Mars Society Convention News
Convention News
7th International Mars Society Convention
August 19th 22nd, 2004
Palmer House Hilton, Chicago, Illinois
Important note Approaching Deadlines:
Final deadline for Abstract Submissions is June 30th, 2004. Initial
acceptance notifications have been sent. If you have not heard from
me, that means your abstract was not received. Please ensure your
abstract is sent to MSAbstracts@xxxxxxx in time to be included on the
agenda.
Deadline for receiving the discounted hotel rate at the Palmer House
Hilton is July 18th, 2004. The rate of $99 single or double
occupancy is competitive with nearly every facility in the area and
extremely attractive for this luxury hotel. Our block of rooms is
limited in size, so be sure to book early to ensure that you can take
advantage of this excellent offer.
Preliminary Plenary Schedule Announced
The preliminary schedule for plenary presentations has been
determined and The Mars Society is excited to announce an outstanding
line-up of speakers.
Thursday, August 19th, 2004
AM
Dr. Robert Zubrin will open the conference with "A Coherent Moon-Mars
Plan: Making Human Exploration a Reality in our Time"
Dr. Steven Squyres, Principal Investigator of NASA's Mars Exploration
Rover mission, will provide a fascinating report on the latest
results from "The Mars Exploration Rover Mission."
Admiral Craig Steidle, NASA Associate Administrator for Exploration
Systems, will detail "NASA's plans for Implementing the Vision for
Space Exploration"
PM
A round of exciting panel discussions will be held including a
discussion of "Why Mars" as a destination for humanity, a "Media"
take on the current state of Space Exploration, and feedback on
our "Political Action" initiative.
Friday, August 20th, 2004
AM
NASA scientist Dr. William Clancy will present "The Mobile Agents
2004 Field Test at MDRS: Fitting Robot Capabilities to Human
Activities"
Note there will be a demonstration of the robotic Mobile Agents
after the Friday morning plenary session and at various times during
the convention
A panel of experts and advocates will discuss the "Aldridge
Commission Results"
Filmmaker James Cameron will discuss and show never before seen
footage of his recent undersea expedition to explore extremophile
life forms which survive 3000 feet below the Atlantic Ocean
PM
The twenty semi-finalists in the second Mars Society Rouget de Lisle
contest will be performing their winning entries. The audience will
pick the final five. The songs and performers this year are
incredible and this promises to be a fantastic concert event.
Saturday, August 21st, 2004
AM
Dr. Chris McKay of NASA Ames Research Center will speak on "Science-
driven Human Exploration of Mars"
Eric Anderson, President and CEO of Space Adventures, the only Space
Tourism company to have sent private citizens to the ISS, will
discuss "How Commercial Human Space Flight is the Catalyst for Space
Exploration"
Sam Burbank, well known as a documentary filmmaker, will discuss his
new feature film about "Human Exploration of Mars"
PM
Mars Society annual Banquet featuring final judging of the Rouget de
Lisle entrants, youth winner of the Why Mars contest, surprise
entertainment, auction and more
Sunday, August 22, 2004
AM
Award winning Science Fiction Author Fred Pohl will discuss how
envisioning a future of humanity in space can lead to action in that
direction, followed by a lively panel discussion on "At what point
can humanity be defined as a Spacefaring Civilization"
The Plenary Schedule is preliminary at this point and we anticipate
adding a few more exceptional speakers. In my opinion this is one of
the most timely and exciting line-ups we have yet enjoyed.
See you in Chicago, next step on the way to Mars!
Maggie Zubrin
Executive Director
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