National Space Society and International Space Enterprises Announce Third Annual International Lunar and Mars Exploration Conference Featuring a Special Session on the Possibility of Life on Mars
The National Space Society (NSS) and San Diego-based International Space Enterprises (ISE) announced today their sponsorship of the Third Annual International Lunar and Mars Exploration Conference, to be held in San Diego on 17-20 November 1996. Focused on lunar exploration the previous two years, this year's conference will offer expanded programs on the topic of Mars exploration.
A special feature of this year's event will be a half day session entitled "Life on Mars: Past, Present, and Future," offering several lectures and dramatic presentations addressing NASA's recent discovery of indications of possible life on Mars. The session will be led by Dr. Robert Zubrin, Chairman of the NSS Executive Committee and noted advocate of human voyages to the Red Planet. Dr. Zubrin will speak on the need to send humans to Mars and will sign copies of his book, The Case for Mars, due to be released this fall.
The conference, to be held at the Hyatt Islandia Hotel on San Diego's Mission Bay, will convene many of the world's leading lunar and planetary scientists. In addition, aerospace entrepreneurs will present innovative plans for corporate sponsorship of low cost Moon and Mars missions, commercial space tourism, and beaming solar energy to Earth from space.
In a unique public demonstration, ISE will invite conference participants to view and operate the robotic Mars Seeker, a new prototype of a rover ISE hopes to deliver to Mars on a commercially financed, interplanetary voyage. The Mars Seeker prototype will be the centerpiece of a permanent interactive exhibit at NASA's Kennedy Space Center beginning in December.
Confirmed conference participants to date include Dr. Zubrin, space tourism expert John Spencer, and Dr. Alan Binder, principal investigator for NASA's next mission to the Moon - Lunar Prospector.
To register for the conference, reserve exhibit space, or obtain additional information, please contact Gregory Nemitz of ISE [phone: (619) 637-5773, fax: (619) 637-5776, e-mail: isehq@aol.com ] or call the National Space Society at (202) 543-1900.