The Mars Society Mourns The Passing Of Neil Armstrong

Mars Society Announcement

August 26, 2012

Mars Society Mourns the Passing of Neil Armstrong

The Mars Society and its members were saddened to learn earlier today of the passing of Neil Armstrong, Apollo 11 astronaut and the first person to walk on the surface of the Moon. Our organization would like to express its sincere condolences to Mrs. Armstrong and the entire Armstrong family.

 

"Neil Armstrong was a patriot and a pioneer," said Mars Society President Dr. Robert Zubrin.  "In every way he was an exemplar of the great human spirit which seeks to go where no one has gone, to know what has never been known, to do what has never been done.  His life's story calls to all of us to rise to our own higher natures, just as his immortal words when first setting foot on our neighbor world challenge us.  Will the Apollo 11 mission ultimately be remembered as a 'giant leap for mankind,' the first step in opening an infinite frontier?  Or will it recede into history as merely a grand stunt that led nowhere?  The answer to that question is up to us.  Let us therefore reflect on this great and good man's life, and resolve to find and summon to action the Neil Armstrong within ourselves, so that he, and the nation that dared with him, did not dare in vain."

The Mars Society
www.marssociety.org
@TheMarsSociety

Neil Armstrong, First Man on Moon, Dies at 82 - NYTimes.com

Neil Armstrong, First Man on Moon, Dies at 82 - NYTimes.com:

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NASA's pioneering astronauts: Where are they now?

NASA's pioneering astronauts: Where are they now?:

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Next Mission To Mars-Insight

Next Mars mission – after Curiosity comes InSight

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Artist's concept of InSight on Mars      

Feeling very confident after the perfect landing of the Curiosity rover on Mars on August 6th, NASA has announced its next mission to the Red Planet. In 2016, the US space agency will launch the unmanned InSight lander to Mars. Unlike Curiosity, InSight will be a static lander loaded with instruments designed to study the deep geology of Mars and answer such questions as whether the core of the planet is liquid or solid, and why Mars hasn’t any shifting tectonic plates like Earth.

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The solar-powered InSight (Interior exploration using Seismology, Geodesy, and Heat Transfer) may not be wheeling about the surface of Mars under nuclear power, but it is assigned with a number of important tasks. It will determine the size, composition, and physical state of the Martian core; the thickness and structure of the Martian crust; the composition and structure of the planet's’ mantle; and, how hot the interior of Mars is. In addition, it will record earthquakes (or rather, marsquakes) and measure the rate of meteorite impacts on the surface.
InSight will carry four instruments to Mars. The first is a seismometer called SEIS. Its job is to precisely measure quakes and other seismic activity, which will provide valuable insights into the structure and composition of Mars.
The second is HP3, a heat flow probe that will be thrust five meters (16.4 ft) into the ground – deeper than any previous penetration of the Martian surface. It will measure how hot Mars is and determine the planet’s thermal history.

The third instrument is RISE. Its job is to use the Doppler shift of radio communications with Earth to track how much Mars wobbles as it rotates. This will help determine whether the interior core is liquid or solid. It works on the same principle as the test to see if an egg is raw or hard boiled by spinning it on a table top. If it’s hard boiled, it spins. If it’s raw, then the egg wobbles and falls down.
Finally, there is InSight’s camera. This is similar to the Navcams on Curiosity and other NASA rovers. It will send back black and white images to inspect the craft after landing, help mission control in deploying instruments, and provide a panoramic view of the landing site. A second camera, similar to Curiosity’s Hazcam, is mounted under the lander’s deck to provide additional coverage.
The launch date has already been set for between March 8th and 27th, 2016 when Mars will be in the right position for a rendezvous. InSight will land on Mars on September 20th of that year. During its 720-day mission, InSight will send back more than 29 gigabytes of scientific data.
The twelfth of NASA’s Discovery-class missions, InSight is a cost-capped mission meant to explore Mars while remaining within a budget of US$425 million. As part of this, the lander’s design is based on NASA’s Phoenix lander

, which successfully touched down on Mars in 2007. The InSight team is led by W. Bruce Banerdt at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. Universities and international agencies, such as France’s Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and Germany’s Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), will contribute instruments for the lander.

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Mars mission makes successful test drive - FT.com

Mars mission makes successful test drive - FT.com:

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SETI Talks Series (playlist)

InSight Mars Mission

Explore Mars Applauds InSight Mars Mission Decision

Get Curious Campaign in the Press

Register Today for the Humans to Mars Summit (H2M)

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Explore Mars Applauds InSight Mars Mission Decision

Explore Mars enthusiastically applauds the decision by NASA to launch the InSight mission to Mars in 2016. This mission will not only be seeking valuable scientific data regarding the origins of terrestrial planets and signs geological “life” on Mars, but the mission will also be accomplished in an efficient and cost effective manner.

 “Earlier this year it was announced that the Mars budget had been cut from the federal budget,” stated Explore Mars Executive Director, Chris Carberry. “We are extremely pleased that NASA is recommitting to the exploration of Mars – particularly after the magnificent landing of the Curiosity Rover.”

The InSight mission (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) will use geophysical instruments to drill beneath the surface of Mars in search for evidence of how terrestrial planets formed. It will also examine the seismology, internal temperature, and other “vital signs” of the planet.

In addition, with MAVEN set to launch in 2013 and InSight in 2016, we eagerly look forward to the recommendations of the Mars Program Planning Group (MPPG) that has been tasked with sifting through over 400 proposals for science missions to Mars in 2018 or 2020.

According to Explore Mars President, Artemis Westenberg "We look forward to seeing the recommendations of the MPPG, particularly in light of the InSight mission announcement.  We hope they find a way to truly merge the Robotic exploration program with research that demonstrates capabilities needed for Human Mars missions, such as precision landing and optical communications. NASA might get humans to Mars by 2030 yet."

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Get Curious Campaign in the Press

The GetCurious.com has been a tremendous success so far.  In addition to helping to stimulate dozens of landing parties around the world, the GetCurious campaign built a tremendous “buzz” through the Gercurious.com website as well as the Mars rocks we place around the country.  As a result, we were able to promote the Mars cause through coverage in national, international, and local radio, television, newspapers, magazines, and blogs - http://getcurious.com/news-events/in-the-news/.  In the next few weeks, we will provide a full update on the campaign and will be moving to the next phase of the GetCurious campaign.

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Explore Mars, Inc. Announces the Humans to Mars Summit (H2M)

How can we land humans on Mars by 2030? Join us at the Humans to Mars Summit (H2M) to learn ways in which this can happen. Co-sponsored by Explore Mars and the George Washington University Space Policy Institute, H2M will be held on May 6-8, 2013 at the Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University in Washington, DC.  H2M will be a comprehensive Mars exploration conference to address the major technical, scientific, and policy related challenges that need to be overcome to send humans to Mars by 2030.

Topics will include:  robotic and human precursor missions; launch systems; Mars transit challenges; human factors; entry, decent and landing; in situ resource utilization; space suit design; surface power; science goals; and many other topics. H2M will also discuss space policy as well as ways to stimulate private sector participation in Mars exploration. Some of the tentative speakers already include:

Dr. Doug McCuistion (NASA: Director, Mars Exploration Program)

Dr. James Garvin (NASA: Chief Scientist, Goddard Space Flight Center)

Andrew Chaikin (Author/Historian)

Dr. David Beaty (NASA JPL: Chief Scientist, Mars Exploration Directorate)

Michael Raftery (Boeing: Director, ISS Utilization and Exploration)

Joe Cassady (Aerojet: Executive Director, Advanced Programs Engineering)

Dr. Chris McKay (NASA Ames: Planetary Scientist)

And many others...

Take advantage of our special "Pre-Launch" registration today and save money before the registration fee increases after September 12, 2012 -Http://h2m.eventbrite.com.  More details will be announced soon.

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For further information regarding Explore Mars, Inc., please visit:  Explore Mars, Inc., or contact:

Chris Carberry, Executive Director

Explore Mars, Inc.

carberry@exploremars.org

(617) 909-4425