Mars Colony #1


From: DragonFun@aol.com
Subject: Mars Colony #1
Date: Wed, 3 Sep 1997 14:25:16 -0400 (EDT)


Yassoo Mars Colonists,

Yassoo is a Greek word expressing joy and good spirits. It can also mean
"hello," especially at Greek festivals and in Greek tavernas where people are
dancing, singing, eating, drinking, enjoying life.

Hello and welcome to Professor Richard Zimmer's--and your--Mars Colony course
in the Hutchins School at Sonoma State University. The Mars Colony course is
an adventure in learning. Most of your learning resources are not in paper
form. Instead they are in electronic form at SSU or on the Internet. Much of
your interaction with Professor Zimmer, mentors Eric Burgess and Bob
Albrecht, and remote mentors anywhere will be via the Internet. This email is
an example. 

First, two quotations from Laran Stardrake.

"Soon, Gaia's children will begin moving outward, colonizing near space, the
solar system, beyond. Space, an expanding frontier for the people of Earth,
Gaia's children."  -- Laran Stardrake

"NASA's Teacher Resource Centers are bountiful sources of the right stuff for
teachers at any grade level. You will find a plethora of educational
materials at all grade levels related to physical science, life science,
earth science, math, art, social science, careers, spaceflight, aeronautics,
technology, et cetera, et cetera. Be sure to bring videotape and copy some
terrific public-domain videos."  -- Laran Stardrake

Here are links to Internet places that will help you survive and thrive while
enjoying the Mars Colony course. Hopefully, you will see site names below as
"hot links" in blue underlined text that you can click to go there
immediately. Below each link is the URL (Uniform Resource Locator). Think of
it as the address of the site.

Perhaps your most important Internet resource is

 <A HREF="http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars">NASA Live from Mars</A> 
 http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars

To stay informed of the latest in Live From Mars, join NASA's

* discuss-lfm teachers' forum email list, and
* updates-lfm email list.

To subscribe to discuss-lfm

1. Send email to:  listmanager@quest.arc.nasa.gov
2. In the message body, write:  subscribe discuss-lfm

To subscribe to updates-lfm

1. Send email to: listmanager@quest.arc.nasa.gov
2. In the message body, write:  subscribe updates-lfm

Because YOU will design a mission to Mars, visit

 <A HREF="http://www.marsacademy.com/">The Mars Academy</A>  
 http://www.marsacademy.com/

In the Mars Academy home page, scroll down and click (or click below)

 <A HREF="http://www.marsacademy.com/walkthru.htm">What is the Mars Academy</A
> 
 http://www.marsacademy.com/walkthru.htm

To whet your appetite, below is a snippet from What is the Mars Academy:

Mars Academy snippet -------------------------
Steps in the design of a manned mission to Mars

1.Introduction 2.Mission Goals 3.Landing Site 4.Crew Selection 5.Trajectory
6.Propulsion 7.Life Support 8.Mission Design 

Introduction

Designing a manned mission to Mars is obviously an extremely complex task,
and one that requires knowledge on various disciplines. Trajectories have to
be calculated, rockets designed and selected, life support systems integrated
into the spacecraft to provide nourishment and a survivable environment to
the astronauts that will be selected to make the journey. 

Real life solutions to all these problems exceed the scope of the Mars
Academy project, which is intended for high school/college students and the
general public. However, in our mission design we will use existing and
foreseeable technology (for example, the existence of the International Space
Station) to approximate and integrate solutions to all the design problems
into a Mars mission. After a complete plan for the journey is put together, a
web based simulation of the mission based on the adopted solutions will be
run.
End Mars Academy snippet ----------------------

You'll be reading Kim Stanley Robinson's great book *Red Mars.* Here are
three interviews with the author:

 <A HREF="http://www.casfs.org/connote/features/interview/5_1/marsin3colors.sh
tml">Mars In 3 Colors: Interview Kim Stanley Robinson</A>  
 http://www.casfs.org/connote/features/interview/5_1/marsin3colors.shtml

 <A HREF="http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/voyager/intervws/060596/">KSR Intervi
ew</A> 
 http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/voyager/intervws/060596/

 <A HREF="http://www.midnight.com.au/eidolon/issue_13/13_stan.htm">Issue Thirt
een: Interview with Kim Stanley Robinson</A> 
 http://www.midnight.com.au/eidolon/issue_13/13_stan.htm

Mars Pathfinder has established residence at Carl Sagan Memorial Station on
Mars and rambunctious Sojourner is rambling about in search of interesting
rocks. For up-to-date data, visit

 <A HREF="http://mpfwww.arc.nasa.gov/default.html">Mars Pathfinder - Welcome t
o Mars!</A> 
 http://mpfwww.arc.nasa.gov/default.html
 
 <A HREF="http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mpfmir">Mars Pathfinder Mission</A> 
 http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mpfmir

The Mars Pathfinder Mission page has links to several mirror sites. It you
can't access one site, try another.

End of Mars Colony message #1. Many more to follow!

Reality expands to fill the available fantasies.

May dragons of good fortune dance on your keyboard.

Bob Albrecht
George Firedrake
DragonFun@aol.com