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...News
MSA Directors Present Mars Exploration to WA Country School
Saturday, 1 April 2006
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...Victorian Branch Celebrates Christmas
Tuesday, 20 December 2005
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
Tuesday, 29 November 2005
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...
Trinity College Builds New Shed for Rover
Saturday, 17 September 2005
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.
MSA Welcomes Arkaroola Resort as New Corporate Member
Friday, 26 August 2005
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.
Read more here.
Roving the Red Planet Via Canberra
Thursday, 18 August 2005
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.
Read the full media release here.
Concrete Slab Poured For Rover Laboratory
Sunday, 14 August 2005
The long awaited laboratory for the Starchaser Marsupial Manned Analog Rover has begun to be constructed. The concrete slab has been poured and it is expected the shed structure will be commenced this week. Photos will follow soon. For more details on the Starchaser Rover visit the Starchaser Marsupial homepage at www.marsupial.org.au.
Starchaser Marsupial Rover: Stage 2 is Go
Friday, 5 August 2005
Project Marsupial, the MSA's analogue rover construction project, has received a giant boost with the news that Starchaser Industries, a UK aerospace firm, will fully fund Stage 2 of the innovative project. Starchaser has donated A$41,000 and secured naming rights to the rover, which will henceforth be called the Starchaser Marsupial Rover.
"Thanks to the farsighted and generous support of Starchaser Industries, we are go for Stage 2!" said an obviously delighted Graham Mann, the Fremantle based Manager of Project Marsupial. "Now we're in a position to speed up the construction schedule, and that's important if we're to get the rover out into the desert and under test before its debut at Operation Red Centre".
Read more by downloading the ...
Professor Steve Squyres Keynote Speaker at AMEC 2005
Thursday, 4 August 2005
MSA is delighted to announce that the keynote speaker for AMEC 2005 will be Professor Steve Squyres. A professor of astronomy at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, Mr Squyres is a principal investigator for NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Missions. Spirit and Opportunity. Along with his work on MER, he is also a co-investigator on the 2003 Mars Express. and 2005 Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter missions, a member of the Gamma-Ray Spectrometer Flight Investigation Team for the Mars Odyssey mission, and a member of the imaging team for the Cassini to Saturn. He will be in Australia promoting his recently published book Roving Mars.
Find out more and register for the conference here.
Find out more and register for the conference here.
AMEC 2005 Registrations now open
Friday, 20 May 2005
Registrations for the 5th Australian Mars Exploration Conference (AMEC V) or AMEC 2005 are now open. Full details are to be found by following our Events-AMEC 2005 link in the menu to the left. This looks like an exciting event, hope to see you there - Dave Cooper (Il Presidente).
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