Author: Earl White

The latest edition of the Victorian Space Science Education Centre’s (VSSEC’s) newsletter CAPCOM features a report on the planned Mars Society Australia/Spaceward Bound expedition to the Mojave Desert in California. Mathematics Co-ordinator, John Mitsinikos, from Strathmore Secondary College will represent VSSEC and join Mark Gargano, the Science Coordinator at St Joseph’s School in Northam, Western Australia and Education Officer for MSA.
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The invitation is now open for the submission of papers for AMEC2008 on any subject connected to the exploration and settlement of Mars. Full papers will be reviewed and published in accordance with the DEST guidelines. The submission deadline for receiving full papers is 30th April, 2008, with notifications of acceptance to be given on 30th May, 2008.

Click here for further details.

Read more about the conference at the AMEC2008 Homepage.
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The first Australian high school teachers to participate in the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) Spaceward Bound (SB) program will be travelling to the Desert Studies Centre, a space-related research station of the California State University located near Zzyzx in the Mojave Desert, California, on 4-11 April.
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Registration is now open for the 8th Australian Mars Exploration Conference (AMEC2008), which will be held in Adelaide over the weekend of 4th-6th July, 2008. Special ‘Early Bird’ Registration Fees apply until 31st May – don’t miss out.

Read more on the AMEC homepage and register here!
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The Mars Society Australia has made a submission to the 2020 Summit, a meeting of national leaders and visionaries to be held in Canberra on the 19th & 20th of April. This is one of a series of policy submissions MSA has produced or is currently preparing.

Read the full text of the submission here.
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Following the 8th Australian Mars Exploration Conference (AMEC 2008) being held at the University of South Australia, in Adelaide, S.Aust. from the 4 – 6th of July, the MSA will be conducting Spaceward Bound Australia One (SBA1).
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The countdown has begun for the landing of NASA’s Phoenix Mars Mission this weekend. Scheduled to land at around 9.30am Eastern Australian time on the morning of Monday, 26th May, the craft will be the first to land on the Martian northern polar region.

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A signal has been received from the Phoenix Lander from the surface of Mars, indicating the lander has survived the rought entry and descent phases, and is now standing on the frozen plains of Vastitas Borealis, in the Martian Arctic. Phoenix will investigate subsurface ice to see if past surface conditions have been favourable for microbial life. Further signals and the first surface images are expected over the coming days.

Read the latest news as the mission unfolds at the Phoenix Homepage.
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Mark Gargano, Science Coordinator from St Joseph’s School in Northam (WA) and Education Officer of Mars Society Australia, Inc and John Mitsinikos, Mathematics Coordinator from Strathmore Secondary College (Vic) have returned home as the first Australian high school teachers to participate in the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) Spaceward Bound (SB) program in the Mojave Desert.
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The pioneering Phoenix Mars Lander continues to send the first ever surface images from the plains of Vastitas Borealis. So far, its cameras have panned the local surroundings, checked the condition of the lander, and recorded the first excavations with the robotic arm.

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