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All about Mars

The International Mars Society Convention is coming to our part of the universe

Date published: 7/22/2009

IN A SPACE state of mind? If the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11 has put you there, Chris Carberry, executive director of the Mars Society, invites you to the annual International Mars Society Convention at the University of Maryland from July 30 to Aug. 2. Mr. Carberry, who kindly wrote a commentary for last Sunday's Viewpoints ["Mars is calling; will we pick up the phone?"], is expecting hundreds of Red Planet enthusiasts and scholars at College Park. Even a real Martian could probably learn a thing or two.

Speakers at the convention, whose theme is "No Turning Back," will include Mars Society president Robert Zubrin ("The Case for Mars"); Cornell professor Steve Squyres of the Mars Exploration Rovers Program; space artist Michael Carroll; space historian Andrew Chaikin; Chris McKay, a NASA astrobiologist; and Mars scientist Paul Mahaffy.

Conventioneers also can enjoy programs about the history of exploration, space art, and space reporting; and they can hear updates on missions such as the Phoenix Mars Lander, Spirit, Opportunity, Mars Express, and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. A tour of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and the screening of the movie "Roving Mars" are also on tap.

Register at marssociety.org. You aren't likely to learn more about Mars anywhere else on this planet.

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Date published: 7/22/2009