...
Mars
...
is
...
within
...
reach
...
!
...
A
...
world
...
with
...
a
...
surface
...
area
...
the
...
size
...
of
...
the
...
combined
...
continents
...
of
...
the
...
Earth,
...
the
...
Red
...
Planet
...
contains
...
all
...
the
...
elements
...
needed
...
to
...
support
...
life.
...
In
...
order
...
to
...
help
...
develop
...
key
...
knowledge
...
needed
...
to
...
prepare
...
for
...
human
...
Mars
...
exploration,
...
and
...
to
...
inspire
...
the
...
public
...
by
...
making
...
sensuous
...
the
...
vision
...
of
...
human
...
exploration
...
of
...
Mars,
...
the
...
Mars
...
Society
...
has
...
initiated
...
the
...
Mars
...
Analog
...
Research
...
Station
...
(MARS)
...
project.
...
A
...
global
...
program
...
of
...
Mars
...
exploration
...
operations
...
research,
...
the
...
MARS
...
project
...
will
...
include
...
four
...
Mars
...
base-like
...
habitats
...
located
...
in
...
deserts
...
in
...
the
...
Canadian
...
Arctic
...
...
,
...
the
...
American
...
southwest
...
...
,
...
the
...
Australian
...
outback,
...
and
...
Iceland.
...
In
...
these
...
Mars-like
...
environments,
...
we
...
will
...
launch
...
a
...
program
...
of
...
extensive
...
long-duration
...
geology
...
and
...
biology
...
field
...
exploration
...
operations
...
conducted
...
in
...
the
...
same
...
style
...
and
...
under
...
many
...
of
...
the
...
same
...
constraints
...
as
...
they
...
would
...
on
...
the
...
Red
...
Planet.
...
By
...
doing
...
so,
...
we
...
will
...
start
...
the
...
process
...
of
...
learning
...
how
...
to
...
explore
...
on
...
Mars.
Mars is the great challenge of our time
Indeed, with so much at stake, Mars is a test for us. It asks us if we intend to continue to be a society of pioneers, people who dare great things to open untrodden paths for the future. It puts us to the question of whether we will be people whose deeds are celebrated in newspapers, or in museums; whether we will continue to open new possibilities for our descendants, or whether we will become less than those who took on the unknown to give everything we have to us. During World Space Week 2011 KiwiSpace Foundation produced a series of podcasts where inspirational people from around the world talked about their hopes for the future of humankind. Amongst them, Dr Robert Zubrin, President of Mars Society explains in an extraordinary interview why Mars is the place to go.
