Informative ISS Flier

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Right now there are 6 people currently in space aboard the ISS, travelling at 5 miles per second (just over 8 km per second). They orbit the Earth once every 90 minutes. Remarkable huh? (Click to enlarge)

Please spread this and other space material far and wide so we can help raise public awareness and excitement for space exploration and discovery. A good starting point would be to use this image as a flier and post it within your local community, or on your social media. The more space advocates we create, the louder our voice will be!

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SpaceX Mars Travel Poster - Valles Marineris

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SpaceX has come out with some vintage style Mars Travel posters. This one is for Valles Marineris, known as the Grand Canyon of Mars. 

A New Logo, A New Vision for Mars Travel

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As you can probably see, I have changed the Mars Travel logo. I've been neglecting this blog for a while trying to figure out the direction I'd like to take it. I finally think I have an answer. 

I want to use this blog as a means of increasing popular support for the space industry by creating products that can be easily shared online or through more traditional means, If these products are shared enough I hope to help reinvigorate the public conversation about space. The more we can get people to take an interest in space, the more they will talk about it, thus increasing support for the industry.

Essentially I want to help market the space industry, Mars Travel's piece of that is to create easy to distribute products showcasing and provoking discussion of space exploration and discovery. The new logo pairs with the name Mars Travel, and makes such a connection intuitive, just by looking at it.

One of my true passions is space exploration and discovery. When I was a kid I wanted to be an astronaut (what kid doesn't?). As I grew up I became more realistic, but I never lost my fascination with space and the literally limitless possibilities that it represents. As I grew older I started working in media relations and marketing, and later, logistics. After a few years I decided to apply my media relations skills to space, eventually becoming the Media Relations Director (a volunteer position) for The Mars Initiative, a position I held for the entirety for 2013.

But that's not enough. I want to market the space industry. This blog and related endeavors will be my attempt at doing so. I hope that you and others will join me in bringing the wonders and potential of space back into the public eye. Humans naturally crave exploration, we just have to remind them what it feels like to look into the great beyond and discover.

The Path Forged Alone

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This image of the path left by Curiosity is truly awe-inspiring as it shows just how alone she is on Mars. This also goes to show how "the path forged alone is often the most enlightening" because the discoveries made by Curiosity have given humanity a brand new perspective on the history of Mars and our place in the solar system.

Please spread this and other space material far and wide so we can help raise public awareness and excitement for space exploration and discovery. A good starting point would be to use this image as a flier and post it within your local community, or on your social media. The more space advocates we create, the louder our voice will be!

View All Space Fliers

Americans Anticipate Manned Mission to Mars Within 20 Years

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According to a poll dubbed Mars Generation, Approximately 71% of Americans are excited for and anticipate a manned mission to Mars in the next 20 years, with more than half of American's feeling NASA should "play a strong role" in assisting a commercial company, or head up a mission themselves.

In the same poll, conducted by Phillips & Company and sponsored by The Boeing Corporation and Explore Mars, a majority of respondents incorrectly answered that they felt NASA's budget represented 2.5% of the federal budget (~$88.5 Billion). When presented with the reality that NASA's Fiscal Year 2013 budget sits at about .5% ($17.7 Billion) of the federal budget, 75% of those polled felt the Agency's funding should be doubled to 1% ($35.4 Billion) of the federal budget, with the express purpose of funding a manned mission to Mars.

Chris Carberry, Executive Director of Explore Mars, the non-profit that sponsored the Mars Generation poll proclaimed, “Despite difficult economic times, the American people are still inspired by space exploration and are committed to human exploration of Mars. This is a wake up call to our leaders that Americans are still explorers.” The poll showed this adventurous spirit is exemplified in the top three reasons Americans support a manned mission to Mars: to support a greater understanding of the planet, to search for signs of life on Mars, and to maintain American leadership in space. 73% feel a major hurdle to a manned mission to mars is affordability and 67% feel politics will be a large impediment to success.

An executive committee member of The Mars Initiative, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization unaffiliated with this study,  interpreted these results as a sign of the American people's continued fascination with space: "Americans want space exploration to be more of a national priority. This poll should serve as a message for America's leaders that their citizens want to see more of a commitment to the space industry, not less." A full report on the poll's findings will be released on 4 March 2013.

Let's hope America's leaders take note of this poll, but in the meantime, I encourage you to keep following news about Mars and sharing it with people you know. The more people we have that support missions to Mars, the more likely it will become a national, or even global priority.

One easy way you are guaranteed to support the first manned mission to Mars is by joining The Mars Initiative, so I encourage you to take a look!

The Mars Initiative

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The world is full of people that want to see humans on Mars. Until now the average person had no means to support such a difficult and expensive mission. The Mars Initiative has changed that!

The Mars Initiative is a non-profit organization that seeks to gain the support of one million people for a human mission to Mars. If a million (or more) people were donating just one dollar every month, The Mars Initiative would raise, at a minimum, $12 million dollars a year. All of this money would go to the agency or corporation that launches the first manned mission to Mars. The concept is very similar to the Google Lunar X Prize, except the amount is not a fixed, rather it depends on the amount of donations received from the public. The fund will continue growing until such time as the first manned Mars mission leaves Earth's surface.

The Mars Initiative is entirely transparent. All donations go to a bank account that will remain untouched until the first manned mission to Mars lifts off. Every bank statement is uploaded monthly to The Mars Initiative's website, allowing the public to keep track of all donations.

One of the greatest aspects of The Mars Initiative is that it is entirely volunteer-based. Whether it be website development, public relations, or even legal, everything is done on a volunteer basis. What's more, any person is welcome to volunteer and grow The Mars Initiative. In the future there will be a list of tasks that the organization needs to accomplish and people will be able to check out that task. This novel method will let people choose the tasks they are best suited to complete, ensuring that people of any background can  contribute to The Mars Initiative and give everyone a chance to be a part of history.

Follow @MarsInitiative

The Mars Initiative's transparent fundraising and entirely volunteer-based approach will produce a large number of supporters throughout the world and guarantee that it accomplishes its goal of securing at least one million people for a human mission to Mars.

The Mars Initiative's founder and President is Mina Mukhar, a distinguished financial advisor with an MBA and Masters of Science in Accounting and Information Systems from University of Texas - Dallas. [See The Mars Initiative's entire leadership team]

I'll be posting regular updates about The Mars Initiative here, so keep checking back in!

Join The Mars Initiative Now!

8 Ways You Can Support the Space Industry

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The average person can significantly help increase support of the space industry. Here's how:

• Talk about space on your social media accounts. (This is the easiest way.) Share links to cool space images and articles and encourage you friends and followers to do the same! [Learn how easily you can use social media to inspire people to support the space industry.] This will expose your friends and followers to the wonders and benefits of space exploration - sometimes that's all it takes!
• Let me know if one of the celebrities you follow says/does something in support of the space industry. I will then add them to the list of Mars Stars (celebrities actively showing support of the space industry). It's important to recognize and show our appreciation for these celebrities because they increase publicity and exposure for the space industry! Celebrity support could be the catalyst that gets a lot of new people interested in space again. [Why celebrity support of the space industry is so important]
• Spreading the word about the list is huge. The more people that know about it the more incentive there will be for celebrities to support the space industry and get on the list. Everybody knows someone that knows someone who can help to publicize the need to increase celebrity support of the space industry. And even if you don't you can impress on other people how important it is and start a chain that will eventually get the message to someone with a connection! 
• Write a small piece for your local paper about why the space industry is so important! Because local papers rarely feature space articles you will be reaching an entirely different demographic than most space articles!
• Send letters to politicians telling them that you care about the space industry and outlining why they should too! If more people do this politicians will see that their constituents truly care about the space industry and they should fight for it.
• Participate in public forums and ask questions about space - If a celebrity or organization is taking public questions then ask some about space! A lot of times different celebrities and organizations take time to interact with their fans and followers over Twitter, Reddit, or some other public forum. Encouraging them to show support for the space industry could get them talking about it!
• Hold a space-related event at your house and invite people over! If there is a big launch coming up you could just invite some friends over to watch it on TV. During an eclipse you could have a barbeque or outdoor party. It's a reason to get all your friends together and have a good time while showing them how cool space is. I know I'll probably do throw a party when the Mars Science Laboratory touches down in August!
• If you have kids, teach them to love space! If you show them how beneficial and amazing space exploration is you could inspire them to study the sciences and go into a space-related field later in life!

Doing any or all of these things will expose people to space that otherwise might not have been. Oftentimes people aren't interested in space because they haven't seen how amazing it is. The more people interested in space, the more people will support the space industry. YOU can help make space a part of people's lives again! If we do that, we'll see space put back at the top of the agenda again!