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Ohio
Chapter Mars Society Newsletters
Ohio Chapter
Newsletters - June 99 to Present
15 May 99
Hello, Ohio Chapter - Mars
Society Members !!
This issue's topic is Radiation,
and how it affects Mars Missions.
Outside of Low-Earth Orbit (where the atmosphere and
magnetic field shield
us) there are 2 kinds of radiation we worry about:
Galactic Cosmic
Radiation (GCR), the steady 'drizzle' of high-energy
(billions of volts)
particles from outside our solar system, and Solar
Particle Events (SPE),
the unpredictable 'storms' of lower-energy (1 million
volts) protons from
our own Sun. GCR is kind of like taxes; we can't
avoid it (shielding
in-flight would be prohibitively mass-expensive), so we
live with it. SPE,
on the other hand, we can watch for ('solar flares'), and
shield astronauts
in radiation 'storm cellars' until the 'storm' dies
down. On Mars, the
atmosphere and surface shield us from most of the flare's
radiation.
. In this Issue:
.
* MARCON A Hit; Columbus Branch To Follow
.
* Mars-Like 'Nanobes' Discovered on Earth
.
* Problems With MGS's High-Gain Antenna
.
* TransHab Threatened; Ohio Chapter Responds
.
* Columbus Branch Head Sought
* Odds 'n Sods
. *****
*****
*****
*****
***** *****
. MARCON A HIT;
COLUMBUS BRANCH TO FOLLOW
MARCON, Ohio's largest Science
Fiction Convention, found the Ohio Mars
Society just outside the Dealer's Room, explaining the
Mars Direct plan
(three formal presentations), selling
buttons/books/videos and collecting
names of interested attendees. With the help of Raj
Iyyuni (Columbus),
Romesh Bedi (Dayton) and Pam Wisniewski (Burton,
Michigan), we collected
names and addresses of 48 people interested in the
Society, including 15 or
so in Columbus! Along with those members already
living in Columbus, it
appears certain we'll soon have a Columbus Branch; all we
need now is an
enthusiastic Columbus resident (Columbusite?
Columbine?) to act as Branch
Head (see below).
Our thanks to everyone involved
in making MARCON the smash it was. See
you next Con!
. *****
*****
*****
*****
***** *****
.
MARS-LIKE 'NANOBES' DISCOVERED ON EARTH
In 1996, NASA scientists
announced the discovery of possible fossils in
a rock ejected from Mars billions of years ago (see last
issue's 'DAVID
MCKAY PREDICTS LIFE ON MARS'). The most visually
compelling clue, tiny
segmented shapes within the rock, seemed the weakest
evidence, since the
shapes were ten times smaller than any life known on
Earth.
But now, Australian scientists
have announced they've found
similarly-sized life on Earth. Dr. Philippa Uwins,
a geologist with the
University of Queensland, discovered the spore-like
structures while
examining a clay mineral called illite. You can
read all about it at
http://www.newmars.com/news/small_world.asp.
And now, similar shapes have
been found in Mars rocks from Shergotty
and Nakhla. I.P. Wright, of the Planetary Sciences
Research Institute,
writes, "Note also that another SNC meteorite,
Elephant Moraine [EET]
A79001, has organic compounds associated with carbonates.
What makes this
latter finding important is that EET A79001 has a
formation age of about 0.2
billion years [and is "geologically" recent
compared to ALH 84001]. If there
really is evidence for life in ALH 84001, could there
also be in EET A79001?
If so, this would practically demonstrate the existence
of life on Mars
today."
We'll keep you posted on the
latest developments. Incidentally, an
excellent site for budding exobiologists is
http://www.reston.com/astro/extreme.html
.
. *****
*****
*****
*****
***** *****
. PROBLEMS WITH
MGS's HIGH GAIN ANTENNA
A mechanical swivel that enables
Mars Global Surveyor's main
communications antenna to point at Earth jammed during
routine mapping
operations earlier this month, and engineers since then
have been unable to
free it. Right now, Earth and Mars are aligned such that
MGS can focus on
Mars and simultaneously beam back it's information to
Earth, but by February
2000 Earth's position will have changed; if the
restricted gimbal can't be
fixed before then MGS will spend 18 hours per day mapping
Mars, then turn
towards Earth and send data back for 6 hours a day.
But NASA officials have said
that Surveyor still stands to return more
information about the Red Planet than all previous U.S.
Mars missions
combined. Stay up-to-date on Mars Global Surveyor
at
http://www.marsnews.com/
.
. *****
*****
*****
*****
***** *****
.
TRANSHAB THREATENED; OHIO CHAPTER RESPONDS
Thursday morning, 13 May 99, the
US House Science Committee started
considering HR 1654, which included (in section 128) a
proposal to cut all
funding for inflatable structures, like TransHab.
TransHab, as you probably
know, is the inflatable module NASA is considering as a
home for astronauts
aboard the International Space Station, and possibly a
future piloted Mars
Mission. TransHab is 3 times as large as Boeing's
aluminum habitation
module design, yet weighs the same and outperforms the
aluminum module in
simulated orbital debris impact (at 16,000 mph).
Bruce Mackenzie, Executive
Director of the Mars Society, sent out the
alert early on the 12th; later that morning, Jeff Roche
(Head of Ohio
Chapter's Political Action Taskforce) sent an urgent
e-mail to Ohio Chapter
members. I immediately started calling legislative
aides, but was slower on
the draw than Jeff Anderson, Jeff Roche, and (I suspect)
several other Ohio
members. Special thanks to Jeff Roche, Jeff
Anderson, and everyone else who
called to keep funding available for TransHab.
We'll keep you informed of
developments.
. *****
*****
*****
*****
***** *****
.
COLUMBUS BRANCH LEADER SOUGHT
Columbus has shown, through the
impressive response at MARCON, that it
has plenty of people interested in seeing a local Branch
form there. But
every Branch needs a Head, one enthusiastic leader to
plan, coordinate,
implement and manage.
My favorite definition of a
'Leader' is "Someone who takes you where
you ordinarily wouldn't go", and that description
holds true here. Columbus
needs one person who is ready to devote as little as one
hour a week, but
EVERY week, to helping humanity get to Mars. A
Branch Leader may run
biweekly local meetings, present the Mars Direct plan to
groups, contact
elected Representatives, stockpile materials for the
group... or he/she may
do NONE of that, and instead direct who is to do
what. In either case, the
Leader makes sure things happen.
If you live in or near Columbus,
are enthusiastic about seeing humanity
get to Mars, and are ready to work to see it happen,
e-mail me at
patttam@erinet.com
.
. *****
*****
*****
*****
***** *****
.
ODDS AND SODS
European governments agreed on a
five-year space budget that should now
clear the way for the continent's first expedition to
Mars (Mars Express).
Details at
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_342000/342522.stm
.
NASA is sending a CD full of
names to Mars on board the Mars Surveyor
2001 Lander, and YOUR name can be on it ! To sign
up, click on
http://spacekids.hq.nasa.gov/2001/
.
Mars may once have bubbled with
hot springs, warm cozy pools where
Martian microbes could have evolved, according to a team
of New Mexico
researchers. Check it out at
http://www.abqjournal.com/scitech/1sci05-02.htm
.
Mars Global Surveyor is
reporting signs of caves on Mars, in the
Shalbatana Vallis and Nanedi Vallis regions.
James Cameron has tapped Martha
Coolidge to direct his upcoming Fox TV
miniseries about Mars, centering around a crisis that
overtakes the first
manned mission to the Red Planet and an ensuing rescue
attempt. (Thanks to
Jeff Roche)
"Deep Space One" is a
website dedicated to examining the engineering
(electrical, mechanical, civil, etc.), biomedical,
economical,
architectural, etc. difficulties in reaching Mars.
Check it out at
http://wwwvms.utexas.edu/~whcii/
.
That concludes this issue of the
Mars Society - Ohio Chapter
Newsletter. Greetings to everyone in Columbus just
joining us from MARCON;
let us know what you'd like to see happen locally!
Help us look
professional, do the work, and go...
ON TO MARS !!
Tamarack R.
Czarnik, MD
Chair, Mars Society - Ohio Chapter
30 Apr 99
Hello, Ohio Chapter - Mars
Society Members !!
This issue's (randomly chosen) topic
is Propulsion, how to get from here
to there, and our vocabulary term is "specific
impulse", or Isp. The
efficiency of a mixture of fuel and oxidizer is measured
by specific
impulse, the number of pounds of thrust produced by the
combustion of 1
pound of the fuel-oxidizer mixture in 1 second. The
most convenient type of
fuel is a combination of a liquid combustible, such as
alcohol or kerosene,
and liquid oxygen; such fuels that require an oxidizer
are called
bipropellants, while those fuels that serve as their own
oxidizer (like
gunpowder, the first rocket propellant) are called
monopropellants.
The specific impulse of kerosene
and oxygen is 242; the best liquid
fuel, liquid hydrogen with liquid oxygen, has an ISP of
450 or so. Dr.
Zubrin's 'Mars Direct' plan calls for production of
methane and oxygen on
Mars' surface, with an Isp of roughly 380. But
nuclear thermal rockets (or
NTRs) using hydrogen propellant can have an Isp of 900,
and an engine
recombining hydrogen atoms into molecules could develop
an Isp of more than
1,300! (Unfortunately, we'd have to store free
hydrogen atoms in frozen
argon at a temperature of around -272 C., or just 1
degree above absolute
zero.)
. In this Issue:
.
* Our Biggest Event Yet: MARCON !
.
* David McKay Predicts: Life on Mars!
.
* 6 May is National Space Day
.
* Plate Tectonics On the Butterscotch Planet?
.
* Arctic Base Recon and Mock-Up Planned
* Odds 'n Sods
. *****
*****
*****
*****
***** *****
.
OUR BIGGEST EVENT YET: M A R C O N !
Next weekend, May 7th, 8th and
9th, is Ohio Chapter's biggest event to
date: MARCON, Ohio's Largest Science Fiction
Convention of the year! So
far I've had a couple people volunteer, but I still need
more people to help
run the table, etc. Crash space in and near
Columbus is available for those
coming in from out of town, as are rides from Dayton area
to Columbus and
back.
In addition to our informational
table (with 'Mars or Bust' buttons,
books, videos, etc.), we'll be presenting on the 'Mars
Direct' program and
the Mars Society 3 times (9pm Fri, 8pm Sat, and 10am
Sun), and anyone able
to assist (e.g. turning lights off & on, changing
transparencies, etc.)
would be greatly appreciated. MARCON programming
includes a Masquerade,
panels on the Hubble Space Telescope, Science vs.
Pseudo-Science, multiple
Literary panels, and a Friday night dance hosted by
Doctor Demento (!).
Plus the usual Art Show, filking, computer gaming (Steve
Jackson!), Anime
and the other time-wasters we all love so.
Several members in Columbus have
wondered when we'll have a Branch
there; if MARCON goes well, they'll get their wish and
we'll have our third
City Branch. Here's YOUR chance to get involved in
the Mars Society!
. *****
*****
*****
*****
***** *****
.
DAVID MCKAY PREDICTS LIFE ON MARS !
NASA scientist David McKay
surprised the 36th annual Space Congress by
predicting "...living forms on Mars". Mr.
McKay, whose August 1996 claim of
fossilized remains of tiny, bacteria-like animals in a
Martian meteorite
rocked the scientific community, gave the 1999 keynote
address at this
year's Space Congress, announcing the discovery of the
same type of tiny
fossilized forms in two more Martian meteorites.
One of the meteorites is a 1.3
billion-year-old space rock that fell to
Earth in 1911 near Nakhla, Egypt. The other, a 165
million-year-old
meteorite, was discovered near Shergotty, India, in
1865. Both show the
textured iron oxides, carbonates with associated organic
compounds,
magnetite grains and segmented morphologies (similar to
terrestrial
microfossils) seen in the 4 billion-year-old ALH84001.
"We still have life on
Mars. It's still there underground somewhere,
where there is liquid water, and all we have to do is go
there and find it,"
NASA scientist David McKay told aerospace leaders at the
36th annual Space
Congress. The implications? "It would
give us more confidence that there's
life elsewhere beyond Earth, not only on Mars, but in
other solar systems,
and on other planets, because if life is present on Mars,
that tells us that
life in fact may be very common elsewhere," he said.
More information on-line at
http://www.flatoday.com/space/today/042899c.htm
.
. *****
*****
*****
*****
***** *****
.
6 MAY IS NATIONAL SPACE DAY !
...and one of our own, Bill
Avery, was instrumental in getting (one
form of) it recognized! Bill asked his then-State
Senator, Robert Boggs, to
introduce legislation back in the 80's making July 20th
(anniversary of the
Apollo 11 moon landing) a commemorative holiday in Ohio;
it was passed, and
16-23 July was designated space week.
This modern version, started in
1997, features a four-hour interactive
Webcast, an 'electronic field trip', and local events in
almost every state
in the Union. Official '99 Spokesperson is our own
Sen. John Glenn! More
information is on-line at http://www.spaceday.com/index.htm
(and you might
want to check out their on-line game, "Destination:
Mars").
. *****
*****
*****
*****
***** *****
.
PLATE TECTONICS ON THE BUTTERSCOTCH PLANET ?
Is Mars anything like we thought
it was? An exhaustive review of
17,050 images from 1997's Mars Pathfinder mission
indicates that Mars' soil
and surface is a yellow-brown 'butterscotch', as had been
indicated by the
1970's Viking Missions. NASA's $5 billion
Hubble Space Telescope telescope
showed Mars in all its red glory, but further study found
that Hubble -- not
the $266 million Mars Pathfinder -- was colorblind and
needed to be
recalibrated, said Justin Maki, the study's lead author
and an imaging
scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena,
Calif. (More info
on-line at http://www.sltrib.com/1999/apr/04241999/nation_w/100420.htm
)
And Mars Global Surveyor's
aerobraking orbit, curving below the
planet's ionosphere, allowed it's magnetometer to obtain
better-than-planned
regional measurements of Mars. Scientists using the
magnetometer have
discovered banded patterns of magnetic fields on the
Martian surface
pointing in opposite directions, a finding that validated
the
once-controversial theory of plate tectonics on
Earth. The discovery of
this pattern on Mars (suggesting ancient plate tectonics
on Mars) "...could
revolutionize current thinking of the red planet's
evolution," said Dr. Jack
Connerney of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center,
Greenbelt, MD, an
investigator on the Global Surveyor's magnetometer team.
The complete text of the NASA
press release is available at
http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/ast29apr99_1.htm
. (Thanks to
Timothy Gaffney and Jeff Roche.)
. *****
*****
*****
*****
***** *****
.
ARCTIC BASE RECON AND MOCK-UP PLANNED
The Mars Society is planning a
July 1999 reconnaissance mission,
including Arctic Base Task Force leader Pascal Lee, Mars
Society president
Robert Zubrin, and MARS (Mars Analog Research Station)
lead architect Kurt
Micheels, to choose the site for the MARS station and to
get a direct sense
of the problems to be addressed in deploying and
operating the MARS in the
Devon Island environment. Preliminary studies of
methods of conducting
human exploration on Mars will also be undertaken,
including, possibly, a
simulated Mars pressurized rover excursion utilizing a
humvee vehicle whose
loan has been tentatively pledged to the project by the
U.S. military. The
reconnaissance mission will be undertaken on a
cooperative basis with
scientists from NASA Ames Research Center engaged in
scientific study of the
Devon Island Mars analog environment.
Meanwhile, TerraHab (a
~$100K design backup to the Mars Society's Mars
Arctic Research Station) is being planned. A
full-scale mockup will be
built in time for the Annual Convention in August, which
could be used as an
educational tool (perhaps even a museum exhibit) as well
as for debugging of
the design. For more information, the Team Contact
is Greg Mungas
<greg.mungas@colorado.edu>.
. *****
*****
*****
*****
***** *****
.
ODDS 'N SODS
Dr. Buzz Aldrin, the pilot of
the Apollo 11 first manned lunar landing,
has joined the Steering Committee of the Mars
Society. He will also speak
at the Society's Second International Convention.
Russia threw a coming-out party
Monday for the long-delayed Service
Module that has held up the International Space
Station. More info on-line
at http://www.msnbc.com/news/257772.asp
.
Looking for the latest news and
photos of the Red Planet? Check out
http://www.mars-watch.com/index.shtml
.
Warner Bros. has given the green
light to an SF film called Mars that
will be helmed by TV commercial director Anthony Hoffman.
The go-ahead was
reportedly granted with the understanding that the flick
will hit theaters
before Disney's big-budget film Mission to Mars.
Mars--formerly known as
Alone--is slated to hit theaters in April 2000. (Thanks
go out to Jeff
Roche)
A British businessman has agreed
to pay $100 million for a week-long
ride on Russia's Mir space station, giving the aging
outpost a new lease on
life. Check it out at
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/science/DailyNews/mir990427.html
.
Finally, as of May 1, Bruce
MacKenzie will succeed John Carter McKnight
as the Society's Executive Director. I have
acquired a deep respect for Mr.
McKnight (sorry: John), and hope to yet have a
chance to work with him.
Good Luck, Bruce !
And that concludes this issue of
the electronic Newsletter of the Ohio
Chapter of the Mars Society. One final note:
congratulations to our
youngest member on her 30 Apr 99 graduation from Space
Camp in Florida. Way
to go, Kaya Rae !!
MARCON is next weekend,
folks; help us look professional, do the
public outreach work, and go....
ON TO MARS !!
Tamarack R.
Czarnik, MD
Chair, Mars Society - Ohio Chapter
18 Apr 99
Hello, Ohio Chapter - Mars Society Members !!
Every subject has it's own vocabulary; you can't do your
taxes, play
poker or go to Mars if you don't know the lingo.
Therefore, starting with
this issue, we will be introducing a vocabulary word or
concept necessary to
understand Mars mission planning.
This Newsletter's concept is "conjunction" vs.
"opposition" positions.
Medieval astronomers, believing the Earth to be the
center of the universe,
called the position "opposition" when the Sun
and any other body (say, Mars)
were on opposite sides of the Earth, and
"conjunction" when they were on the
same side. Today, of course, we realize our Earth orbits
the Sun, but we
still call it "opposition" when Earth and Mars
are closest, and
"conjunction" when they are farthest apart.
As stated last issue, Mars and Earth are moving to only
53 million
miles apart in April, putting them in close opposition.
Though this would
seem like an ideal time to launch a Mars mission, you
would need to launch a
rocket directly away from the Sun's immense gravity to
take advantage of it,
and nothing we have now is capable of doing that. For a
discussion of the
pros and cons of "conjunction-class" and
"opposition-class" missions, see
Dr. Zubrin's THE CASE FOR MARS, pages 75 - 83.
. In this Issue:
. * MARCON Call-to-Arms: 7-9 May 99
. * MILLENNICON Pictures On-Line
. * Missions to Mars Overview Site
. * Download and Print Your Own Mars Globe!
. * 2nd Annual Mars Society Conference Coming
* Odds 'n Sods
. ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
. MARCON CALL-TO-ARMS: 7-9 MAY 99
Ohio Chapter's next major Event is MARCON, Ohio's largest
Science
Fiction Convention, in Columbus. We're scheduled to give
THREE
presentations of the 'Mars Direct' Plan (9pm Friday, 8pm
Saturday and 10am
Sunday), as well as run our Informational Table (see next
section).
If you can give a presentation, explain the 'Mars Direct'
plan or even
just jot down names and addresses, WE NEED YOU!
Information on MARCON is
on-line at http://www.marcon.org/
, or call me for information at (937)
254-5221. It'll be a great time; help us get the word
out, and turn MARCON
into MARS-CON!
. ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
. MILLENNICON PICTURES ON-LINE
Need an idea of what you'd be doing at the Informational
table? Photos
from MILLENNICON are now on-line from a link at our front
webpage. Thanks
once again to Gavin Whittle, Janis Jaunbergs and Gerald
Black for making
MILLENNICON possible.
If you'd like to see the table rearranged, drop me an
e-mail or (better
yet) volunteer to help out at MARCON; we'll arrange it to
suit your tastes.
. ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
. MISSIONS TO MARS OVERVIEW SITE
Having a hard time keeping track of all the Missions to
Mars sent by
various countries? I was, until I found http://www.marsnews.com/missions/.
This site provides links to the Mars Surveyor '98 Program
(Mars Climate
Orbiter and Mars Polar Lander), Mars Surveyor 2001, Mars
Surveyors 2003
and 2005; Nozomi (Japan's first interplanetary mission),
and the proposed
'Mars Airplane' and ESA's 'Mars Express'. Their 'Humans
to Mars' link
provides historical perspective on efforts to land
Humanity on Mars, from
Werner von Braun to Robert Zubrin. An excellent resource!
By the way, there's an 800 number to call for
up-to-the-minute
information on JPL's Mars Global Surveyor; it's 1(800)
391-6654. Enter '4'
for MGS; other options for Cassini, Deep Space 1, etc.
. ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
. DOWNLOAD AND PRINT YOUR OWN MARS GLOBE!
Can't afford a $100 globe of Mars? Try pointing your
computer towards.
http://spaceart.com/solar/raw/ico/icomars.jpg
.and download their 400 kb 'Icosahedron Map of Mars'.
This 20-sided project
ion of Mars' surface can be stored on a floppy disk,
printed out on
cardboard stock at Kinko's for about $5, cut out, folded
and glued together,
resulting in a lovely globe of Mars to hang over your
desk. You can also
find Icosahedral projections of the Earth, the Moon,
Venus, Jupiter,
Ganymede and Callisto, as well as instructions on
assembling them, at
http://www.hawastsoc.org/solar/eng/ico.htm
. ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
2ND ANNUAL MARS SOCIETY CONFERENCE COMING
Have you marked your calendars? The 2nd Conference of the
international Mars Society is August 12th - 15th, 1999 in
Boulder, Colorado,
and it looks to be HOT! There's the Haynes Memorial Panel
on Terraforming
(if you missed last year's panel discussion, you've
probably heard the
stories), papers dealing with all matters (science,
engineering, politics,
economics, and public policy) associated with the
exploration and settlement
of Mars (last year's Conference had about 200
presentations, not counting
talks by astronauts John Young and Scott Horowitz, NASA
scientists Chris
McKay and Matt Golombek, and so on), and just the sheer
ENERGY of
discussing and debating ideas and ideals with a few
hundred other Mars-bound
free-thinkers.
It's easy to delay, but hard to rearrange your plans at
the last
minute. You can register for the Conference on-line at
http://www.marssociety.org , or give me a call and I'll mail you the
details. Hope to see you there!
. ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
. ODDS 'N SODS
The European Space Agency has just signed a £47 million
(66 million
euros, or $60 million) contract with Matra Marconi Space
for the development
of a "Mars Express" satellite to search for
life - present or past - on the
Martian surface. However, the recommendation is
predicated on the probe's
not affecting previously approved science missions. The
company is also
participating in design and manufacture of the Beagle 2
Lander that will be
carried by Mars Express.
Sea Launch, an international joint venture, succeeded in
launching a
demonstration satellite into geosynchronous transfer
orbit on 27 Mar 99.
Despite 8-9 foot waves, the floating platform Odyssey,
positioned 1400 miles
southeast of Hawaii at the equator, launched its 4,700 kg
(10,300 lb.)
payload flawlessly, setting the stage for Sea Launch's
first revenue mission
later this year.
Okay, I decided I just can't resist: have you seen the
Mars 'Happy
Face'? Check it out at...
http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/science/DailyNews/mars990312.html .
One more note before I close; I spent the last few days
in Washington
at a Neurolab Postflight Symposium. (Of course I wore my
"Mars or Bust"
button; I wanted to be sure Dan Goldin saw it!) At NASA
Headquarters I got
to discuss constraints for future Piloted Mars Missions
with specialists in
Radiation, Crew Life Support, and so on, and was
surprised by the 'can do'
attitude of the scientists there! We can do it, folks; we
haven't totally
wasted the last 25 years. Be a part of the future; help
us look
professional ('Mars or Bust' buttons and all!), do the
work, and go...
ON TO MARS !!
Tamarack R. Czarnik, MD
Chair, Mars Society - Ohio Chapter
31 Mar 99
Hello, Ohio Chapter - Mars Society Members !!
I'm just back from Johnson Space Center in Houston,
Texas. "Mars or
Bust" buttons are a hot underground commodity there;
I'll be sending some
back to fan the flames.
Wandering around JSC one evening, I roamed past the
hulking remains of
a Saturn V rocket on display, birds nesting in its mighty
J-2 engines,
breeze ghosting through its hollow frame as the sun sank.
It was as if we'd
built a sleek enormous giant, baptized it to fire and
speed and the vast
emptiness of space, then abandoned it to its dreams and
empty brooding. 25
years since we've left Low Earth Orbit. Don't let it end
like this, folks.
. In this Issue:
. * March Overview: MILLENNICON and MARCH STORM
. * MGS "Turns On the Fire Hose"
. * MARCON Looms - Volunteers Called
. * Next Space Medicine Paper Now On-Line
. * Mars in Closest Approach - Great Viewing !
. * BOAR Scores for March '99
* Odds 'n Sods
. ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
. MARCH OVERVIEW
MILLENNICON, Cincinnati's oldest SF Convention, was a
GREAT weekend to
be with the Mars Society! We talked to dozens of
motivated and enthusiastic
people, sold books and videos and buttons, gave away lots
of 'Mars Direct'
literature, and collected about a dozen signatures.
Thanks to Gavin Whittle
(who opened the Con, then flew to Washington for March
Storm), Janis
Jaunbergs (whose molecular models were a hit), and Gerald
Black (who closed
the Con and saved me from doing my "two places at
once" routine), a LOT more
people know who we are. Pictures of them at the Con will
be linked to our
website soon. Well done, guys!
MARCH STORM is over for this year, but Brian Miller is
still
enthusiastically getting the word out. Having spent the
last few days
briefing over 200 representatives with ProSpace, he's
busily gathering info.
to try to get ISRU back on NASA's 2005 Sample Return
Mission. Thanks again,
Brian and Gavin, for helping us reach the people who hold
the purse strings.
. ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
. MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR "TURNS ON THE FIRE HOSE"
Mars Global Surveyor, having successfully deployed its
high-power
communications antenna on 28 Mar 99, can now
simultaneously maps Mars and
communicate with Earth. A dampening device, used to
cushion the force of
the deploying spring, had been suspect, and engineers at
JPL had delayed its
use until the minimum scientific objectives had been met.
With the 5 foot
diameter dish-shaped antenna deployed, however, the
floodgates are opened.
"Having a deployed, steerable high-gain antenna is
like switching from
a garden hose to a fire hose in terms of data return from
the spacecraft,"
said Joseph Beerer, flight operations manager for Mars
Global Surveyor at
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
More information on the MGS mission is on-line at
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/index.html
(Thanks go out to Timothy Gaffney for submitting the news
from
NASAnews.)
. ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
. MARCON LOOMS - VOLUNTEERS CALLED
To everyone who missed out on the great artwork, panel
discussions and
people at MILLENNICON, don't give up!
MARCON, Ohio's BIGGEST Science Fiction Convention, is May
7th, 8th and
9th in Columbus, Ohio; and not only is the Mars Society -
Ohio Chapter going
to run an informational table, we've been invited to give
the 'Mars Direct'
presentation THREE times, on Friday, Saturday AND Sunday!
I haven't
accepted that much yet, because to do it, I need YOUR
help!
If you can hand out brochures, sell books/videos/buttons,
explain the
'Mars Direct' concept or even give one of the
presentations, PLEASE let me
know! A MILLENNICON-scale success would guarantee the
prompt birth of a
Columbus Branch (which several Columbus people have been
awaiting), and
MARCON is BIGGER than MILLENNICON! As their brochure puts
it, "MARCON
offers more programming than some WorldCons."
More information is available on-line at http://www.marcon.org/ , or
call me at (937) 254-5221 to request a MARCON brochure.
Help us get the
word out, and turn MARCON into MARS-CON!
. ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
. NEXT SPACE MEDICINE PAPER NOW ON-LINE
The second installment in my 6-part series on Aerospace
Medicine is now
available for your review. Due to pressing time concerns,
I've had to
re-arrange the agenda a bit; this second installment is
on "Artificial
Gravity: Current Concerns and Design
Considerations". My apologies to those
expecting "Countermeasures to Long-Duration
Spaceflight"; that will be
installment #3, on 31 May 99.
CAN we just 'spin the ship' and solve all our
physiological adaptation
problems? As my father used to say, "Every simple
question has a simple
answer, and it's WRONG." Find out why my answer is
"Yes, but...."
. ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
. MARS IN CLOSEST APPROACH - GREAT VIEWING !
This April (next month!), Mars comes into opposition
(closest approach)
to Earth, a mere 63 million miles away. In late April,
Mars will rise in
the east as the sun sets in the west. It'll be very
bright, and noticeable
for its reddish color.
April is thus PRIME VIEWING TIME for Mars, and I'll be
calling
Astronomy Clubs and Observatories in Ohio to see who has
Mars viewing
opportunities. Who's up for a Mars viewing party at one
of the local
observatories? Drop me an e-mail; let's watch where we're
going!
(Thanks to Chris Struble of Boise, Idaho and Maggie
Zubrin for passing
this along.)
. ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
. BOAR SCORES FOR MARCH '99
Who would have thought it? For all the people Cincinnati
Branch
presented to, for all the representatives Cincy and
Cleveland Branches
briefed (with ProSpace), only one activity, my
presentation at MARCON, fits
criteria for inclusion in the Branch Objective Attainment
Record. Time for
new criteria? Let me know what you think. For now,
Cincinnati and
Cleveland are...
. Objective Cleveland Cincinnati
. Presentations 1 1
. Representatives 2 0
. Paid Members 7 6
. ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
. ODDS 'N SODS
The Planetary Society, in cooperation with NASA Jet
Propulsion
Laboratory, invites young people worldwide to submit
prototypes for the
first student-designed experiment on Mars -- a 2001 Mars
Odyssey: the
Student NanoExperiment Challenge. Experiments must fit in
a 1 cm diameter
by 1 cm length cylinder, entrants must be pre-college, 18
or younger. More
details available on-line at
http://www.planetary.org/news/articlearchive/headlines/1999/headln-032499.ht
ml, or just call me at (937) 254-5221 for details.
Brian Miller is again looking for volunteers to help with
the Mars
Society display at this year's Midwest Space Development
Conference in
Cleveland. Brian will be giving the "Mars Direct'
presentation, and I'll be
speaking on Aerospace Medicine. If you can help out,
contact Brian at
Brimil4515@aol.com, or me at (937) 254-5221.
Seattle Chapter is now integrating and presenting recent
Mars-related
news onto a single website, at http://www.marsnews.com/. I've seen it, and
it looks good. Check it out.
And that once again wraps it up for the biweekly
Newsletter of the Mars
Society - Ohio Chapter. If your dreams and daydreams
revolve around that
little red planet, fourth rock out from our Sun, why not
help us look
professional, do the work, and go...
ON TO MARS !!
Tamarack R. Czarnik, MD
Chair, Mars Society - Ohio Chapter
13 Mar 99
Hello, Ohio Chapter - Mars
Society Members !!
Early Newsletter this time; I'm
out of town next week.
I was getting reports back from
people going to the March Storm on
Washington, to MILLENNICON to man the info. table,
meeting with
Representatives, and I recalled a quote from Theodore
Roosevelt:
"It is not the critic who
counts, not the man who points out how the
strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have
done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the
arena; whose face is
marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives
valiantly; who errs and
comes up short again and again; who knows the great
enthusiasms, the great
devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at
the best knows in
the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at the
worst, if he fails,
at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place
shall never be with
those cold and timid souls who know neither defeat nor
victory."
So this Newsletter goes out to
those 'actually in the arena'; Brian,
Jeff, Gavin, Janis and Gerald, Charles and Margo at
ProSpace, everyone out
there actively striving to turn these dreams into
realities. ON TO MARS !!
. In this Issue:
.
* MILLENNICON !!
.
* MARCH STORM !!
.
* Latest Representative Meeting 'Best Yet'
.
* Mars Has a Magnetic Field! MGS Gets to Work
* Odds 'n Sods
. *****
*****
*****
*****
***** *****
.
M I L L E N N I C O N ! !
MILLENNICON, Southwestern Ohio's
premier Science Fiction Convention, is
next weekend, and Ohio Chapter is loaded for bear!
Our informational table
boasts fresh supplies of books, videos and buttons; the
Saturday (10 a.m.)
panel on 'Mars and Beyond' features Ben Bova, and our
Sunday (Noon)
presentation on the Mars Society and Ohio Chapter will be
given by... ME!!
Should be a blast! Gavin Whittle, Janis Jaunsberg
and Gerald Black will be
manning the table: thanks, guys !
All work? AS IF!
From Art Show Opens at 4 pm Friday to Closing
Ceremony Ending 3 pm Sunday, there are seminars and panel
discussions
ranging from the sublime (like First Contact, Cloning,
Bosnian Culture,
Asteroid Early Warning, Mars and Beyond...) to the
ridiculous ("Babylon
Park"? Did someone NEED to splice 'Babylon 5'
and 'South Park'?), with
generous helpings of Anime, Dr. Who and filking mixed
in. (You say you've
never heard of filking? Lucky you...)
So come join us in Cincinnati to
greet new members, talk Mars
exploration, and have a GREAT time. Details on the
'Net at
http://www.millennicon.org/.
. *****
*****
*****
*****
***** *****
.
MARCH STORM ! !
As of last count, at least 2
members of the Ohio Chapter are headed to
Washington for ProSpace's March Storm. Cleveland
Branch head Brian Miller
plans to hone his presentation skills based on what he
learns in Washington
for the next series of meetings at home during congress'
summer recess.
Cincinnati Branch head Gavin Whittle will man the
MILLENNICON table Friday,
then board a plane for Washington in the morning!
With Mars Society members
from other states, we make up more than 10% of this
year's March Storm.
Thanks again to Charles Miller and Margo Deckard.
This is EXACTLY what we need to
be doing: networking, presenting,
contacting Reps... DOING THE WORK !
Brian Miller has offered to act
as travel agent for the Ohio Chapter
contingent to March Storm: setting up blocks of
rooms, arranging travel
from Cleveland Hopkins Airport, etc. If you've been
holding off making the
move to March on Washington, now's the time! Group
travel with friends and
colleagues, sharing the victories and setbacks, learning
to make our voices
heard in DC! Details on the 'Net at
http://www.prospace.org/mstorm/index.htm
.
. *****
*****
*****
*****
***** *****
.
LATEST REPRESENTATIVE MEETING "BEST YET"
On 8 March 99, Ohio Chapter met
with Elizabeth Thames, staffer for
Sharron Brown (D-District 5). Ms. Thames has an
aspiring astronaut for a
son, and was openly receptive to discussing development
of space and manned
exploration. For their parts, Brian Miller and Jeff
Roche were ready with
answers to anticipated questions, and felt she couldn't
wait to crack her
new copy of "The Case For Mars".
Brian warns members to be ready
for the congressional recess, when
he'll be contacting a number of the Congressmen
themselves. Let's get more
members in on the visits!
. *****
*****
*****
*****
***** *****
.
MARS HAS A MAGNETIC FIELD! MGS GETS TO WORK
After being delayed a year due
to aerobraking stresses threatening a
solar panel, Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) has gotten down
to the work of
mapping Mars. A spectrometer is mapping for mineral
composition, and
detailed images have already been sent back of the
ancient water and lava
flows. At $135 million, MGS is poor cousin to the
billion-dollar Mars
Observer that failed and was lost just days before
reaching Mars in 1993.
MGS has already discovered that
Mars has a substantial magnetic field
(not the extremely weak one we'd assumed it had).
Remember learning Mars
had NO magnetic field, then relearning it has a weak,
unevenly distributed
field? Throw out the old thinking; Mars is more
Earth-like than ever!
For one Martian year (687 Earth
days), MGS will photograph the planet
from orbit while on-board sensors learn Mars' magnetic
and atmospheric
properties, including the possible presence of
water. NASA's 10-year
program projects an orbiter-lander pair (like MGS and
Pathfinder) each
launch opportunity (every 26 months).
Learn more about Mars Global
Surveyor at JPL's MGS website,
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/index.html
.
. *****
*****
*****
*****
***** *****
.
ODDS 'N SODS
Dr. Robert L. Forward,
Vice-President and Chief Scientist for Tethers
Unlimited, is seeking volunteers to assist with computer
modeling of a
Mars-Earth Tether-Transport System. I have the full
paper available for
e-mailing; otherwise, a summary will shortly become
available from a link at
our website. If interested, please contact Dr.
Forward at TU@tethers.com
.
NASA is still looking for names
for it's Mars Probes; you could win
$4,000 in computer equipment! Full details at
http://nmp.jpl.nasa.gov/ds2/contest/index.html
.
It's 7 months away, but Brian
Miller is already looking for volunteers
to help with the Mars Society display at this year's
Midwest Space
Development Conference. Contact Brian at Brimil4515@aol.com .
This in from Jeff Roche:
Brian DePalma has signed on to direct
"Mission to Mars", a movie about the second
human expedition to Mars,
seeking to understand why radio contact was lost with the
first just as they
landed. DePalma was selected because he has an
"overwhelming passion for the
study of Mars", Variety reported. The movie,
starring Don Cheadle and Gary
Sinise (Ken Mattingly in "Apollo 13"), will
likely be one of Disney's major
movies for the summer of 2000...
And that wraps it up for this
(early) edition of the Newsletter.
Plenty of opportunity to get involved here, folks!
Contact me at
patttam@erinet.com
or (937) 254-5221 if you want to attend MILLENNICON or
March Storm; Patt will keep me in touch in North
Dakota. Fill in the
blanks: help us look _____________, do the _____,
and GO...
ON
TO MARS !!
Tamarack R. Czarnik
15 Feb 99
Hello, Ohio Chapter - Mars
Society Members !!
Exactly 6 months now separate us
from the Mars Society Founding
Convention; another 6 will see us knee-deep in the Second
Annual Convention.
So this seems a good time to take stock, to sit back and
envision where we
are, where we're going. How will we measure up with
our colleagues in
Colorado, California, New York?
Fortunately, while I'm sitting
back on my...laurels, YOU'VE been busy:
Cincinnati has held their first Meeting and scheduled
their first
Convention, and Cleveland has contacted another
Representative and been
invited to speak at an upcoming Conference. I
haven't been TOTALLY inert:
this week I'm meeting with the Chairman of ProSpace
("The Citizen's Space
Lobby"), to discuss our participating in their
upcoming March Storm.
In this issue...
.
* March (Storm) on Washington !
.
* Cleveland Meets with Voinovich Staffer
.
* Cincinnati Invades MILLENNICON
.
* MSDC Invites Chapter Presentation
.
* First Planning Meeting for Cincy
.
* Odds 'n Sods (Miscellaneous)
. *****
*****
*****
*****
***** *****
.
MARCH (STORM) ON WASHINGTON !
ProSpace is a nonprofit
grassroots organization directed at opening the
Space Frontier to ALL people. Towards this end,
every year they organize
the "March Storm", seven days of meetings in
Washington with congressional
offices and White House officials.
On 17 Feb 99, I will be meeting
Charles Miller, Chairman of the Board
of ProSpace, to discuss our meetings with Representatives
and participation
in the March Storm, which this year will be held the week
of March 21st to
26th.
Due to the prompting of Mars
Society members, ProSpace has added
support to ISRU in the Mars Sample Return to its
agenda. If you want to see
Space in general (and Mars in particular) opened up to
citizens, PLEASE go
to http://www.prospace.org/
and read about ProSpace, its agenda, and this
year's March Storm. Every briefing group has at
least one seasoned veteran,
so nervousness is kept to a minimum. A GREAT way to
get our message and
vision to the people holding the purse strings!
. *****
*****
*****
*****
***** *****
.
CLEVELAND
MEETS WITH VOINOVICH STAFFER
On 8 Feb 99, Jeff Roche
(Webmaster and Political Outreach) and Brian
Miller (Head of Cleveland Chapter) met with Caryn
Candisky, the Northeast
Ohio Director for Senator Voinovich. Jeff and Brian
found her surprised
that all NASA has is paper plans for Mars Exploration,
and spent a half hour
discussing Mars Direct and the NASA Reference Mission,
the Mars Society and
our goals for the future. Great work, Jeff and
Brian!
Jeff also e-mailed me the list
of Representatives he has contacted, and
it's impressive! Meetings with Stephanie Tubbs
Jones and Stephen C
LaTourette should be imminent; I'll ask Mr. Roche (as
Political Outreach
Leader) to e-mail members when the dates for these are
set.
. *****
*****
*****
*****
***** *****
.
CINCINNATI INVADES MILLENNICON !
MILLENNICON, Cincinnati's
premier Science Fiction Convention, has
invited the Cincinnati Branch to host an informational
table and Mars
Society presentation at this year's Event.
MILLENNICON will be held the
weekend of March 19-21 (the calm before the March
Storm?), and Guest of
Honor will be none other than Ben Bova!
Current plans call for selling
"The Case for Mars", "Mars Direct"
videotapes, and "Mars or Bust" buttons at the
table, a combination "Who is
the Mars Society" and "What is Mars
Direct" presentation, and possibly
advertising in the Programming Book. If you're
interested in attending
and/or helping with the table, check out the MILLENNICON
website at
http://www.millennicon.org/
, and contact Gavin Whittle, Head of the
Cincinnati Branch.
. *****
*****
*****
*****
***** *****
.
MSDC INVITES CHAPTER PRESENTATION
Meanwhile, the Midwest Space
Development Conference (MSDC) will be held
October 8 - 10 1999, and Bill Avery, Chairman for the
1999 MSDC (and a Mars
Society founding member) has invited Cleveland Branch to
give a presentation
and display table.
MSDC, the oldest and largest
regional space conference, is in its 14th
year; we had a display table at last year's conference,
and the
presentations were a blast! Many MSDC attendees
last year became members;
this year they will present the latest in the
developments with the
International Space Station, Astronomy and towards
establishing a permanent
human presence on the Moon and Mars.
What do you say, Brian; is
Cleveland Branch up to it?
. *****
*****
*****
*****
***** *****
.
FIRST PLANNING MEETING FOR CINCY
On 14 Feb 99, Cincinnati Branch
held its first Planning Meeting. In
keeping with Cincinnati's cosmopolitan and somewhat
bohemian image, they
gathered in a local coffee shop to discuss representative
contacts,
newspaper and journal submissions, and MILLENNICON
activities over iced
lattes.
Gavin Whittle (Branch Head)
states they should be able to meet with
Representative Rob Portman in the near future, though
he's waiting on a
final date. Good luck on your first Political
Contact, Cincinnati!
. *****
*****
*****
*****
***** *****
.
ODDS 'N SODS
Jeff Roche, our webmaster, took
on another hat by accepting the
position of head of Political Outreach for the Ohio
Chapter. He reminds
members interested in Political Outreach to visit the
Chapter's Political
Outreach Website (POW!) at http://www.drfast.net/mars/politics.htm
. He has
also offered to help other Chapter members in contacting
their local
representatives for meetings.
Mir may NOT stay in orbit until
2002; word now is that their
unidentified investor has pulled out. You can read
about it at
http://cnn.com/TECH/space/9902/11/russia.mir.reut/index.html
.
Members who attended the
Founding Convention may remember Larry Lemke
(of NASA Ames Research Center) proposing a Mars airplane
flight down the
Valles Marineris on the 100th anniversary of the Wright
Brothers' first
airplane flight. NASA has funded the idea:
read about it at
http://www.newscientist.com/ns/19990213/newsstory10.html
.
I also attended Tom Gangale's
presentation on a Mars satellite system
(MARSSAT) for assured communication with Piloted Missions
to Mars. This,
too, has received the NASA go-ahead.
Finally: remember those
miniscule 'fossils' on the Mars rock,
ALH84001, that many researchers felt were too small to be
bacteria? There's
new evidence that they MAY be: read it at
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_277000/277674.stm
.
And that wraps it up for another
edition of the Mars Society - Ohio
Chapter Newsletter. Thanks once again to everyone
out there looking
professional and doing the work... THAT'S what gets
us...
ON TO MARS !!
Tamarack R. Czarnik
30 Jan 99
Hello, Ohio Chapter - Mars
Society Members !!
Remember what I said 2 weeks
ago, about people snuggling down and
avoiding travel in January? Well, apparently I
don't know Mars Society
people, because the last 2 weeks have been filled with
presentations and
Representative Visits, with more on the way!
January BOAR Scores now read
like this...
.
Objective
Cleveland
Cincinnati
.
Presentations
1
0
.
Representatives
1
0
. Paid
Members 7
6
If you've received a number of
'Please Remove Me From Your List'
e-mails, don't panic; Mars-news-list@nw.net
is having some Server problems.
This newsletter is sent out ONLY to people who have
specifically requested
it. Also, I've had a number of requests for paper
copies of the Newsletter
(from those without computers), so this issue inaugurates
availability of
paper copies to those requesting them. If a friend
has copied this for you,
just ask him/her to e-mail me at patttam@erinet.com .
In this issue...
.
* Second Representative Visit A Blast; Third Visit
Set
.
* Brian Miller on Mars
.
* Mars Society Brochures Available !
.
* Cincinnati Planning Branch Meetings, More
.
* Odds 'n Sods (Miscellaneous)
. *****
*****
*****
*****
***** *****
. SECOND
REPRESENTATIVE VISIT A BLAST; THIRD VISIT SET
On 25 Jan 99, lightning struck
twice as webmaster Jeff Roche, Cleveland
Head Brian Miller and Chapter Chair Tam Czarnik raised
the flag of Mars in
the Cleveland offices of Josh Rubin, NASA point man for
Senator Mike DeWine.
Mr. Rubin proved openly supportive during our half-hour
meeting, discussing
the Mars Society, Mars Direct plan and what a Piloted
Mission to Mars would
mean for Ohio. We anticipate staying in touch as we
contact further
legislators.
Our next Representative
scheduled is Caryn Candisky, the Northeast Ohio
Director for Senator Voinovich. This meeting will
be on Monday, 8 Feb 99 at
11:00a.m., at the Senator's office in Cleveland at 1240 E
9th, Suite 2955.
We'll meet at Jeff's house at 10:30 a.m. to plan, then
head downtown. If
you can take an early lunch on the 8th, please join us
either at Jeff
Roche's house (directions at http://www.drfast.net/mars/dirjeff.htm),
or the
Senator's office. Let's make a Future !
. *****
*****
*****
*****
***** *****
.
BRIAN MILLER ON MARS
Brian Miller, Head of Cleveland
Branch, made his first presentation of
1999 to the Cleveland UFOlogy Project on Saturday, 16 Jan
99, and those who
know Mr. Miller will not be surprised by the
result: people got interested,
then enthusiastic, and the ensuing discussion lasted well
into the night!
Cleveland Members should know
that Brian's new e-mail address is
Brimil4515@aol.com
(congrats on the new computer, Brian!). We all look
forward to further presentations and long discussions
with this dynamic
speaker.
. *****
*****
*****
*****
***** *****
.
MARS SOCIETY BROCHURES AVAILABLE !
John McKnight, the Mars
Society's new Executive Director, recently sent
me 100 copies of the new Mars Society brochure, and it is
HOT! Full color,
featuring the artwork of Pat Rawlings and Robert Murray,
a Membership Form
and the full text of the Founding Declaration, it's sure
to inspire new
Members. I'll be sending 30 of these to each of the
Branch Heads, and
seeding others in Toledo and Columbus.
. *****
*****
*****
*****
***** *****
.
CINCINNATI PLANNING BRANCH MEETINGS, MORE
Gavin Whittle, head of
Cincinnati Branch, recently informed me of some
exciting developments in Southwestern Ohio. He
tells me that a full meeting
of all members in the area will take place as soon as
possible, and work on
University Organization status is continuing apace.
They are also planning
contacting area schools to find out about science fairs
(so they can
distribute copies of "The Case for Mars" as
prizes), and posting the
newly-available color brochures around the
University. Thanks, Gavin and
Janis!
. *****
*****
*****
*****
***** *****
.
ODDS 'N SODS
The Mars Society now has an
on-line store, located at
http://www.marssociety.org/shopping.asp.
Russia plans to continue
orbiting (and funding) Mir another 3 years,
while postponing the overdue ISS crew quarters module
until at least
September 99 amid concerns that Russia may be too
cash-poor to meet her ISS
commitments. You can read about it all over the
Internet, etc. Not Mars
news, but it CERTAINLY effects us!
In a related note, on Monday,
Feb. 1, 1999, at 2 p.m. EST, Daniel S.
Goldin and NASA Comptroller Malcolm Peterson will hold a
briefing on NASA's
fiscal year 2000 budget request, carried live on NASA
TV. (Thanks go out to
member Timothy Gaffney)
The Mars Society is getting
massive coverage, in magazines from Popular
Science to MIT Technology Review. Check it out at
http://www.marssociety.org/inthenews.asp.
The Mars ISSP Precursor abstract
is on-line at
http://powerweb.lerc.nasa.gov/pvsee/publications/mars/MIP_LPSC.html.
Learn
how we'll generate propellant-grade oxygen from the
Martian atmosphere on
the Mars-2001 Surveyor Lander; our future lifts-off in
April 2001! (Thanks
for doing the work, Mr. Landis!)
. *****
*****
*****
*****
***** *****
Whew! Not bad for a month
of 'avoiding travel'! Sorry, folks;
every time I try to estimate your commitment and
enthusiasm it's ME who
comes up short. Thanks to everyone sending in
information. If your
computerless friends want a paper copy of the Newsletter,
please e-mail me
their postal address and I'll send it out! Let's
keep looking professional,
doing the work, and going...
.
ON TO MARS !!
.
Tamarack R. Czarnik
15 Jan 99
Hello, Ohio Chapter - Mars Society Members !!
January, a time of icy storms and arctic blasts, a month
for snuggling down and avoiding travel... or is it?
There's a lot going on this January, and some of it you
won't want to miss!
BOAR Scores: Branch Objective Attainment Record Scores
will be posted with each newsletter, and January starts
out with clean slates for both Branches...
Objective Cleveland Cincinnati
Presentations 0 0
Representatives 0 0
Paid Members 0 0
Sorry: numbers of paid members haven't been reported to
me yet.)
But Cleveland Branch is ready for a flying start, with
presentations by Brian Miller on the 16th and Geoffrey
Landis the 22nd and 29th, and the upcoming contact with
Josh Rubin (see article below). Branch heads, please
report your paid members
In this issue....
* Next Political Contact Scheduled
* Toledo Table Aborted!
* Japan's Mars Orbiter (Nozomi) delayed
* Aerospace Medicine 101 Begins
* Mars Direct Books, Videos and Buttons Available
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
NEXT POLITICAL CONTACT SCHEDULED
Jeff Roche, our webmaster, has gotten the next
Representative meeting scheduled! On Monday January 25,
1999 at 2:30PM, we'll meet with Josh Rubin, who is
Senator DeWine's point man with NASA. With the
Impeachment trial, Senator DeWine's schedule is
uncertain, but Mr. Rubin will pass along our information
and will set up our meeting with the Senator at a later
date. We will meet with Mr. Rubin in the Downtown
Cleveland Office on corner of E 6th and Superior; the
address is 600 Superior, Bank One Building 24th floor,
suite 2450.
Our thanks to Jeff Roche for setting this up; let's mark
our calendars and hope for good weather! (See next
article)
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
TOLEDO TABLE ABORTED!
On Tuesday, 12 Jan 99 I decided the weather would hold
long enough to get to Toledo for the Informational table,
so I loaded up my little '91 Escort and started driving.
Bad mistake. By 8:30 pm I was moving 20 mph and STILL
sliding around the road; in the last 1/2 mile before the
rest area I counted 8 cars and trucks in the ditch. I
spent the night sleeping in my Escort's hatchback, and
drove the 100 miles back to Dayton at 25 mph the next
day.
We'll reschedule the Toledo informational table, but with
a little more cooperation from the weather.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
JAPAN'S MARS ORBITER (NOZOMI) DELAYED
Thanks go out to Janis Jaunbergs for this follow-up...
Yahoo! News, AP Headlines Tuesday January 12 9:53 AM ET
Japan Mars Probe Running Late
Nozomi ("Hope"), Japan's first spacecraft to
Mars, will reach its destination in late 2003, four years
later than initially planned because of a fuel shortage.
The half-ton unmanned Nozomi took off July 4 from
southern Japan and was scheduled to reach the orbit
around Mars in October this year. Its arrival will be
delayed because the spacecraft spent more fuel than
expected to correct its course on Dec. 21, Tsutomu
Numata, an official at the Education Ministry's research
institute division, said Tuesday.
The spacecraft will require less fuel to go into orbit
around Mars if it waits until December 2003, when the
planet begins a slower orbit around the sun that lasts
through January 2004, Numata said. The delay in arrival
will not affect the spacecraft's ability to carry out its
mission, Numata said. The $80 million Nozomi is scheduled
to beam back photographs and data from Mars. The
spacecraft will make an oval orbit around Mars that will
range from 96 miles above the surface to 27,000 miles
away.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
AEROSPACE MEDICINE 101 BEGINS
Bob Zubrin says we're medically ready to go to Mars
tomorrow. Learn why I'm not so sanguine, and what's being
done to get us there, in this 6-part series of papers
outlining the practice of Aerospace Medicine. Part one, 'Adaptations to Spaceflight', gives
an overview of what happens to the body in space, and why
that's a problem; it's now available through a link on
our website's home page. If you're ready to send a group
of humans to Mars, know what you're getting yourself (and
them!) into.
A new paper will be posted every 2 months throughout
1999; by the time you've read December's paper, you'll be
ready to talk shop with any Doc who says we can't go!
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
MARS DIRECT BOOKS, VIDEOS AND BUTTONS AVAILABLE
Yes, we still have copies of Bob Zubrin's 'Mars
Direct' video for sale. This is a 75-minute video
featuring Bob Zubrin explaining the importance of the
Martian Frontier and the workings of his 'Mars Direct'
Mission. The video makes small, informal
mini-presentations as easy as turning on your VCR, and
the normal $20 price is discounted to $12 for Mars
Society members.
And yes, we still have copies of Dr. Zubrin's seminal
work, "The Case for Mars", on sale for $6.50
(50% off the $13 cover price!). The 300+ page softbound
book details the importance of Mars to today's world, how
to get there, and why we must.
Plus, we still have a few "Mars or Bust"
buttons for sale at 50 cents apiece. Any order should
include $3 for Priority Mailing.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
That's it for our January newsletter. Remember to visit
our website at http://www.drfast.net/mars/ for more
information on upcoming presentations, Representative
Visits or sundry goings-on about the state! ON TO MARS !!
Tamarack R. Czarnik
30 Dec 98
Hello, Ohio Chapter - Mars Society Members !!
Happy New Year! A time of solemn contemplation, of
New Year's resolutions and plans to become more than we
are. A time for me to re-examine my motivations for
joining the Mars Society, and renew my devotion to it's
goals. And a last chance for everyone reading this to
catch the first wave of the Diaspora.
In this issue....
* LAST CALL FOR THE FIRST WAVE
* HELP NEEDED AT TOLEDO TABLE
* NEXT PRESENTATION DATE SET
* MARS POLAR LANDER SET TO LAUNCH 3 JAN 99
* SECOND MARS SOCIETY CONVENTION SCHEDULED
* NEW YEARS RESOLUTION FROM THE OHIO CHAIR
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
LAST CALL FOR THE FIRST WAVE
Okay; by now everybody knows that, if you send in your
membership dues by midnight of the 31st, you'll be
enrolled as a Founding Member of the Mars Society,
complete with "Hey, I was a Member BEFORE they even
had membership cards!" bragging rights. But did you
know your $50 donation ($25 for students and retirees;
$100 for your entire family!) is 100% tax-deductible, AND
deducted from your entrance fee to the 1999 Mars Society
Conference? ...okay, so you knew that too. You know MY
reason for joining: THIS is the Diaspora, the first
budding growth of Humanity's flight to the stars. I
sometimes sit back and think about what I'll be proud of
on my deathbed, what I'll congratulate myself on in my
old age. It's why I'm in Aerospace Medicine and not
wandering the world from Australia to Zanzibar. I WANT us
to go; I WANT to help make it happen. I hope you do, too.
It's NOW. Or Never. ON TO MARS !!
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
HELP NEEDED AT TOLEDO TABLE
On Wednesday, 13 Jan 99, Ohio Chapter will host an
informational table in the Student Union of the
University of Toledo (Bancroft Campus) to welcome the
returning students. I'll be there from 9 a.m. until 7
p.m., and our sole (9-year old) Toledo member will join
me as classes allow. If anyone else can make it for any
part of the time, I'd appreciate the help; please e-mail
me at my 'Net address of patttam@erinet.com, or call me
at (937) 254-5221 to let me know.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
NEXT PRESENTATION DATE SET
Brian Miller will give a presentation of the Mars Direct
plan to the Cleveland UFOlogy Project on Saturday, 16 Jan
99 at 8:30 p.m. It will be held in the St. Charles Church
on 2nd Street, south of Snow Road, in Parma, Ohio off
State Route 3 (that's just South of Cleveland). Thanks go
to Richard Lee for setting this one up! Those who've
heard Brian speak know his enthusiasm and drive; I'm
hoping to attend this Saturday presentation myself. Hope
to see you there!
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
MARS POLAR LANDER SET TO LAUNCH 3 JAN 99
NASA's Mars Polar Lander, sister craft to the Mars
Climate Orbiter launched on 11 Dec 98, is set to launch 3
Jan 99 from Cape Canaveral, and scheduled for arrival on
Mars in December 1999. After slowing by aerobraking (as
did Pathfinder), it will make a direct atmospheric entry
using parachute and propulsive descent before landing in
Mars' south polar region. It will carry 2 micro-probes
for soil analysis, numerous instruments for gas and
meteorological analysis, and the 'Mars Microphone' for
sampling surface sounds. After completing its 1.8
Earth-year mission, it will drift into a low-maintenance
orbit, and ultimately provide UHF two-way relay
capability for the 2001 Mars mission. Interested? Read
all about it at...
http://mpfwww.jpl.nasa.gov/msp98/lander/
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
SECOND MARS SOCIETY CONVENTION SCHEDULED
Set your Calendars! 12 - 15 Aug 99 is the date set for
the second International Mars Society Convention in
Boulder, Colorado. Registration fee is $140 before 30
June 99, or $50 for students; and (of course) your
membership dues are deductible from your registration
fee. Information is available on the Mars Society
homepage at
http://www.marssociety.org/bulletin_151298_01b.asp .
Anyone who was at last year's Conference remembers the
excitement, the spontaneous exchange of ideas and
perspectives, the synergistic ENERGY of being surrounded
by people ready to work day and night to go to Mars.
Unfortunately, I also remember the thrill of arriving at
midnight with no confirmed room, and sleeping on the
floor of the Youth Hostel. I'll make my reservations
earlier this year!
A Call For Papers has also been issued; I expect to
submit one or two before the close-out date of 31 May 99
myself. If you're interested in presenting your research
or perspective and you're not sure if it's appropriate,
e-mail me at patttam@erinet.com to discuss it!
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
NEW YEARS RESOLUTION FROM THE OHIO CHAIR
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to
repeat it." --George Santayana
I firmly believe we WILL send a piloted mission to Mars.
From the last year of watching the Space News and the
evolution of NASA policy on Mars, I no longer fear the US
will either bypass Mars or try to establish a Lunar Base
before going to Mars. We ARE going to Mars.
So why am I still here, doing this? Why push for a Mars
Mission, when I already believe NASA will mount one
WHATEVER I do? Because I can't see the future; but I have
seen the past, and it troubles me.
All Space Agencies are political entities, existing
primarily at the whim of government's perception of
public wishes. If NO ONE wanted a Space Program, what
politician would vote to spend billions of dollars on
one? If our elected Representatives believe only a few
hundred scientists want to go to Mars, we WILL go to
Mars... for awhile, like we went to the Moon. But without
a broad-based and committed public perception of WHY we
are going to Mars, support will run out after a few
missions... and policy (and funds) will shift to the new
concern of the moment.
MARS IS HOME, our home away from this fragile blue
miracle in space we call 'Earth'. We do not go there
purely for science, we go there to LIVE, to grow and
explore and expand, to raise crops and children and
dreams. I will NOT see our new home undervalued and
written off in my lifetime as a "been there, done
that" dead-end, even if it is ONLY for my lifetime.
There are no 'dead-ends' in space, we DO tend to go back,
eventually... but it's now almost 30 years since Apollo
17 abandoned the Moon, and we haven't left Low Earth
Orbit since....
So I do highly resolve to CONTINUE to educate, to
organize, to not only manage us but to LEAD us in raising
public awareness of Mars' unique role in our future,
inciting support for human exploration and development of
Mars, and doing what I can to see not only men and women
but children living and working on Mars before my life is
over.
As Martin Luther said, "Here I stand; I can do no
other."
ON TO MARS !!
Tamarack R. Czarnik,MD
Chair, Ohio Chapter, Mars Society
15 Nov 98
Hello, Ohio Chapter Members of the Mars Society -
Quite a bit going on around the
state of Ohio these days. In this
update...
* Website Changing Location
* Presentations & Other Activity
* Mars Society Seeking Corporate Sponsors
* 'Mars Direct' videos for sale
* 'Journey to Mars' videos available
*************
************ ***********
WEBSITE CHANGING LOCATION
Jeff Roche, Ohio Chapter's
webmaster, has informed me of a number of
problems people have reported accessing our
website. As a result, we have
decided to move the website to DrFast, which he
feels will be more
reliable. Sorry: I don't have the address
yet; I'll send it on to everyone
as soon as possible.
Also: if you haven't seen
our website lately, you might want to check
out the section on Political Activism and Contacting your
Local
Representatives.
*************
************ ***********
PRESENTATIONS & OTHER ACTIVITY
So far I know of the following
presentations and activities in
Ohio.....
* Brian Miller, head of the Cleveland Branch, will
present "Mars: What's in
it for us, and how do we get there ?" on Saturday, 5
Dec '98 at 8:00pm, in
the Wright Physics Building, Room 103 at Oberlin College
in Oberlin, Ohio.
* The Mars Direct presentation to the Canton UFOlogy
Group will need to be
rescheduled, due to family illness.
* Gavin Whittle, head of the Cincinnati Branch, published
an excellent
letter in the Cincinnati Enquirer 11 Nov 98, supporting a
piloted mission to
Mars. I won't reprint it here, but will e-mail it
on request.
*************
************ ***********
MARS SOCIETY SEEKING CORPORATE SPONSORS
The Mars Society is interested
in collecting the names (and addresses
of corporate offices, if known) of Adventure
Sports/Sporting Goods stores
that members visit/buy from, with an eye towards
developing corporate
sponsors. If you shop at a company that fits that
description, please let
me (or your local Branch head) know of it. Thanks.
*************
************ ***********
'MARS DIRECT' VIDEOS AVAILABLE
After getting positive feedback
from a number of members, I've decided
to order 10 copies of Bob Zubrin's video, "Mars
Direct: Humans to the Red
Planet within a Decade". The video is 75 minutes
long, and shows Dr. Zubrin
outlining (in a one-on-one environment) his "Mars
Direct" plan. It also has
a number of shorter inspirational talks from his book,
and gives a good
overview of his plans.
I've found the video
is a very painless way to give a presentation;
if you're nervous speaking in public, you can call people
together for a
showing of the video. The price is normally $20,
but it's discounted to $12
for Mars Society members; plus, the producers are
donating 10% of all retail
sales made as a result of Mars Society internet
advertising to the Mars
Society, so I'll be sure to mention the 'Net when
ordering....
If you'd like a copy of the
video, please let me know.
*************
************ ***********
'JOURNEY TO MARS' VIDEOS AVAILABLE
If anyone missed the 1-hour PBS
Special 'Journey to Mars' last week,
I've made a copy of it and will be happy to send one to
you.
This hour-long special features
Bob Zubrin, Carol Stoker, and a number
of other scientists explaining (in layman's terms) some
of the difficulties
in getting to Mars, and what's being done to solve the
problems.
If you'd like a copy, just send me a
blank videocassette (VHS), or one
you wouldn't mind taping over, and $3 for a Priority mail
box (or send me a
$3 Priority Mail stamp).
*************
************ ***********
Well, that's about it for this
issue of the Ohio Chapter Newsletter.
Please let me know if you're going to be giving a
presentation, contacting
one of your local Representatives (so we can have members
there), or the
like.
Let's look professional, do the
work, and go...
ON TO MARS !!
Tamarack R. Czarnik
Chair, Ohio Chapter - Mars Society
12 Oct 98
Hello, All -
Apologies for my lateness
getting this out; things have been a bit crazy....
The 2 Oct 98 first meeting was
staffed by a stalwart group of dedicated
Ohio Chapter members in the Cuyahoga Falls home of
Richard T. Lee. After
viewing the bulk of the Zubrin video, conversation turned
to Saturday's
conference and future projects. Mr. Lee (a veteran
of multiple conferences)
kept us on-course as to what to expect, what problems to
anticipate and what
we could reasonably hope to accomplish. It was
decided to attempt to start
separate branches of the Ohio Chapter in Cincinnati and
Cleveland by the end
of the year, and steps towards that end were
planned. Tom Schneider
(Cincinnati) volunteered to research area Science Fiction
Cons, and he and
Brian Miller (Kent) will collaborate on an article
directed to the general
public, "Mars: What's In It For
ME?" Mr. Lee will distribute fliers to the
Akron Astronomy Club, and Janis Jaunsberg will produce
and post molecular
model graphics clarifying In-Situ Resource
Utilization. Free crash space
for those low on cash (including me) was provided by Mr.
Lee.
Saturday's event, the Midwest
Space Development Conference, was an
excellent proving ground for our young chapter:
100-odd scientists,
engineers and assorted space buffs gathered for lectures
ranging from the
technical to the inspirational. With Raj Iyyunig
(Columbus) and Mary
Turzillo (Cleveland) joining us, most members were able
to attend most
lectures and still keep the table fully (wo)manned.
We sold about $100 in
books and 'Mars or Bust' buttons (not including a copy of
"The Case for
Mars" donated to the Conference raffle). More
importantly, many attendees
stopped to pick up information, discuss the Mars Direct
plan or just gab,
and we welcomed more than a dozen new signers of the
Founding Declaration
(many of whom want to become members as well).
Guest Speaker was our own Geoffrey Landis, who reminisced
over his work on Pathfinder and enthused on his projects
on the Mars 2001 Lander. Ohio Leads The Way !!
The next general Ohio Chapter
meeting will be the first Saturday in
November; we've left the place and exact time open to
encourage suggestions
for a central location. Meetings for all Ohio
members are cumbersome; this
is one main reason for local branches, starting in
Cleveland and Cincinnati.
Until we get these going, where do people want Ohio
meetings to be?
The Midwest Space Development
Conference proved we've developed the
infrastructure to display an effective table and the
enthusiastic humanpower
to present it. So our agenda is again open:
what's our next event?
Different members have pushed for a booth at a Science
Fiction Convention,
or University branches, and I KNOW Brian is itching to
start making
presentations! Now's the time to start planning
individual activities (and
tell me, so we can post them!), 2 - 3 member group
projects, and the next
Chapter Event. Let's look sharp, do the work, and
go...
ON TO MARS !!
Tamarack R. Czarnik
23 Sept 98
Hello, Ohio Chapter
Members -
The first meeting of the Ohio
Chapter of the Mars Society will be at member Richard
Lee's home in Cuyahoga Falls, just north of Akron, Ohio,
from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday, 2 Oct. 98.
Directions to 912 Davis Avenue (Mr. Lee's home) are given
below.
We will go over the materials
available for the next days' table at the Midwest Space
Development Conference, discuss procedural questions
(Does everyone want everyone else' e-mail address?
Do we need a Treasurer? Where/when should we regularly
meet?), and discuss plans for future activities/events
(e.g. Science Fiction Conference tables, school
presentations, etc.)
The next days' conference will
be held at the Holiday Inn Akron South,
located at 2940 Chenoweth Road in Akron (take exit 120
off I-77). Telephone is (330) 644-7126. Room
rates there are regularly $79/night, or $69/night if you
tell them you're registering for the Midwest Space
Development Conference (just say 'MSDC'). Cheaper
alternatives are...
Economy Inn 330-929-8200
State Road Inn 330-929-1111
Super 8 Motel 330-633-9916
Also, I have two members in the
Akron area who have limited crash space
available for those with more durability than cash.
Please contact me at patttam@erinet.com or call me at (937)
254-5221 if you're interested.
Finally, if anyone in the
Cincinnati/Dayton areas needs a ride up and back,
contact me and we'll see what we can work out.
Let's get together, do the work,
and go...
ON TO MARS !!
Tamarack R. Czarnik
*----------------------------------- *
21 Sept 98
Hello, All -
Our own Jeff Roche has put
together a website for the Ohio Chapter,
based on the Chapter Template sent out by Marc
Boucher. Our address is.....
http://www.freeyellow.com/members5/marsohio/.
Thanks to everybody who offered
to help, and the suggestions and hints.
Why not check the site out and tell me what you think?
It looks like Friday night is
winning out over Sunday morning, so unless I get a strong
influx of 'nay' votes we can plan on the first meeting
being Friday, 2 Oct 98. Time and place are
currently being worked out.
The books to sell at the
conference are in; I should be receiving samples of
buttons tomorrow, and I'll okay the one that looks
closest to the "Mars or Bust" originals.
More soonest; I'm spinning
plates with both hands, and Aerospace Medicine classes
resume for me tomorrow!
ON TO MARS!!
Tamarack R. Czarnik
17 Sept 98
Hello, Ohio Mars Society Members -
Thanks to everyone for all the feedback on the upcoming
Midwest Space
Development Conference (if anyone didn't get the details,
please e-mail me
for info). After checking with Maggie Zubrin for
permission, I located an
inexpensive source for "Mars or Bust" buttons
and faxed a scanned picture of
our buttons to them. If their reproductions look good,
I'll order 25 of
them and we should be able to sell them for .50 a piece.
Thanks also for all the offers of help running the table.
I'll start
working on a tentative schedule so no one has to miss
more than 2 hours or
so of the conference. I'd like at least one of the people
at the table at
any time to be conversant with Dr. Zubrin's "Mars
Direct" plan, to field the
questions we're sure to get. Could everyone who can help
run the table
e-mail me back, and let me know about what percent they
know the "Mars
Direct" plan (e.g. 1% = "dunno", 100% =
Know all the papers by heart)? This
would help me a great deal.
It's been suggested we meet before or after the
Conference as a First
Meeting of the Ohio Chapter, and (as many people are
going) I think it'd be
a great idea. It'd be a fine opportunity to meet each
other, hash out plans
for future events, swap ideas, and go over the "Mars
Direct" plan for the
table people. Would people prefer Friday evening, 2 Oct.
98, fairly late
(for those of us driving cross-state), or early Sunday, 4
Oct. 98? It'd be
good to meet in a private home or hotel room instead of a
business, so we
could practice setting up the table, go over materials,
etc. Suggestions??
Speaking of hotel rooms, for those put off by the
$69/night price at
the Holiday Inn Akron South, I've received a few cheaper
alternatives.
Would people like to meet in the conference room of one
of those?
Once again, thanks for all the input! I'll e-mail details
on the First
Meeting and hotel arrangements when I've got enough
feedback to know (or
guess) what people want. If you prefer, please call me at
(937)254-5221
(home phone). ON TO MARS !!
Tamarack R. Czarnik
The choice, as Wells once said, is the Universe -- or
nothing....The
challenge of the great spaces between the worlds is a
stupendous one; but if we fail to meet it, the story of
our race will be drawing to its close. Humanity will have
turned its back upon the still untrodden heights and will
be descending again the long slope that stretches, across
a thousand million years of time, down to the shores of
the primeval sea. ArthurC. Clarke
9 Sept 98
Hello, Mars Society - Ohio Chapter Members -
I have gotten word back from the
person running the Midwest Space
Development Conference in Akron, Ohio on 3 Oct 98
(please see my e-mail of 4 Sept. 98). She has not
only welcomed us to run a table for $25 (which I
can cover) and offered to waive the $25 fee (which I've
declined), she has
offered a special $20/person rate (down from the general
$50/person registration fee) for Mars Society - Ohio
Chapter members.
As the man said,
"Membership has its privileges."
Giving us 3 orders of business:
1) How to Register
for the conference,
2) What we should do at the table, and
3) How to become a member.
1) They're going to likewise waive the need for
proof of membership for this event, as we're still
organizing how people will send in membership fees.
So if you're interested in attending, just mail
$20/person to...
MSDC
6167 Oakwood Circle
North Ridgeville, OH 44039-2663
Bob Zubrin will unfortunately NOT be at the conference
(had to cancel due to overwhelming commitments); the
Guest Speaker will be our own Geoffrey Landis.
Rooms in the hotel are $69/night, but we have an offer
from a local member to put up crash space for 1 or 2
members, and I'll research cheaper alternatives if people
want them. (Money is ALWAYS a consideration....)
2) I have the materials for PLENTY of activities on hand
for the table,
including....
* Dr. Zubrin's "Mars Direct" videotape and a
combo. TV/VCR, to play a
10-minute loop describing the concept (or the entire
tape)
* A large copy of the Declaration for signing
* Posters of Mars, and the 'Mars Direct' concept
* Copies of Dr. Zubrin's The Case for Mars to sell (I've
already asked for
and received clearance to sell books, and ordered 25
copies)
* Copies of original research presented at the Founding
Convention
* A NASA Mars Globe
* The Nat'l Geographic book "Mars: Uncovering
the Secrets of the Red
Planet"
But I'd like to hear
suggestions, what people would like to see us do
at the table.
NOW: I'll need help
running the table. The $25 I'm sending in will
cover conference registration for myself and one other
person. Who would like to get free entrance to the
conference in exchange for missing parts of it?
3) Finally, how to become a member. Until Dec 98,
anyone who sends in the
$50/year tax-deductible registration fee will be entered
as a Founding Member of the Mars Society. There are
two options:
1) Go to http://www.marssociety.org/ and register on-line, using
a credit card.
2) Send the $50/year membership fee in to Maggie
Zubrin, interim Treasurer, whose address is
Mars Society
Box 273
Indian Hills, CO 80454
I'm told that, as details get hashed out, we
may have a local Treasurer to facilitate the
process. No word on details yet, though.
As I said, they're waiving proof of membership for this
event, but we can't reasonably expect conferences to
extend discounts like this to anyone who simply SAYS
they're a member. After this, we should expect
events extending discounts to request proof of
membership.
Okay: that's a lot to chew on. Please send in
thoughts...
* What should we do at the table?
* Will you be attending the conference?
* Who is available to help on the table?
* Do people want me to look into cheaper hotel
accomodations?
Thanks for your patience in reading through all of this.
ON TO
MARS !!
Tamarack R. Czarnik
17 Aug '98
Hello, Mars Society
Founding Members - Ohio Chapter! Tamarack R. Czarnik
here, ostensibly the chairperson for the chapter. Let me
warn you right off:
1) I'm not
brilliant, or even particularly smart. I'm one of Robert
Service's "...slowly, steady plodding ones..."
2) I'm not
charismatic like Bob Zubrin: I tend to be pretty quiet,
and prefer to be the driving force behind the scenes.
3) I'm not married
to this job, I'm married to Patt. If someone with more
charisma or experience or smarts wants it, I'll hand it
over in a moment.
So: I need to fly
out to Oklahoma City for a week on Friday (21 Aug '98),
and before then I'd love to hear from everybody with the
following:
* Your name,
address and telephone number
* Who you are:
what's your job, what hobbies, etc.
* What you'd like
to see the Ohio Chapter do over the course of the next
year.
For example: My
name/address/phone is.....
Tamarack R. Czarnik
I'm a doctor,
Board-certified in Family Practice; 38 years old, married
without kids. I'm currently enrolled in the College of
Aerospace Medicine at Wright State University. My
hobbies/interests include scuba diving, science fiction
(when I have time), travel (Patt and I have been to
Nepal, Tibet, Egypt, China, Siberia, Mongolia and Russia;
I've also been to Thailand, Wales, Brazil &
Venezuela, Point Barrow and even Wisconsin!), and playing
on my computer. My Mars-related interest is chiefly in
space biomedical countermeasures, particularly radiation
and shielding.
Over the next year,
I'd like to see us....
* Grow to 50
members (just Bob Zubrin's "everyone bring in 4 more
people")
* Develop an
infrastructure (books, videos, transparencies, lists of
addresses, models, etc.)
* Go out and DO
what each of us is good at: school presentations,
organizing letter-writing groups, neighborhood talks,
research, Internet searches, design bumper-stickers (to
be 'yea'd or 'nay'd by Uncle Bob, I suppose), whatever!
Do you want to organize a fund-raising event, air a
"community access" TV spot, set up a table at
the next Science Fiction Convention? Let's talk about it!
* Develop
fusion-reactor starships and take the leading edge of the
Diaspora. (okay, okay... I'll settle for 3 out of 4.
Sheesh!)
If that looks like
too much stuff to think about, type in and send, please
send me your name and address and phone number, okay?
Before I leave on Friday, I'll send out an e-list of Ohio
members with address, phone and e-mail info (if
everyone's okay with that). OH: also, please let me know
if your computer accepts HTML (fancy text) or plain text
only. Nothing worse than a screenful of indecipherable
code.
Remember: we're
OHIO!! We carry the legacy of Orville and Wilbur Wright,
Neil Armstrong and John Glenn. Let's look and act
professional, do the work and go...
ON TO MARS !!
Tam R. Czarnik, MD
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