2025 International Mars Society Convention

Posted on by onespaceman2000

It is time to mark your calendar for the Mars Society’s 2025 International Mars Society Convention scheduled for October 9–11 at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. The theme this year is “Mars: The Time Has Come!”

If you want to learn more about past conventions to see if this is something for you, check out this link.

Some of the guests at last year’s convention included:

  • Tiffany M. Morgan, Deputy Director of the Mars Exploration Program in NASA’s Science Directorate, who will give an address about “Exploring Mars Together, DRAFT Plan for a Sustainable Future for Science at Mars.”
  • Howard Hu, the Orion Program Director at NASA, who will give an address about “NASA’s Artemis plans for returning to the Moon and beyond,”
  • Brig. General (Ret.) Dr. S. Pete Worden, Chairman of the Breakthrough Prize Foundation, who will give an address about “Life in the Universe and Private Sector Space Science Initiatives.”
  • Dr. Alan Stern, a renowned planetary scientist and commercial astronaut, who will give an address about “The Other Red Planet” focusing on Pluto.

If you are interested, you can register for this year’s convention here.

Also, if you have any ideas for the design of this promotional poster for the 2025 convention visit this site for more information.

Mark Your Calendar: Kennedy Center Earth to Space Festival

Posted on by onespaceman2000

If you are looking for a different type of event, the Kennedy Center has an idea. Come for its Earth to Space Festival, being held from March 28 to April 20.

What is it, you ask? Here is what the Kennedy Center has shared:

For three weeks, EARTH to SPACE: Arts Breaking the Sky will fill the Center with musicians and astronauts, poets and researchers, visual artists and engineers, actors and environmentalists, architects and astronomers, dancers and scientists, film makers and space designers. It is our conviction that insights into the marvels of the universe can inspire action to protect our own planet, and that the arts can stimulate fresh thinking about the challenges that confront us.

Some of the speakers include astronaut Chris Hadfield, physicist Kip Thorne, and astrophysicist Mario Livio. The full list is available on the Kennedy Center site.

Starmus has been holding such festivals since 2011, with this one in Washington, DC being the eighth. Last year’s festival was held in Bratislava, Slovakia. Astronomy magazine called last year’s event “a smashing success all the way around.”

You may want to add the event to your calendar. It sounds like a fun way to combine astronomy and the arts.

Things To Do: Maine Solar System Model

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: University of Maine at Presque Isle

If you are looking for something fun in a slightly cooler climate this summer, you may want to venture to the Maine Solar System Model. Its a joint science project created by the University of Maine and northern Maine communities.

Built between 1999 and 2003, this model allows you to better understand the distances between planets as you drive around the Maine countryside, starting with a model of the Sun in the north or Pluto about 40 miles to the south. You can also visit the dwarf planet Eris about 55 miles south of Pluto if you want to be adventurous.

This is much better than spotting cows or playing “I see something blue” on those longer car rides. You can learn something new while driving around a beautiful part of America.