NASA Spaceward Bound, a NASA Ames initiative is an opportunity for astrogeologists and astrobiologists to work with students in remote, off Earth analogous environments to conduct field experiments and engage in scientific discussions with participating students and science educators. As a first, scientists from NASA's astrobiology community are teaming up with their counterparts in Australia and India to visit Ladakh, India in August 2016 to conduct experiments in a range of research areas. Ladakh is a cold, high altitude (3000-6000m asl) desert environment that offers permafrost regions, saline and palaeolakes, hot springs that have shown to harbor microbial communities. It is also a young and active geological region that exhibits topological processes which hold clues about Martian terrain history. Interested researchers can contact the team with ideas/suggestions towards planned experiments at ...
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Free Public Lecture - Was Mars Ever Alive?
Monday, 27 July 2015
The Mars Society Australia invites you to a free public lecture 'Was Mars Ever Alive?' by Assoc. Prof. Victor Gostin, M.Sc. (Melb), PhD (ANU), University of Adelaide.
Where: Nova Systems, 27-31 London Road, Mile End South, South Australia, 5031.
Abstract: Exciting discoveries are continually being made on our sister planet, Mars. NASA's rovers plus orbiting satellites have revealed many, often unexpected features, including lava tunnels. Bright ice exists only a few cm below the surface. Martian river networks formed under semiarid climates, when floods alternated with long dry spells. The newly arrived Curiosity is already increasing our understanding of Martian long history.
Bio: Victor Gostin is a retired Associate Professor in Geology and Geophysics at the University of Adelaide. Victor lectured in earth sciences at Adelaide University from 1970 to 2001...
An Evening with Buzz Aldrin
Monday, 27 July 2015
Live on Stage Australia presents an evening with Buzz Aldrin 'Mission to Mars'. Join legendary Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin on a journey through space history and into the future from mans first Moon landing and his historic walk on another world to his revolutionary vision for a future manned mission to Mars. Hosted by Ray Martin, this event will be held in the Sydney State Theatre on 27 November and Melbourne Town Hall on 29 November, 2015. Tickets are available from Ticketmaster.
Spaceward Bound India
Sunday, 19 July 2015
The Next Spaceward Bound Project shall take place in Ladakh, India. This project is being jointly coordinated by a few Mars Society Australia members along with researchers at UNSW, NASA Ames, JPL and partner institutions in India.
The Spaceward Bound Program is an educational program developed at NASA Ames Research Center. This brings astrobiologists, scientists and students together to a remote, extreme environment to explore and understand how microbial communities sustain themselves in such biospheres. Earlier...
Robert Zubrin Touring Australia
Sunday, 22 February 2015
Robert Zubrin, President of the US Mars Society will be visiting Australia between 21st and 29th March. (Full details are included in this media release.) He will appear at the following public speaking events:-
Canberra
Monday 23rd March, 6:30pm - Weston Theatre, JG Crawford Building, ANU - booking essential
Adelaide
Tuesday 24th March, 7pm - Lecture Theatre S112, University of Adelaide
Melbourne
Wednesday 25th March, 1pm - 103 Lowe Theatre, Redmond Barry Building, University of Melbourne
Friday 27th March, 6:30pm - RMIT City Campus - booking essential
ROBERT ZUBRIN PROFILE
Robert Zubrin, formerly a Staff Engineer at Lockheed Martin Astronautics in Denver is now president of his own company, Pioneer Astronautics. He holds Masters degrees in Aeronautics and Astronautics and a...
Australian Robots Aid the Search for Life on Mars - via New Zealand
Sunday, 11 January 2015
Mars Society Australia (MSA) announces its participation in Spaceward Bound New Zealand (SBNZ), a project of the New Zealand Astrobiology Initiative (NZAI) in conjunction with University of Auckland, AUT and the Astrobiology Group of the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand, Mars Society New Zealand and the KiwiSpace Foundation. Spaceward Bound is a NASA initiated program that enagaged students and teachers in the great adventure of exploration seeking answers to some of the most fundamental questions: “What is life?’, ‘How does life begin and evolve?’ ‘Does life exist elsewhere in the Universe?’ and ‘What is the future of life on Earth and beyond?’. This is done through a series of international expeditions to exotic locations in the US, Canada, Chile, Namibia, Australia and now New Zealand. Participation in Spaceward Bound is international.
The SBNZ expedition will explore unique geological features and extreme life forms of the North Island of New Zealand with a...
Free public lecture: Was Mars ever alive?
Saturday, 13 September 2014
Assoc. Prof. Victor Gostin, M.Sc. (Melb), PhD (ANU)
Sunday 14th September 2014 at 6.00 pm
Nova Systems, 27-31 London Road, Mile End South SA 5031
Abstract: Exciting discoveries are continually being made on our sister planet, Mars. NASA's rovers plus orbiting satellites have revealed many, often unexpected features. Bright ice exists only 50cm below the surface. Martian river networks formed under semiarid climates, when floods alternated with long dry spells. Liquid surface water lasted at least 10,000 years. Strange vertical shafts cutting through lava flows may be windows into lava tunnels. Could these contain life? The newly arrived Curiosity is already increasing our understanding of Martian long history.
Bio: Victor Gostin is a retired Associate Professor and an Honorary Visiting Research Fellow in Geology and Geophysics at the University of Adelaide, Australia. A graduate of Melbourne University with a PhD from...
Upcoming Talk - Why go to Mars?
Monday, 1 September 2014
Those in the Sydney area might be interested in attending the session of THAT'LL LEARN YOU: Academia, Science, and Comedy in the Giant Dwarf theatre, Monday, 8 September 2014 from 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM (AEST) at 199 Cleveland Street, Redfern, NSW. MSA President Dr Jonathan Clarke will be talking on the subject “Why go to Mars?” in the theme “Mars vs Maths”. He will also be sharing the session with Simon Pampena (“Catalyst”), Jazz Twemlow and Alex Lee (both The Roast”). Simon is known as a maths comedian, Jazz from The Guadian Oz and Alex from ABC News 24.
Tickets can be purchased from https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/thatll-learn-you-academia-science-comedy-tickets-12660896081?ref=ebapi
All are welcome to attend!
Mars Robot Challenge Expedition Now Underway
Sunday, 6 July 2014
The Mars Robot Challenge Expedition is now underway, with the expedition entourage arriving at Arkaroola resort on Saturday, 5th July. Follow its progress on the Expedition Homepage and by reading the Expedition Diary. The Arkaroola Mars Robot Challenge Expedition is the latest of a series of expeditions run by Mars Society Australia (MSA) since its inception in 2001. Expeditioners will test a range of field robotics at Arkaroola with the goal of developing concepts for planetary operations, especially Mars. Participants include Murdoch University (WA), University of New South Wales, Mars Society India, and MSA. The Mars Society Australia would particularly like to welcome the expeditioners from Manipal University in India. The Arkaroola region was selected for the expedition as it has many features of astrobiological and geological interest to planetary scientists. The expedition will run for 2 weeks, ending in Adelaide on Sunday, 20th July.
14th Australian Space Research Conference
Sunday, 15 June 2014
The 14th Australian Space Research Conference (ASRC, formerly the Australian Space conference or ASSC), will be held in Adelaide at the University of South Australia at the City-West campus. This will be the eighth ASRC jointly sponsored and organised by the National Committee for Space and Radio Science (NCSRS) and the National Space Society of Australia (NSSA), with the support of the Australian Space Research Institute (ASRI) and the Mars Society of Australia AMEC.
It is the first conference called ASRC, reflecting a change in emphasis to Space Research as a whole rather than Space Science in particular.
The ASRC is intended to be the primary annual meeting for Australian research relating to space research, operations, and policy...
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