suicidal.[30] According to Dwayne A. Day from The Space Review, the MIT team won the debate by making specific and realistic arguments. He also noted that the popularity of Mars One had dwarfed that of the Mars Society, stating that the perceived absurdness of Mars One may potentially be detrimental to the Mars Society's reputation.[29]

In 2021, around a week before the first crewed New Shepard mission, Blue Origin donated US$1 million to the Mars Society and 18 other space-related organization. The donation money came from a seat auction in that New Shepard flight. The donation vastly exceeded the Mars Society annual revenue, which was reported to be less than $400,000 in a filing with the Internal Revenue Service.[31]

Current projects edit

 
Mars Desert Research Station, with a central habitat, rover hangar, dome, greenhouse and an observatory.

The Mars Society's premier project is the Mars Analog Research Station Program. The program aims to further the understanding of Mars missions' technical and human factors via its two Mars analog habitats: the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS) and the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS).[32] The FMARS is located on Devon Island in Canada and near the Haughton impact crater,[26]: 98, 101  above the 75th parallel north where the island is uninhabited and barren. The MDRS is located near Hanksville, Utah, where the habitat is isolated from civilization. Both stations' locations are chosen for the landscape similarities with Mars.[28]: 4  Because these stations are meant for research, both FMARS and MDRS are closed to public visits.[19] These stations are staffed by volunteers with degrees in planetary science, geology, and engineering.[4]: 353 

The Mars Society has plans to build additional analog stations. The Euro-MARS, operated by the Mars Society's European chapter, was intended to have three decks and more extensive facilities. However, during transport from the United Kingdom to the deploying location at Krafla, Iceland, the Euro-MARS sustained irreparable damage. It was reported in 2017 that Euro-MARS was back at the planning phase, but no further updates about the station are available.[33]: 5–6  The Mars Society is also planning to build another Mars analog station in Arkaroola, Australia, as of October 2022.[TMS 6] The station would replicate a spacecraft launching directly from the Earth's surface, featuring a mock propulsion module, heat shield and landing engines.[33]: 5–6 

 
A challenge in the University Rover Challenge where rovers have to pour fuel into a generator

As well as research, the Mars Society organizes the Rover Challenge Series, a group of annual university competitions for making mock Martian rovers. Around May and June each year, the three-day University Rover Challenge takes place in Utah's desert near the MDRS where teams compete in exploration tasks. The rover's operators must only use sensor data for navigation, similar to actual Martian rovers. Similar regional competitions that belong to the Rover Challenge Series include the European Rover Challenge, the Canadian International Rover Challenge and the Indian Rover Challenge.[34]: 63–72 

MarsVR Project is a virtual reality program that simulates MDRS and terrain one square mile around the base. The program was made in collaboration with a local virtual reality company.[35] MarsVR is used to train MDRS's crews by simulating the use of spacesuits, airlocks, rovers and activities such as cooking. The software can also simulate playing sports on Mars such as soccer and mountaineering.[35] The exploration portion of MarsVR is free to download on Steam, however, the training part has an attached cost for the public.[36]

In 2023, the Mars Society established the non-profit Mars Technology Institute and the corresponding C corporation Mars Technology Lab to research solutions for labor, agriculture, and energy problems in the colonization of Mars. The Institute plans to outsource research to universities before building its own campus.[37]

See also edit

References edit

Primary sources edit

  1. ^ "About the Mars Society". Mars Society. from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  2. ^ The Mars Society members (1999). Zubrin, Robert M.; Zubrin, Maggie (eds.). Proceedings of the Founding Convention of the Mars Society: held August 13–16, 1998, Boulder, Colorado. Univelt. Citation at the title. ISBN 9780912183121. OCLC 47665501.
  3. ^ Elon Musk "Mars Pioneer Award" Acceptance Speech – 15th Annual International Mars Society Convention (Videotape). The Mars Society. 10 August 2012. from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  4. ^ a b Cowing, Keith (24 June 2009). "The Mars Gravity Biosatellite Program Is Closing Down". SpaceRef. from the original on 1 April 2024. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  5. ^ Hill, Tom; Kirk, Alex (25 August 2008). "The Space Review: TEMPO^3: the Mars Society's newest project". The Space Review. from the original on 20 November 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  6. ^ Stoltz, Michael (29 October 2022). "Building a Mars Analog "Down Under"". The Mars Society. from the original on 31 December 2022. Retrieved 31 December 2022.

Other sources edit

  1. ^ Bichell, Rae Ellen (6 July 2017). "To Prepare For Mars Settlement, Simulated Missions Explore Utah's Desert". NPR. from the original on 31 December 2022. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  2. ^ McGrath, Dianne (9 April 2020). "What a simulated Mars mission taught me about food waste". The Conversation. from the original on 1 January 2023. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  3. ^ a b c Pletser, Vladimir (2018). On To Mars!: Chronicles of Martian Simulations. Springer Nature. Bibcode:2018otm..book.....P. doi:10.1007/978-981-10-7030-3. ISBN 978-981-10-7030-3. from the original on 31 December 2022. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Markley, Robert (2005). Dying Planet: Mars in Science and the Imagination. Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-3600-6.
  5. ^ a b Goodyear, Dana (19 October 2009). "Man of Extremes". The New Yorker. from the original on 11 July 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d e Vance, Ashlee (2015). Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-230123-9. OCLC 881436803.
  7. ^ Michaud, Jon (8 March 2012). . The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 16 December 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  8. ^ Foust, Jeff (26 February 2015). "New Alliance to Promote Space Development and Settlement". SpaceNews. from the original on 19 July 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Morton, Oliver (2003). Mapping Mars: Science, Imagination, and the Birth of a World. Picador. ISBN 978-0312422615.
  10. ^ Roberts, Brandon; Suozzo, Andres; Glassford, Alec; Ngu, Ash (27 August 2019). "Mars Society Inc, Full Filing - Nonprofit Explorer". ProPublica. p. 1-2. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  11. ^ Blakeslee, Sandra (18 August 1998). "Society Organizes to Make a Case for Humans on Mars". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  12. ^ Rapp, Donald (2016). Human Missions to Mars: Enabling Technologies for Exploring the Red Planet (2nd ed.). Springer Science+Business Media. ISBN 978-3-319-22249-3. OCLC 927404673.
  13. ^ Benson, Eric; Nobel, Justin (9 January 2010). "Mars or Bust". Guernica. from the original on 2 January 2023. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  14. ^ a b c d e Hogan, Thor (May 2007). (PDF). NASA (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 June 2009. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  15. ^ a b S. F. Portree, David (March 2000). "The Road to Mars..." Air & Space/Smithsonian. from the original on 20 January 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  16. ^ Portree, David S. F. (15 April 2013). "Mars Direct: Humans to Mars in 1999! (1990)". Wired. from the original on 11 February 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  17. ^ a b c d e Blakeslee, Sandra (18 August 1998). "Society Organizes to Make a Case for Humans on Mars". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  18. ^ Spitzmiller, Ted (1 November 2007). "Book Review: The Case for Mars". National Space Society. from the original on 1 January 2023. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  19. ^ a b Conroy, J Oliver (17 February 2022). "Life on 'Mars': the strangers pretending to colonize the planet – in Utah". The Guardian. from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  20. ^ McKnight, John Carter (25 September 2001). "MarsNow 1.9 Profile: Elon Musk, Life to Mars Foundation". SpaceRef. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  21. ^ a b Cowing, Keith (30 August 2001). "Millionaires and billionaires: the secret to sending humans to Mars?". SpaceRef. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  22. ^ Foust, Jeff (8 September 2008). "Looking (far) ahead". The Space Review. from the original on 3 January 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  23. ^ Mack, Eric (16 October 2020). "Elon Musk will share his latest moon and Mars plans with all Earthlings today". CNET. from the original on 1 April 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  24. ^ a b c Bishop, Sheryl L. (2011). "From Earth Analogs to Space: Getting There from Here". In Vakoch, Douglas A. (ed.). Psychology of Space Exploration (PDF). NASA. pp. 47–77. ISBN 978-0-16-088358-3. (PDF) from the original on 7 August 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  25. ^ a b Hall, James (8 March 2002). "Finding Mars on Earth". Science. from the original on 19 July 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  26. ^ a b c d Häuplik-Meusburger, Sandra; Bishop, Sheryl; O’Leary, Beth (2021). Vakoch, Douglas A. (ed.). Space Habitats and Habitability: Designing for Isolated and Confined Environments on Earth and in Space (1st ed.). Springer Science+Business Media. ISBN 978-3030697396.
  27. ^ Messeri, Lisa (9 September 2016). Placing Outer Space: An Earthly Ethnography of Other Worlds. Duke University Press. p. 200, note 19. ISBN 978-0-8223-6187-9. OCLC 926821450.
  28. ^ a b Cusack, Stacy L. (1 January 2010). Observations of Crew Dynamics during Mars Analog Simulations (PDF). NASA Project Management Challenge 2010. (PDF) from the original on 18 July 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2022 – via NASA Technical Reports Server.
  29. ^ a b Day, Dwayne (17 August 2015). "Red planet rumble". The Space Review. from the original on 12 June 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  30. ^ Grush, Loren (18 August 2015). "Mars One debates MIT: CEO Bas Lansdorp still doesn't have a plan to reach the planet". The Verge. from the original on 2 January 2023. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  31. ^ Foust, Jeff (15 July 2021). "Blue Origin donates New Shepard auction proceeds to space nonprofit groups". SpaceNews. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  32. ^ Weinersmith, Kelly; Weinersmith, Zach (27 December 2023). "The Beautiful Desolation of Life on Mars — On Earth". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 27 December 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  33. ^ a b Vargas-Cuentas, Natalia I.; Roman-Gonzalez, Avid (June 2017). The 'Salar de Uyuni' as a simulated Mars base habitat in South America. Global Space Exploration Conference. from the original on 22 July 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2022 – via HAL (open archive).
  34. ^ Wieczorek, Luiza; Piech, Wiktor; Cybulski, Bartłomiej; Kujawiński, Mateusz; Węgierska, Agnieszka (30 December 2018). "Participation in international robotics competitions as a new form of student travel". Turyzm (Tourism). 28 (2): 63–72. doi:10.2478/tour-2018-0016. hdl:11089/27873. ISSN 2080-6922. from the original on 3 January 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  35. ^ a b Murphy, Jen (1 July 2022). "Why Sports in Space Could Be the Next Big Thing". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. from the original on 18 July 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  36. ^ Rayome, Alison DeNisco (3 March 2020). "The future of Mars colonization begins with VR and video games". CNET. from the original on 24 June 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  37. ^ Boyle, Alan (7 September 2023). "Mars Society unveils its plan to establish technology institute, perhaps in Seattle". GeekWire. from the original on 19 November 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.

External links edit

  • The Mars Society's official website
  • Founding Declaration of the Mars Society – available on the Mars Society's website
  • The Mars Society on YouTube – collection of archived presentations and promotional materials

January 01, 1970
mars, society, nonprofit, organization, that, advocates, human, exploration, colonization, mars, founded, robert, zubrin, 1998, principles, based, zubrin, mars, direct, philosophy, which, aims, make, human, missions, mars, feasible, possible, generates, intere. The Mars Society is a nonprofit organization that advocates for human exploration and colonization of Mars It was founded by Robert Zubrin in 1998 and its principles are based on Zubrin s Mars Direct philosophy which aims to make human missions to Mars as feasible as possible The Mars Society generates interest in the Mars program by garnering support from the public and through lobbying Many current and former Mars Society members are influential in the wider spaceflight community such as Buzz Aldrin and Elon Musk The Mars SocietyFormation13 August 1998 25 years ago 1998 08 13 FounderRobert ZubrinTax ID no 31 1585646Legal statusNonprofit organization 501 c 3 eligibleFocusAdvocacy for Mars exploration and colonizationRegionWorldwide with a focus in the United StatesWebsitewww wbr marssociety wbr org Since its founding the Mars Society has organized events and research activities It has hosted its annual International Mars Society Convention and operated research projects such as the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station and the Mars Desert Research Station both using Mars analog habitats Both of the stations are placed in remote locations for research Crew members perform simulated extravehicular activities carry out research assignments and reside at the station on strictly rationed supplies The organization also hosts a college robotics competition in Utah called the University Rover Challenge Contents 1 Structure 2 Philosophy and propositions 3 Background and founding 4 Past activities 5 Current projects 6 See also 7 References 7 1 Primary sources 7 2 Other sources 8 External linksStructure editThe Mars Society is a 501 c 3 eligible nonprofit organization that is funded by donations 1 and operated by volunteers 2 Membership to the Mars Society is available to all on payment of a small fee 3 xvi The society s aims are garnering public support for human Mars missions lobbying government and space agencies and verifying mission proposals via Mars analog habitats 3 xv xvi 4 352 TMS 1 These goals were set out in the Founding Declaration of the Mars Society 4 352 The Mars Society s founder and current president is Robert Zubrin Notable current and former members of the organization include Buzz Aldrin 5 Elon Musk 6 99 100 Gregory Benford 5 and James Cameron 7 4 347 The society is a member of the Alliance for Space Development 8 and has chapters in Australia Canada Europe Japan and many other countries 3 xv xvi Since its foundation in 1998 the society organizes the annual International Mars Society Convention with presentations primarily about Mars exploration and colonization 9 273 In the 2019 filing to the Internal Revenue Service the Mars Society reported to receive around US 400 000 in donations per year Some noteworthy expenses include the annual Mars Society convention US 58 800 the Mars Desert Research Station US 200 000 and the University Rover Challenge US 46 500 The Mars Society s Taxpayer Identification Number is 31 1585646 10 Philosophy and propositions edit source source source source source source source track Video lecture from Robert Zubrin about Mars Direct and critiques on NASA s human Mars mission proposals as part of Ames Research Center s 75th anniversary lecture series Many of the Mars Society s members believe that a human mission to Mars is achievable within a decade as laid out in Zubrin s Mars Direct 11 and such a mission would lay the foundation for the colonization of Mars 12 10 11 The Mars Direct philosophy has permeated through the society s lobbying efforts During testimony to the 2009 Augustine Commission a panel set up by the Obama administration to outline the future of the U S space program Zubrin advocated initiating a lean human Mars program in a similar manner to Mars Direct The committee was indifferent to the testimony in the final report the commission concluded that a human Mars mission in general would demand decades of investment and carry considerable safety risk to humans 13 In 2005 Robert Markley a science fiction researcher pointed out that Zubrin used his president of the Mars Society position to espouse his own views on how human missions to Mars should be carried out To make the Mars Direct plan appealing to the American public he compared Mars to the Great American Frontier and the colonization of Mars as a way to resolve social stagnation and Hobbesian despair within Earth Mars would be a way to give birth to an ideal society In effect Markley commented Zubrin has created an interplanetary vision of manifest destiny Most members of the Mars Society agreed with the less extreme version of Zubrin s ideal in that colonizing Mars is critical for preventing a dystopian future for humankind 4 350 353 Oliver Morton commented in 2003 that the Mars Society is a fundamentally utopian and escapist organization He observed that many Mars Society convention participants were unhappy with government space programs As a consequence they favored funding alternatives that are often impractical such as sponsorship deals private philanthropy and Martian bonds on the basis of future resources and profits 9 267 272 309 311 Markley commented in 2005 that the Mars Society is somewhat similar to the Royal Society at its founding in the 16th century as much of a social club of enthusiasts as a professional scientific organization 4 353 354 with influences from science fiction 4 23 In a way he continued the Mars Direct plan provided a grand vision for future Martian endeavors to follow and the Mars Society is a platform for exploring the implications of Mars colonization 4 353 354 Background and founding editThe forerunner of the Mars Society was a small network of space enthusiasts colloquially known as the Mars Underground which emerged around 1978 The members of this network were frustrated by the U S administration s lack of attention to Mars exploration 14 25 Most members belonging to the group were researchers and graduate students which included Chris McKay Penelope Boston Tom Meyer Carol Stoker and Carter Emmart This is part of the reason why some Mars Society members held environmentalism and counterculture ideals 4 351 In April 1981 the Mars Underground organized the first Case for Mars convention about Mars exploration at the University of Colorado The Case for Mars conventions were held every three years 14 25 27 until the sixth and final one in 1996 15 At the now defunct aerospace company Martin Marietta Robert Zubrin who had attended the third Case for Mars convention in 1987 and engineer David Baker developed the human Mars mission plan titled Mars Direct 9 260 They published their plan for NASA and the public to review in early 1990 16 The core tenet of the Mars Direct plan is to use existing technologies and eliminate the need for dangerous space rendezvous or an expensive space station A modified Mars Direct plan called NASA Design Reference Mission 3 0 was budgeted by NASA at US 20 billion 14 117 less than one twentieth the cost 14 117 of the Mars mission plan in NASA s Space Exploration Initiative US 250 500 billion 15 In 1996 Zubrin published The Case For Mars the same year as the last Case for Mars convention took place 17 The book criticized prior Mars exploration mission proposals for being too costly and complicated proposed an alternative mission plan based on the Mars Direct plan gave philosophical arguments for it and rebutted criticisms of the plan 18 The Mars Society was founded by Zubrin on 13 August 1998 TMS 2 during the Mars Society s first convention in Boulder Colorado 17 the same place where the first Case for Mars convention took place 17 years earlier 9 259 260 With a duration of four days the convention was attended by 750 persons 17 and can be seen as a successor to the prior Case for Mars conventions 14 27 Some of those invited were from the Mars Underground or had written to Zubrin about The Case For Mars 17 The Mars Society s founding convention in August 1998 emphasized its focus on the Mars Direct plan and efforts of lobbying the government 17 holding that there was no technical reason that would prevent a human mission to Mars within a decade 19 The first convention saw the signing of the Founding Declaration of the Mars Society which outlined primary goals for the society amidst rifts between Mars Society members Martian ideals 4 352 On the second day of the convention there was an intense debate about the ethics of Mars terraforming which science writer Oliver Morton described as rancorous The moderator of the debate is Chris McKay On one side of the debate is Zubrin and a few other people who championed that terraforming is the end goal of Mars colonization On the other side of the debate the audience reminded them that for life on Mars the act of terraforming will be similar to that of Native American genocide 9 309 311 The terms Lebensraum and manifest destiny used by the Zubrin side were prohibited in later conventions 9 311 The next few conventions organized additional debates between proponents of nuclear power terraforming and environmentalists 4 352 Past activities edit nbsp Musk giving details about Falcon 9 and Dragon spacecraft at the 2006 Mars Society convention In mid 2001 the Mars Society received a US 5 000 check from Elon Musk at a fundraiser event 6 99 100 After briefly researching Mars concepts and missions Musk joined the Mars Society s board of directors and gave it US 100 000 6 112 In August 2001 Musk left the Mars Society after a meeting with its members and established a temporary foundation for his publicity projects 20 despite pleas for collaboration from Zubrin 21 In a public presentation at the 4th Mars Society convention Musk stated that the Mars Society might have a purpose in his efforts 21 By April 2002 Musk had abandoned the temporary foundation entirely instead he founded SpaceX to build a low cost rocket and invited aerospace engineers whom he had met at Mars Society sponsored trips 6 112 In the following years Musk kept in contact with the Mars Society as is evident in his presentation of the Falcon 1 rocket in 2008 22 his acceptance of the Mars Pioneer Award from the society in 2012 TMS 3 and his presentation at the society s 2020 convention 23 After the first convention the Mars Society decided to construct a Mars analog facility named Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station FMARS on Devon Island Nunavut Canada The FMARS is the second Mars analog facility in the world the first one is the Haughton Mars Project Some of FMARS s construction cost was paid by the Mars Society and the Haughton Mars Project team 24 74 75 Other funding came from commercial sponsorship such as with the Discovery Channel 25 FMARS was first occupied during a test run in July and August 2000 26 98 99 It began the first simulated mission around 2001 25 The money donated by Elon Musk was spent on the next Mars analog habitat called the Mars Desert Research Station MDRS 27 In December 2001 24 74 75 the habitat s construction near Hanksville Utah 28 4 was completed 24 74 75 From 2001 to 2005 Mars mission simulations in FMARS were around 2 8 weeks long and consisted of ten rotated crews The first four month long mock mission took place in 2007 which revealed cultural conflicts and inadequate coping strategies Shorter missions were carried out in 2009 and 2013 before another long duration mission called Mars 160 was conducted in 2017 in collaboration with the MDRS The crew stayed in MDRS for eighty days before being transferred to FMARS rotating the crew every month 26 99 101 As of April 2020 the MDRS had hosted nineteen field seasons one per year totaling 236 crews with each crew consisting of six or seven members 26 101 The society also formulated plans to launch space based experiments which never materialized In 2001 after a discussion between Zubrin Musk and the board members the Mars Society announced the Translife Mission later renamed to the Mars Gravity Biosatellite 6 99 100 The mission aimed to study the effect of Martian level gravity on mice with satellite construction supported by students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT and Georgia Tech TMS 4 In August 2008 the Mars Society announced the project TEMPO3 after a preliminary selection of proposals TEMPO3 was conceived as a system of two CubeSats attached to a tether and spun with carbon dioxide powered thrusters aimed to demonstrate rotational artificial gravity system in space TMS 5 Neither of these proposals was built the Mars Gravity Biosatellite was canceled in June 2009 due to a lack of funding TMS 4 and no further development of TEMPO3 has been reported since the initial proposal At the Mars Society s 2015 convention a debate was organized between two representatives of Mars One CEO Bas Lansdorp and Barry Finger and two researchers from MIT Sydney Do and Andrew Owens 29 Mars One a now defunct non profit organization founded in 2011 aimed to establish a human settlement on Mars through a one way mission called Mars to Stay The MIT researchers criticized the plan as infeasible and suicidal 30 According to Dwayne A Day from The Space Review the MIT team won the debate by making specific and realistic arguments He also noted that the popularity of Mars One had dwarfed that of the Mars Society stating that the perceived absurdness of Mars One may potentially be detrimental to the Mars Society s reputation 29 In 2021 around a week before the first crewed New Shepard mission Blue Origin donated US 1 million to the Mars Society and 18 other space related organization The donation money came from a seat auction in that New Shepard flight The donation vastly exceeded the Mars Society annual revenue which was reported to be less than 400 000 in a filing with the Internal Revenue Service 31 Current projects edit nbsp Mars Desert Research Station with a central habitat rover hangar dome greenhouse and an observatory The Mars Society s premier project is the Mars Analog Research Station Program The program aims to further the understanding of Mars missions technical and human factors via its two Mars analog habitats the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station FMARS and the Mars Desert Research Station MDRS 32 The FMARS is located on Devon Island in Canada and near the Haughton impact crater 26 98 101 above the 75th parallel north where the island is uninhabited and barren The MDRS is located near Hanksville Utah where the habitat is isolated from civilization Both stations locations are chosen for the landscape similarities with Mars 28 4 Because these stations are meant for research both FMARS and MDRS are closed to public visits 19 These stations are staffed by volunteers with degrees in planetary science geology and engineering 4 353 The Mars Society has plans to build additional analog stations The Euro MARS operated by the Mars Society s European chapter was intended to have three decks and more extensive facilities However during transport from the United Kingdom to the deploying location at Krafla Iceland the Euro MARS sustained irreparable damage It was reported in 2017 that Euro MARS was back at the planning phase but no further updates about the station are available 33 5 6 The Mars Society is also planning to build another Mars analog station in Arkaroola Australia as of October 2022 TMS 6 The station would replicate a spacecraft launching directly from the Earth s surface featuring a mock propulsion module heat shield and landing engines 33 5 6 nbsp A challenge in the University Rover Challenge where rovers have to pour fuel into a generator As well as research the Mars Society organizes the Rover Challenge Series a group of annual university competitions for making mock Martian rovers Around May and June each year the three day University Rover Challenge takes place in Utah s desert near the MDRS where teams compete in exploration tasks The rover s operators must only use sensor data for navigation similar to actual Martian rovers Similar regional competitions that belong to the Rover Challenge Series include the European Rover Challenge the Canadian International Rover Challenge and the Indian Rover Challenge 34 63 72 MarsVR Project is a virtual reality program that simulates MDRS and terrain one square mile around the base The program was made in collaboration with a local virtual reality company 35 MarsVR is used to train MDRS s crews by simulating the use of spacesuits airlocks rovers and activities such as cooking The software can also simulate playing sports on Mars such as soccer and mountaineering 35 The exploration portion of MarsVR is free to download on Steam however the training part has an attached cost for the public 36 In 2023 the Mars Society established the non profit Mars Technology Institute and the corresponding C corporation Mars Technology Lab to research solutions for labor agriculture and energy problems in the colonization of Mars The Institute plans to outsource research to universities before building its own campus 37 See also editMoon Society National Space Society Space advocacy The Planetary SocietyReferences editPrimary sources edit About the Mars Society Mars Society Archived from the original on 1 May 2022 Retrieved 19 July 2022 The Mars Society members 1999 Zubrin Robert M Zubrin Maggie eds Proceedings of the Founding Convention of the Mars Society held August 13 16 1998 Boulder Colorado Univelt Citation at the title ISBN 9780912183121 OCLC 47665501 Elon Musk Mars Pioneer Award Acceptance Speech 15th Annual International Mars Society Convention Videotape The Mars Society 10 August 2012 Archived from the original on 9 December 2023 Retrieved 9 December 2023 a b Cowing Keith 24 June 2009 The Mars Gravity Biosatellite Program Is Closing Down SpaceRef Archived from the original on 1 April 2024 Retrieved 22 August 2015 Hill Tom Kirk Alex 25 August 2008 The Space Review TEMPO 3 the Mars Society s newest project The Space Review Archived from the original on 20 November 2023 Retrieved 8 December 2023 Stoltz Michael 29 October 2022 Building a Mars Analog Down Under The Mars Society Archived from the original on 31 December 2022 Retrieved 31 December 2022 Other sources edit Bichell Rae Ellen 6 July 2017 To Prepare For Mars Settlement Simulated Missions Explore Utah s Desert NPR Archived from the original on 31 December 2022 Retrieved 31 December 2022 McGrath Dianne 9 April 2020 What a simulated Mars mission taught me about food waste The Conversation Archived from the original on 1 January 2023 Retrieved 1 January 2023 a b c Pletser Vladimir 2018 On To Mars Chronicles of Martian Simulations Springer Nature Bibcode 2018otm book P doi 10 1007 978 981 10 7030 3 ISBN 978 981 10 7030 3 Archived from the original on 31 December 2022 Retrieved 31 December 2022 a b c d e f g h i j k Markley Robert 2005 Dying Planet Mars in Science and the Imagination Duke University Press ISBN 978 0 8223 3600 6 a b Goodyear Dana 19 October 2009 Man of Extremes The New Yorker Archived from the original on 11 July 2022 Retrieved 20 July 2022 a b c d e Vance Ashlee 2015 Elon Musk Tesla SpaceX and the Quest for a Fantastic Future HarperCollins ISBN 978 0 06 230123 9 OCLC 881436803 Michaud Jon 8 March 2012 James Cameron Goes Deep The New Yorker Archived from the original on 16 December 2017 Retrieved 7 April 2024 Foust Jeff 26 February 2015 New Alliance to Promote Space Development and Settlement SpaceNews Archived from the original on 19 July 2022 Retrieved 19 July 2022 a b c d e f Morton Oliver 2003 Mapping Mars Science Imagination and the Birth of a World Picador ISBN 978 0312422615 Roberts Brandon Suozzo Andres Glassford Alec Ngu Ash 27 August 2019 Mars Society Inc Full Filing Nonprofit Explorer ProPublica p 1 2 Retrieved 7 April 2024 Blakeslee Sandra 18 August 1998 Society Organizes to Make a Case for Humans on Mars The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on 17 July 2022 Retrieved 17 July 2022 Rapp Donald 2016 Human Missions to Mars Enabling Technologies for Exploring the Red Planet 2nd ed Springer Science Business Media ISBN 978 3 319 22249 3 OCLC 927404673 Benson Eric Nobel Justin 9 January 2010 Mars or Bust Guernica Archived from the original on 2 January 2023 Retrieved 2 January 2023 a b c d e Hogan Thor May 2007 Mars Wars The Rise and Fall of the Space Exploration Initiative PDF NASA PDF Archived from the original PDF on 25 June 2009 Retrieved 17 July 2022 a b S F Portree David March 2000 The Road to Mars Air amp Space Smithsonian Archived from the original on 20 January 2022 Retrieved 18 July 2022 Portree David S F 15 April 2013 Mars Direct Humans to Mars in 1999 1990 Wired Archived from the original on 11 February 2021 Retrieved 17 July 2022 a b c d e Blakeslee Sandra 18 August 1998 Society Organizes to Make a Case for Humans on Mars The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on 17 July 2022 Retrieved 17 July 2022 Spitzmiller Ted 1 November 2007 Book Review The Case for Mars National Space Society Archived from the original on 1 January 2023 Retrieved 1 January 2023 a b Conroy J Oliver 17 February 2022 Life on Mars the strangers pretending to colonize the planet in Utah The Guardian Archived from the original on 17 July 2022 Retrieved 17 July 2022 McKnight John Carter 25 September 2001 MarsNow 1 9 Profile Elon Musk Life to Mars Foundation SpaceRef Retrieved 1 January 2023 a b Cowing Keith 30 August 2001 Millionaires and billionaires the secret to sending humans to Mars SpaceRef Retrieved 7 April 2024 Foust Jeff 8 September 2008 Looking far ahead The Space Review Archived from the original on 3 January 2023 Retrieved 3 January 2023 Mack Eric 16 October 2020 Elon Musk will share his latest moon and Mars plans with all Earthlings today CNET Archived from the original on 1 April 2024 Retrieved 1 January 2023 a b c Bishop Sheryl L 2011 From Earth Analogs to Space Getting There from Here In Vakoch Douglas A ed Psychology of Space Exploration PDF NASA pp 47 77 ISBN 978 0 16 088358 3 Archived PDF from the original on 7 August 2021 Retrieved 19 July 2022 a b Hall James 8 March 2002 Finding Mars on Earth Science Archived from the original on 19 July 2022 Retrieved 19 July 2022 a b c d Hauplik Meusburger Sandra Bishop Sheryl O Leary Beth 2021 Vakoch Douglas A ed Space Habitats and Habitability Designing for Isolated and Confined Environments on Earth and in Space 1st ed Springer Science Business Media ISBN 978 3030697396 Messeri Lisa 9 September 2016 Placing Outer Space An Earthly Ethnography of Other Worlds Duke University Press p 200 note 19 ISBN 978 0 8223 6187 9 OCLC 926821450 a b Cusack Stacy L 1 January 2010 Observations of Crew Dynamics during Mars Analog Simulations PDF NASA Project Management Challenge 2010 Archived PDF from the original on 18 July 2022 Retrieved 18 July 2022 via NASA Technical Reports Server a b Day Dwayne 17 August 2015 Red planet rumble The Space Review Archived from the original on 12 June 2019 Retrieved 2 January 2023 Grush Loren 18 August 2015 Mars One debates MIT CEO Bas Lansdorp still doesn t have a plan to reach the planet The Verge Archived from the original on 2 January 2023 Retrieved 2 January 2023 Foust Jeff 15 July 2021 Blue Origin donates New Shepard auction proceeds to space nonprofit groups SpaceNews Retrieved 7 April 2024 Weinersmith Kelly Weinersmith Zach 27 December 2023 The Beautiful Desolation of Life on Mars On Earth The New York Times Archived from the original on 27 December 2023 Retrieved 27 December 2023 a b Vargas Cuentas Natalia I Roman Gonzalez Avid June 2017 The Salar de Uyuni as a simulated Mars base habitat in South America Global Space Exploration Conference Archived from the original on 22 July 2020 Retrieved 20 July 2022 via HAL open archive Wieczorek Luiza Piech Wiktor Cybulski Bartlomiej Kujawinski Mateusz Wegierska Agnieszka 30 December 2018 Participation in international robotics competitions as a new form of student travel Turyzm Tourism 28 2 63 72 doi 10 2478 tour 2018 0016 hdl 11089 27873 ISSN 2080 6922 Archived from the original on 3 January 2023 Retrieved 3 January 2023 a b Murphy Jen 1 July 2022 Why Sports in Space Could Be the Next Big Thing The Wall Street Journal ISSN 0099 9660 Archived from the original on 18 July 2022 Retrieved 19 July 2022 Rayome Alison DeNisco 3 March 2020 The future of Mars colonization begins with VR and video games CNET Archived from the original on 24 June 2022 Retrieved 20 July 2022 Boyle Alan 7 September 2023 Mars Society unveils its plan to establish technology institute perhaps in Seattle GeekWire Archived from the original on 19 November 2023 Retrieved 8 December 2023 External links editThe Mars Society s official website Founding Declaration of the Mars Society available on the Mars Society s website The Mars Society on YouTube collection of archived presentations and promotional materials Portals nbsp Solar System nbsp SpaceflightMars Society at Wikipedia s sister projects nbsp Media from Commons Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Mars Society amp oldid 1222029647 Mars Analog Research Station Program, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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