Final Round of Inspiration Mars Student Design Contest to Take Place at International Mars Society Convention in Houston..

I wanted to post this information in the hopes that it would inspire all of the countries involved in the “Cabo Verde Tenth Island and Occupy Mars Learning Adventures Projects.” We would love to start a project like this in the country of Cabo Verde. We invite you to read this information in the hopes that it will inspire you. Please contact me with your thoughts…… Bob Barboza, Suprschool@aol.com.

Mars Society Message:

posted Apr 29, 2014, 5:18 PM by M Stoltz [ updated Apr 29, 2014, 9:26 PM ]
The final round of the International Inspiration Mars Student Design Contest will take place at the 17th Annual International Mars Society Convention on Saturday, August 9th (day 3 of the four day conference) at the South Shore Harbour Resort in League City, Texas (near NASA’s Johnson Space Center outside Houston).

The international student design competition was announced at last year’s Mars Society convention in Boulder, Colorado. The main contest requirement was to design a two-person Mars flyby mission for 2018 as cheaply, safely and simply as possible. All other design variables were open. Each participating student team was required to submit a 50-page design report, which provided the basis for a down select of 38 competing teams, first to 21 semi-finalists and then to ten finalists.

The remaining ten student teams, drawn from Japan, India, Russia, the Netherlands, Poland, Germany and the United States, will defend their engineering designs before a panel of six judges and a large, highly-informed public audience drawn from the space community. The contest event will be open to the press and general public and will also be broadcast live via the Internet.

Following keynote plenary addresses on Saturday morning by former NASA Administrator Dr. Mike Griffin and Orion Program Manager Mark Geyer, the final round of the contest will begin. The high-level judging panel will include Mr. Geyer, Inspiration Mars Executive Director Dennis Tito, Mars Society President Dr. Robert Zubrin and NASA Ames Center Director Brig. General Simon “Pete” Worden, as well as two other individuals yet to be chosen. The winning team will be announced at the convention banquet Saturday evening, following a keynote address by Brig. General Worden.

The first place student team will receive a prize of $10,000 and a trophy to be presented by Dennis Tito at the banquet. Prizes of $5,000, $3,000, $2,000 and $1,000 will also be awarded for second through fifth place. In addition, all finalist team members will be given free admission to the full Mars Society conference, which runs from August 7-10.

Commenting on the designs submitted by the competing teams, Dr. Zubrin said, “I expected an excellent response from the world’s engineering students to this challenge, but even so, I am amazed at the extraordinary strength and quality of the work set forth by these teams. Where some people have said that a low cost two-person Mars flyby mission can’t be done in 2018, many of these student teams have shown very clearly that it can. These designs will be of enormous benefit to Inspiration Mars, NASA or anyone else who is willing to step up and take on this challenge. They also show beyond question that around the world a new generation of terrific young engineers is waiting in the wings, ready to pick up and carry forward the banner of human space exploration when the time comes for them to take their turn. I look forward to final faceoff between the student teams at the Mars Society convention with great excitement. Let the best ideas win!”

For more information about the 2014 Mars Society Convention, including registration details and sponsorship opportunities, please click here.