News

Public Lecture on MarsOz at the VSSEC

A public lecture on the Mars Society Australias MarsOz mission architecture and concept vehicle designs will be given by MSA Vice-President Dr Jonathan Clarke at the Victorian Space Science Education Centre (VSSEC) at 6pm on 5th July, 2005. Booking is essential.

For more details, download a lecture flyer here (pdf).
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Frame Complete

The project has moved forward slowly on two fronts: Bruce's work on a robust steel frame which defines much of the shape of the forward cabin and Stan and Graham working on the body steelwork. Bruce has now completed the frame, which is ready to take its place as part of the forward cabin steelwork, which can now continue. He will now be able to use that work to settle any remaining issues on the exact cabin shape and side window structure. The structure itself should go down the factory this week. The side windows are actually designed around Mitsubishi L300 doors, which contain a roll-down window. This would not be open in simulations, of course, but would rather be used as an emergency escape in case of smoke or fire inside the cabin. The doors need some modification to be mounted into the side cabin, which is expected to be done this week.

Meanwhile Stan Hart and Graham have been doing more special steelwork for the body and chassis. On Friday we mounted the forward...

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Refining the Design

5 May, 2006. Efforts to accelerate the construction process have been made during March. Our strategy involves separating the construction work into several independent work packages, and have them carried out simultaneously at different sites. For example, the rover body can be separated from the vehicle chassis, so that the latter can be moved to another site for engine refurbishment work, while work continues on the body frame. A few jobs need to be finished before that can be done properly. In particular, the body mount structures needed to be completed. For the engine work the contractor ChevyPower, who gave a very competitive quote last year, has been chosen but we want them to do more than we arranged at that time, so a new deal is being negotiated. The body frame construction is currently waiting for engineer Bruce Armstrong to finish some construction drawings for fabrication. John Byfield cannot begin this work package without these drawings. Bruce says there are...

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AMEC 2006 Call for Papers

Mars Society Australia is pleased to announce that the call for papers for the sixth Australian Mars Exploration Conference (AMEC 2006) is now open. This years theme - 'Establishing Base Camp: Science, Methods and Technologies to Support the Human Exploration of Mars' - covers the plethora of issues connected to development of a Mars base to support future human exploration, such as selecting a site, building a base, logistics, exploration radii, setting up a research program, communication and crew safety.

For more details, visit the AMEC2006 homepage.
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MSA Directors Present Mars Exploration to WA Country School

MSA President David Cooper and Starchaser MARSupial Rover Project Manager and Director, Dr Graham Mann, recently visited St Joseph's School in the Town of Northam, in the wheat-belt of Western Australia. They made presentation about Mars Exploration to the school assembly and the Year 10 Space Science Group (see picture.) MSA Member Mark Gargano is the Science Coordinator at St Joseph's and is very active at the student level in promoting both the Mars Society and space science in general. Nine students from St Joseph's School have joined the MSA as student members and will be helping with talks on their projects at the Centre for Planetary and Space Studies, other promotional activities and the first of the MARSupial Trax test programs. They are currently designing mission patches for Trax-1. At the end of the...
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Victorian Branch Celebrates Christmas

The Victorian branch recently held its Christmas meeting at the Royal Siam Restaurant in Kew. Those present included former MSA President Guy Murphy, who is currently visiting Australia from the UK.



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Selecting Contractors

Much of the last two months has been spent on the task of obtaining competitive quotes for outsourcing some of the work remaining on the engine, bodywork and steel framing. This is not easy to manage, since it requires a lot of description and negotiation on work packets, prices and timing. There is a huge shortage of contractors in the Western Australia at present, and this is complicating the outsourcing task. However some progress has been made on the steelwork, and mechanical tasks surrounding the engine. The prices and timing for plastic composite work, have so far been unsatisfactory, so more work needs to be done there.

The vehicle will remain with Byfields Engineering for the time being, but the chassis may detached from the steel superstructure and moved to another factory for engine-related mechanical work. The radiator frame and fan mounting has been completed. The bumper has been more complicated than expected but is now almost complete. The next tasks involve...

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Trinity College Builds New Shed for Rover

A new home for the Starchaser rover has been built by Trinity College in East Perth. The new housing is a colourbond garage with large doors, designed especially for the vehicle. The vehicle will be moved there once steelwork construction has been completed. Work currently being undertaken includes the construction of the forward bumper and the forward control linkage. It is hoped that the excellent workshop and technical facilities at Trinity College will speed up construction.

A much improved version of the 1/12 scale model was a popular eye-catcher at the recent 5th Australian Space Science Conference in Melbourne. The model joined displays of the MarsSkin 3 mechanical counterpressure suit and plans of the Mars-Oz station at the Mars Society Australia exhibit. Dozens of research scientists, students and space enthusiasts showed interest in the display and the MSA is likely to gain many new members from the event.

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MSA Welcomes Arkaroola Resort as New Corporate Member

The Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary and Resort has become a corporate member of Mars Society Australia. This is in recognition of their outstanding support for MSAs expeditions to the area, including Jarntimarra-1 and Expedition Two, and MSAs future research and education program. The Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary and Resort is situated in the northernmost Flinders Ranges in central South Australia, some 600km north of Adelaide and 130km east of the coal-mining town of Leigh Creek. The 610sq km wilderness sanctuary is operated by the Sprigg family and has advanced ecotourism accreditation for tourism featuring the geology, ecology, landscape and astronomical features of the area.

Read more here.
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Roving the Red Planet Via Canberra

The 5th Australian Mars Exploration Conference will be held in Canberra this weekend, allowing locals and visitors to hear the latest news about Mars exploration, including findings from the surface of the Red Planet. The conference known as AMEC, is co-hosted this year by Mars Society Australia and the Australian National University's School of Psychology and gives national and international Mars 'experts' including scientists, engineers and specialists in human factors/psychology, a forum for networking and showcasing their latest research.

Read the full media release here.
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