A 'News From the Field' web page for the Spaceward Bound Australia 2009 expedition is now online at http://www.marssociety.org.au/SBA2009.php. More information about the expedition (including a special media section) will be added shortly. The expedition will depart next week on Thursday 9th July. Once the expedition is underway, the page will feature daily updates of reports and photographs, documenting the journey from out in the field. The page will compliment NASA's existing Spaceward Bound Program Homepage.
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News
Dr Jim Bell to Give Free Public Mars Lecture 10th July
Saturday, 4 July 2009
Dr Jim Bell, International President of the Planetary Society and science team member of many recent NASA planetary missions including the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunuity, will be giving a free public lecture this coming Friday 10th, July, titled "Mars Exploration Rovers: Overview of Geologic, Geochemical, and Mineralogic Results". It will start at 4pm in the Fritz Loewe Theatre, at the Department of Earth Sciences, at the University of Melbourne. (2nd floor of the McCoy building, corner Swanston and Elgin Streets, Carlton. Admission is free.)Read an abstract of the lecture and...
AMEC2009 - Call for Abstracts Reminder
Sunday, 17 May 2009
The 9th Australian Mars Exploration Conference (AMEC2009) will be held in Adelaide over the weekend of 17th - 19th July, 2009. Presentations over this exciting two-day event will cover a range of issues concerned with forging, nurturing and developing the pioneering culture and methods required to explore Mars. The call for abstracts for the conference will be open until 10th June, with notification of review results on 15th June. MSA welcomes abstract submissions from all interested parties.
Read more here.
Read more here.
CSIRO to Sponsor Spaceward Bound Australia 2009
Thursday, 14 May 2009
The Mars Society Australia is delighted to announce that Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) will be a major sponsor of the Spaceward Bound Australia 2009 (SBA2009) Expedition. To be held in the South Australian Desert over 9th-16th July, SBA2009 will be a unique opportunity for Australian school teachers to work with NASA and MSA scientists in the field, learning to use the space sciences to bring new teaching methods to their students. Mars Society Australia President Mr David Cooper thanks the CSIRO for its generous support. "The CSIRO has shown great vision in supporting a program that will allow leading world class planetary scientists to share their expertise with the Australian educational community".Dr Pascal Lee's Australian Lecture Tour
Thursday, 30 April 2009
Dr Pascal Lee will be presenting a series of public lectures in various Australian capital cities between 25th May and 1st June. Dr Lee is Chairman of the Mars Institute, a planetary scientist with the SETI Institute, and the Director of the Haughton-Mars Project at NASA Ames Research Center. He has worked extensively in the Arctic and Antarctica, viewed as “analogs” for the Moon and Mars. His itinerary will take him to Sydney (25th May), Adelaide (26th May), Brisbane (28th May), Canberra (29th May) and Melbourne (1st June).
Find out more by downloading an information sheet here.
Find out more by downloading an information sheet here.
Australian Teacher Delegates for Spaceward Bound Australia Selected
Tuesday, 3 March 2009
MSA would like to congratulate and welcome the 5 Australian educators who have been selected and have accepted to participate in Spaceward Bound Australia 2009. After receiving a large range of submissions from very highly qualified, experienced and motivated teachers from all over Australia late last year, and a lengthy review process, the successful teacher candidates were recently informed about their selection.
Looking forward to the Spaceward Bound Australia 2009 expedition from Tasmania are Joanne Berriman, Head of Science at Oatlands District High School, Jane Dobson from Claremont College and Liz Ryan from Campania District High School. Joining these individuals, from New South Wales is Nicolette Burraston from the Armidale School and from Queensland Keith Treschman who is on the academic staff at Brisbane Girls Grammar School.
Read more here.
Looking forward to the Spaceward Bound Australia 2009 expedition from Tasmania are Joanne Berriman, Head of Science at Oatlands District High School, Jane Dobson from Claremont College and Liz Ryan from Campania District High School. Joining these individuals, from New South Wales is Nicolette Burraston from the Armidale School and from Queensland Keith Treschman who is on the academic staff at Brisbane Girls Grammar School.
Read more here.
Planetary Geology for Beginners
Thursday, 6 November 2008
Fascinated by the latest images from Mars? Curious about how impact craters have shaped the Moon? Want to know how the rocky bodies in the Solar System formed? Always wanted to see a meteorite up close? Join Dr. Jonathan Clarke for a FREE introductory course on planetary geology on 18 November that will cover the different processes that resulted in the formation and current state of the Moon, Mars and other rocky bodies in our Solar System. The course will also include hands on activities in Geoscience Australia’s Education Centre and the chance to examine various geological specimens including several meteorites.
View some photos from this event in the image gallery.
Read more here.
View some photos from this event in the image gallery.
Read more here.
Expressions of Interest Invited for Teacher Participation in Spaceward Bound 2009
Friday, 31 October 2008
The Mars Society Australia and the NASA based Spaceward Bound (SB) project is seeking expressions of interest from school teachers and scientists to take part in another expedition in 2009. This expedition will be an invaluable opportunity for Australia's school teachers to work with NASA and MSA scientists in the field, learning how to bring new teaching methods on Space Science to their students.
Find out more about the expedition and how to apply here.
Find out more about the expedition and how to apply here.
Starchaser Rover Moves to a New Workshop
Monday, 6 October 2008
A few weeks ago the machine was shifted to an exhaust shop, where the exhaust line and muffler have been put in. This company is now working on the brake and clutch plumbing, but it's not finished. They have been hit by - you guessed it - the skills shortage: the manager Lou told me that the employee he had scheduled to work on the brake plumbing has just resigned, and there will be a delay getting a new worker. In the meantime, Lou is doing the work himself, but it has delayed the finish date for a few weeks. I've asked him to try to get it complete before the end of October. Around that time, I expect to transport the rover to J. Lovick's factory at Maddington, where Stan will be ready to recommence work on the seats, airlock door, and side windows, which are the next priority for him. I also hope to try restarting the engine with help from engineer Tony de Groot soon.
In another development, we are ready to go ahead with manufacturing the forward control linkage, a...
Upcoming Canberra Seminar - Designing Bases For The Moon & Mars
Monday, 8 September 2008
Join Dr Jason Held of Saber Astronautics in Canberra on Tuesday 16th September for a technical seminar and learn about the how a ‘systems of systems’ approach can be applied to measuring the performance of lunar and Mars base designs. Dr Held will share the results of a recent space base design workshop and discuss how scenarios such as space weather events, power outages, structural breeches and life support system failures impact upon the design of bases for planetary exploration. FREE PIZZA will be provided prior to the seminar.
Read more here.
Read more here.
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