Category Archives: Mars Society Conference

Winner of 2014 Mars Society Poster Contest

2014 Mars Society Poster Contest (Winner)

The Mars Society is pleased to announce that the winner of the 2014 Mars Society Poster Contest is Scott Porter, a Ph.D. student studying architecture at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. 

Each participant (12 in total) in this year’s competition was required to submit a poster design that best represented the theme – ‘Blazing the Path to Mars’ – for the 17th Annual International Mars Society Convention, to be held August 7-10 in League City, Texas (just outside Houston). 

In addition, the Mars Society would like to express its appreciation to the second and third place winners – Jamie Polancic and Miguel Cooper (respectively). The organization would also like to recognize two additional artists for honorable mention – Katarina Eriksson Marka and Joseph Sweeney.

To view the winning poster as a PDF document, please click here.

Bob Zubrin on ‘Mars to Stay’ at the 2013 International Mars Society Convention

Screen Shot 2013-08-16 at 3.23.24 PM

“The idea of a one way mission, that, you know, you go to Mars, spend two years there, then have a suicide pill – or you go there at age 65 live for twenty years and then check out – no. That is not attractive. But what is very attractive is the idea of the “Normandy Beach Approach” – which is, you go to Mars, one way, not with the intent of dying there – but with the intent of living there. You take the beach. You send, you send people there not with the intent of abandoning there but with the intent of joining them there with more people more equipment more supplies more of everything. You back them up and you take the planet. And, um, that’s the proper concept for a one way mission – and if you’re prepared to do that, then that is the most efficient mission by far.”

http://new.livestream.com/accounts/4950775/events/2308259

Great Work by Cody Edwards: Mars Society Conference Poster 2013

Mars Society Press Release:

“As part of the planning for the 16th Annual International Mars Society Convention, a contest was held to invite designs for the primary poster to represent the convention and its two main themes – ‘Finding Life on Mars’ and ‘Bringing Life to Mars.’

After reviewing more than a dozen submissions, the Mars Society’s contest committee is pleased to announce that the winner of the 2013 Mars Society Poster Contest is Cody Edwards of North Carolina.

“We were very pleased with Cody’s creativity, including the incorporation of a magnifying glass, representing the ongoing search for life on Mars, into the design of his poster,” said Michael Stoltz, Director of Media & Public Relations for the Mars Society.

The Mars Society would also like to recognize four of the participating designers for special honorable mention – Ludovic Celle of France, the Dallas Mars Society chapter, Mark Eberhardt of New York and Katarina Eriksson of Sweden.

In addition, the organization wishes to express its appreciation to all the other digital artists who submitted posters to the annual contest.”

To view a PDF version of the poster, please click here.

Sci-Fi Panel Discussion to be Held at Mars Society Convention

“The Mars Society is pleased to announce that a unique panel discussion on the role of science fiction in promoting humanity’s space ventures will be held at the 15th Annual International Mars Society Convention in Pasadena, California, on August 3, 2012.  Participating in the special forum are three leading sci-fi writing personalities: futurist and writer David Brin, novelist and television consultant Michael Cassutt and author and script writer David Gerrold.”
http://www.marssociety.org/home/press/announcements/sci-fipaneldiscussiontobeheldatmarssocietyconvention

And the Winner of the 2012 Mars Society Poster Contest is…

The Mars Society is pleased to announce that the winner of the 2012 Mars Society Poster Contest is Caitlin Folchman-Wagner of Massachusetts.

After receiving more than one dozen submissions, a panel of Mars Society officials chose Ms. Folchman-Wagner’s design.  “We felt that Caitlin’s poster was very well done and successfully incorporated several of  the themes from this year’s Mars Society convention,” said Michael Stoltz, the organization’s Director of Media & Public Relations.

To download a print-quality version of the poster, please click here.

2012 Mars Society Poster Contest

The 2012 Mars Society Poster Contest is now underway!  The winning design will be used as the primary graphic for promoting the 15th Annual International Mars Society Convention, to be held in Pasadena, California, August 3-5, 2012.

Winner of 2011 Mars Society Poster Contest

When designing posters, members and friends are asked to use the main themes of the 2012 convention: “Mars Science Laboratory rover”, “robotic exploration” and “finding life on Mars”.  The poster should seek to emphasize the critical importance of robotic research and exploration of the Red Planet as a key stepping stone to a humans-to-Mars mission within the decade.

The winner will receive free admission to all sessions of the convention in Pasadena, which will include a ticket to the main convention banquet and (tentatively) the viewing of a live broadcast of the MSL landing on the Martian surface on the evening of August 5.  [Airfare and hotel accommodations are not included.]
The deadline for submitting all poster designs is Friday, February 3, 2012 at 5:00 p.m. EST.

With regard to technical requirements for the contest, the poster size should be 11″ x 17″.  There are no restrictions on color.  If your poster is chosen, in addition to the full color poster we will need a gray-scale copy.  Posters can be submitted as a .pdf file, although it is preferred in the original format (i.e., Photoshop).

To submit your poster, please e-mail the sample to: postercontest@marssociety.org  Please also use this e-mail address for any questions regarding the contest and/or the submission process.