Kiwimars 2012: Kiwis doing what Kiwis should
Why have I picked Kiwimars as a shining example of NZ’s science future? Simply because the Kiwimars crew are not paid scientists. They are not professional researchers, nor do they have a lifetime’s worth of experience or training for this mission. They are members of the public with a passion for space and a desire for NZ to play a part in overcoming one of mankind’s next gigantic leaps forward – the human exploration of another planet. And are doing it.
They didn’t wait for government funding, public interest, or approval from NZ science’s governing bodies – they have raised funds (in large part from off-shore), organised the mission, co-ordinated outreach activites and integrated it into the NZ school science curriculum as a resource for teachers because they believed it needed to be done.
http://sciblogs.co.nz/just-so-science/2012/04/25/kiwimars-2012-kiwis-doing-what-kiwis-should/
Kiwis share their Mars experience: After 14 days wearing spacesuits in a simulated mission, the first Kiwis sent to live on "Mars" have spoken of their experiences in an alien environment. The six-person crew of three men and three women entered a simulated spacecraft at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Utah on April 21, as the KiwiMars team. During the two-week expedition they lived in a cramped 10m-wide, two-storey "environment" that included a greenhouse and an observatory, to replicate what a mission to Mars could be like. Living in close quarters in an unfamiliar environment was challenging, admitted mission commander Haritina Mogosanu, who assembled the crew in six months.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10819192
If you follow me on Twitter or Pinterest, you probably know that I have a passion for astronomy, science fiction, and science fact, among other interests. In particular, I like things Martian. War of the Worlds, Invaders from Mars, Abbott and Costello Go to Mars, Robinson Crusoe on Mars, and It! The Terror From Beyond Space … I saw and enjoyed them all multiple times as a kid.
http://blogs.newzealand.usembassy.gov/ambassador/2012/05/spaceward-bound/
A team of intrepid New Zealanders is about to undergo the ultimate dress rehearsal for living on Mars.
http://www.3news.co.nz/Kiwis-head-to-Mars-in-Utah/tabid/1216/articleID/246052/Default.aspx
A group of Kiwis has just returned from an out of this world experience, without even leaving the planet.
http://www.3news.co.nz/Kiwis-experience-life-on-almost-Mars/tabid/1216/articleID/261803/Default.aspx
KiwiMars (Hari & Bruce) Good Morning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekSMC96Jbpg
From MDRS with National Radio
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons
Former broadcaster and now freelance Communications Consultant Mike Bodnar. In between engagements he writes and is involved in video production. He has recently returned from the Mars Desert Research Station (MRDS) in Utah where he spent two weeks living in an eight metre diameter, two story cylindrical structure, with five others, to simulate what it might be like on Mars.
http://archive.org/details/Tosp17
This week, aimee was away in Melbourne at the inagural AdaCamp barcamp. So Elf brought in his good friend Haritina Mogosanu, who works with KiwiSpace and World Space Week, to co-host with him. They talked about the number of planets in our galaxy, molecular time travel, calculating what's in the universe, 'getting' science (or not), KiwiMars 2012, and aimee reports back from AdaCamp.