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THE PLANETARY SOCIETY 
AUSTRALIAN VOLUNTEERS

Jump to Contents, Planetary News, Sydney Tsunami Risk

• 26 May 08 NASA: Phoenix due to land on Mars this morning. First signal should be received just before 10am, Sydney time. NASA TV coverage starts at 8.30am (Sydney)
• 3 May 08: [Australian] Senate Economics Committee Inquiry into The Current State of Australia's Space Science & Industry Sector - submissions sought
• 22 Apr 08 Astrobiology Science Conference 2008, Santa Clara, California April 14–17, 2008 - papers available
• 2 Feb 08 Universe Today: “Across the Universe” Day for NASA and Beatles Fans - NASA will use its Deep Space Network to transmit a song across the universe. And fittingly, the song is “Across the Universe” by the Beatles. On Feb. 4 at 7 pm EST, the song will be beamed towards the North Star, Polaris, located 431 light years away from Earth. As part of the celebration, the public around the world has been invited to participate in the event by simultaneously playing the song at the same time as the transmission by NASA. That is Tuesday, February 5, 2008 at 11:00 AM  in SE Australia.
• 20 Jan 07 Partial solar eclipse on 7 Feb 08. Starts at 14:52 in Sydney, peaks at 15:44 - see Paul Floyd's Fact Sheet. Tips for safe observing.
• 18 Jan 08 UT: Has a Signal from ET Really Been Detected? Bad Astronomy: No alien signal
• 14 Nov 07 Space.com: Wow! Moon Probe Captures 'Earth-rise' in High Definition - see also these other pictures of Earth from deep space. Australia is the most prominent Earth feature in this image, with the Moon's South Pole at the top.
• 25 Sep 07 SpaceDaily: NASA aims to put man on Mars by 2037.
• 9 Jun 07 The Australian: ACA closure 'short-sighted' - NASA's Australian-born astronaut Andy Thomas has joined international condemnation of the decision to shut down the Australian Centre for Astrobiology at Macquarie University in Sydney.
• 18 Apr 07 TPS: Life Experiment: Phobos - In an ambitious new initiative, the Society is studying the possibility of sending a collection of living organisms on a three-year trip to the Martian moon Phobos and back to Earth. This will be  test of the Transpermia Hypothesis. Donations are sought.
• 25 Mar 07 TPS: Reports from the 2007 Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.
• 20 Jan 07 Science:  Astrobiology Fights for Its Life - A decade after NASA pledged to create a robust program to find and understand life in the universe, researchers face a debilitating budget crunch and skepticism within their own agency.
• 28 Dec 06 Planetary Society: Visions of Mars: A Message to the Future - funds being sought to support this innovative project. TPS members should receive a letter about this project. They can fax their donation to +1 626 793 5528.
• 24 Dec 06 Planetary Society: Where Would We Be With Carl? by Ann Druyan + NASA: Pale Blue Orb - view of Earth from Saturn. More images of Earth from deep space.
• 23 Dec 06 SciAm: What Is a Planet? + Astronomical Journal What is a planet? by Steve Soter - see also Microplanets
• 7 Dec 06 BBC: Water flowed 'recently' on Mars + New Scientist: Water flows on Mars, before our very eyes + NASA multi-media.
• 9 Nov 06: For Eastern Australian residents the Transit of Mercury will be visible from just after dawn on Thursday 9th of November to late morning. See Paul Floyd's webcast. ASA Factsheet. Tips for safe observing. Thanks for the tips Ian Musgrave. SOHO live coverage. 
• 7 May 06 Free Planetary Society Podcasts at Apple iTunes Store - search for "Planetary Radio".
• 26 May 06 Planetary Society: Don't Trash Space Science - please support this crucial campaign.
• 5 May 06 NASA: NASA and Partners Release New Movies of Titan (touchdown)
• 28 Mar 06 SpaceDaily: Eclipse of the Sun on 29 March - see these precautions about viewing the Sun.
• 10 Mar 06 Space.com: Commentary: Destroying Astrobiology Would be a 'Disaster'.
• 16 Feb 05 Planetary Society Charges Administration with Blurring its Vision for Space Exploration -  It seriously damages the hugely productive and successful robotic exploration of our solar system and beyond.
  
• 27 Jun 05 TPS: The Story of Cosmos 1 is Not Over: A Personal Report - There seems to be some indication that the spacecraft was injected into a low orbit, one that would quickly decay and cause the spacecraft to fall back to Earth and burn up in the atmosphere...I do know that we are committed to trying again, for The Planetary Society exists to make space exploration happen. Dec 05; Solar Sail Update: Getting Started
• 17 May 05: PDF of talk given at Australian Centre for Astrobiology in 2003: Asteroids - now for the good news.
  
• 6 May 05 Nature: Fear and rambling at NASA (PDF) - Only a confused space agency would consider shutting down the Voyager spacecraft as they approach the uncharted edge ofthe Solar System...
• 10 Mar 05 Nature (Subs!): NASA's funding shortfall means journey's end for Voyager probes - Mission to the edge of the Solar System may shut down in October to save cash
  
• 10 Feb 05 Starry Night software now available for Mac OS X.
  
• 16 Jan 05 ESA: First Results from Huygens - first picture from the surface of another moon. Panoramic picture during descent.
  
• 3 Dec 04 Science:  Special Issue: Opportunity at Meridiani Planum
• 22 Oct 04: Astronomy Online has opened a store in Brookvale (map) - Northern Sydney. Carl Sagan's Cosmos DVD is on special.
  
• 7 Oct 04 Abstracts for the proceedings of Bioastronomy 2002: Life Among the Stars now available at 
  NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
  
• The Planetary Society Aim for Mars! website
• 13 Aug 04 ABC: Site chosen for Mars training lab - The Mars Society of Australia is to begin searching for investors to help fund a proposed Mars research station at Arkaroola in northern South Australia.
• Reports on Progress in Physics: Astrophysical and astrochemical insights into the origin of life (Abstract + full article is free!) - this is a milestone study + Quantum fluctuations and life by Paul Davies
• Astrobiology Magazine: Interview with Ann Druyan and Steven Soter [coauthors of Cosmos and numerous other Carl Sagan books] - life, the Universe and everything! Plus the book Cosmic Connections, written by Carl Sagan in 1973 has been re-released with updates by Ann Druyan, Freeman Dyson and David Morrison - recommended reading.
• Carl Sagan's brilliant Cosmos TV series is now available on DVD - still highly relevant after 20 years. Australian supplier.

Contents (some link to other TPSAV pages)


[Aims] [Planetary News daily updates] [Planetary Science Web links] [SETI/Bioastronomy][Join SETI@home - use your PC's idle time to look for signals from ET] [Mars missions][Comments about Planetary Science from TPS members.] [Australian Spaceguard Survey/NEO][Join TPS] [Carl Sagan] [Founders of TPS] [Seminars] [About TPSAVC] [USA Homepage]

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Aims

• We promote education in planetary exploration and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
• We promote space science and expand the knowledge of the universe by facilitating the communication of information and ideas between scientists.
• We speak for earth and all life.
• We cherish and develop the invaluable potential for intelligence of each member of our space-faring civilisation.
• We joyously venture forth to the planets, stars and galaxies beyond.
There can be no thought of finishing, for 'aiming at the stars', both literally and figuratively, is a problem to occupy generations, so that no matter how much progress one makes, there is always the thrill of just beginning. - rocket pioneer Dr Robert Goddard in a letter to H.G. Wells, 1932 (quote from "Life in Space", Time-Life Books).

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Planetary News (planetary exploration, SETI, astrobiology, extra-solar planets...)

For microplanet (NEO/comet/asteroid) news see Australian Spaceguard Survey.

For other astronomy/space news see TPS (US) News,  Astronomy Online(UK site), Sky & Telescope, Victor Noto's News Links, JPL News Releases (1999 , 2000, 2001,2002), Space.com, SpaceDaily, Spaceviews, EurekAlert(AAAS), About.com, Astronomy Now,  MarsNews, SpaceRef.com Astronet (Holland),  Star News (Australian site), NASA's live news broadcast , Panspermia What's New(CA), NASA Astrobiology News, Science Magazine and Universe Today (UT- space news from around the Internet, updated every weekday)


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• 4 Jul 08 Science: Special issue - Mercury, Up-Close Again
• 3 Jul 08 NewSci: Did newborn Earth harbour life? Researchers have found unusually light isotopes of carbon, a common indicator of life, in the Earth's oldest mineral deposit, found in the Jack Hills in Western Australia.
• 27 Jun 08 Space.com: Scientists Hunt for Astrobiology at Carl Sagan Center .
• 26 Jun 08 BBC: Mars' two-faced riddle 'solved' - Scientists think a giant asteroid impact can explain why the northern and southern hemispheres of Mars look so different.
• 22 Jun 08 Nature: Yes, there's ice on Mars - "Ice!" screams NASA's Phoenix lander + When water gushed on Mars - maybe as recently as 20,000 years ago!
• 22 Jun 08 NewSci: Planet Pluto fans rebel against 'plutoid' designation. The Great Planet Debate: Science as Process
  A Scientific Conference and Educator Workshop, August 14-16, 2008, The Johns Hopkins University
• 20 Jun 08 BBC: Phoenix makes 'perfect' discovery - evidence of ice on Mars
• 16 Jun 08 SpaceDaily: We may all be space aliens: study (see also Fossilized Bacteria Found in Ancient Meteorite) + EPSL (PDF): Extraterrestrial nucleobases in the Murchison meteorite (thanks Cosmic Ancestry) 
• 15 Jun 08 Space.com: Study: Life's Raw Material Came from Space (see also  Rocks from Space) + Astronomers Argue Pluto is a Planet  + Mars Microbes Could Survive with Natural Antifreeze.
• 12 Jun 08 Space.com: Pluto Now Called a Plutoid - see also Microplanet essay.
• 31 May 08 NASA: NASA's Phoenix Lander Robotic Arm Camera Sees Possible Ice - but possible "intermittent short circuit in the spectrometer".
• 30 May 08 SMH: Earlier start to Life on Earth (Uni NSW's new Australian Centre for Astrobiology - making up for the loss of the Centre at Maquarie Uni last year)
• 28 May 08 UT: Another HiRISE Stunner: The Full Descent Image - there was a crater in the background of the HiRISE snapshot of the descending Phoenix.
• 28 May 08 TPS: Phoenix Rises from Ashes in Style - comprehensive report on the landing.
• 26 May 08 SpaceDaily: Secrets Of Martain Suitability For Life May Be Down In The Dirt + 
• 26 May 08 Nature: How low can life go?  Microbes thrive more than a kilometre beneath the sea floor [see Nanobes - 4km down!]
• 26 May 08 NewSci: Earth canyon hints at ancient megafloods on Mars [see also Tsunami book gives a better understanding of ancient floods on Mars]
• 26 Space.com: 100 [meteorite] Explosions Recorded on the Moon + Hydrothermal Vents on Mars Could Have Supported Life [see also Asteroids - now for the good news] + Ancient Flash Floods Sculpted Earth, Mars.
• 26 May 08 UT: Exoplanet Count Rises With New Discoveries + Spirit Unearths Former Yellowstone on Mars + Channels, Craters and Phoenix's Landing Site From MRO.
• 9 May 08 Space.com: Alien Life-Searching Techniques Tested ( see also these references) + Why Don't They Do SETI?
• 9 May 08 UT: Legendary Astronaut John Glenn Speaks Out On Shuttle Decommissioning
• 8 May 08 UT: NASA Considers Manned Asteroid Mission
• 3 May 08 Space.com: Astrobiology Is Alive and Well [but is shaky in Australia!]
• 3 May 08 NewSci: Interview: The man who found Mars on Earth - Chris McKay "It's fashionable these days for astrobiologists to talk about how rugged and hardy life is, and how it can survive in all the most amazing places. In fact, I have formed the opposite impression. Life is dangling on a fragile thread, and that thread is liquid water. We have searched for organisms that could do without it. No joy..."
• 29 Apr 08 Military.com: Dissent Grows Over NASA's Moon Mission (see also the article by Robert Farquhar in the Mar/Apr 08 issue of Planetary Report) + (2006) JHU:  The Next Steps in Human Space Exploration: What are the Alternatives?
• 26 Apr 08 Space.com: Mars Features Resemble Hydrothermal Springs + Strange Scars on Mars Suggest Recent Glaciers.
• 24 Apr 08 ABC: Time's running out for ET to evolve.
• 24 Apr 08 UT: Mars Was Recently Blanketed By Glaciers - more links on this topic.
• 22 Apr 08 NewSci: Stephen Hawking calls for Moon and Mars colonies.
• 22 Apr 08  BBC: ET contact odds 'extremely low' +  Plants 'thrive' on Moon rock diet +  Nasa extends Saturn probe mission +  'Cruise control' for spacecraft +  'Black hole' scientist [John Wheeler] dies at 96
• 22 Apr 08 Space Review: The wisdom of NASA’s elders.
• 21 Mar 08 BBC: Methane found on distant world +  Mars is 'covered in table salt' +  Saturn moon may have hidden ocean
• 21 Mar 08 Space.com: Looking for Water on Mars 
• 19 Mar 08 ABC: Sci-fi guru Arthur C Clarke dies - there are many references to Sir Arthur on these pages.  IEEE Oct07: Remembering Sputnik: Sir Arthur C. Clarke.: If I had three wishes, I would ask for these: 1. A method to generate limitless quantities of clean energy. 2. Affordable and reliable means of space transport. 3. Eliminating the design faults in the human body. TPS tribute including "In Praise of Arthur C. Clarke" by Carl Sagan, from a 1983 Panetary Report.
  
• 18 Mar 08 Space Review: The end of the golden age of Mars exploration? + British space policy on life, the universe, and everything + Review: Human Missions to Mars
• 14 Mar 08 BBC: Huge ice deposits 'seen' on Mars - Water ice has probably been detected below Mars' surface, far from the planet's polar ice caps, say scientists.
• 13 Mar 08 ESA: Icy Promethei Planum [on Mars]
• 7 Mar 08 Space.com: Once-Habitable Lake Found on Mars.
• 5 Mar 08 UT: A One-Way, One-Person Mission to Mars - also raised by Dr Nick Hoffman in 2001
• 4 Mar 08 SMH: Violent rock slides snapped on red planet + SpaceDaily: NASA Spacecraft Photographs Avalanches On Mars +  New Tool Enlisted In The Search For Life On Mars
• 1 Mar 08 Space.com: Recent Water on Mars? Not So Fast - not spurts of water, but rather avalanches of dust.
• 26 Feb 08 Space Review: Seven generations: a re-evaluation of the Paine Report [on the future of US space exploration]
• 25 Feb 08 NewSci: Martian crater records aftermath of Amazon-like flood.
• 17 Feb 08 Caltech: Many, Perhaps Most, Nearby Sun-Like Stars May Form Rocky Planets
• 16 Feb 08 Space.com: Mars Water Was Very Salty + See Mars in 3-D.
• 15 Feb 08 NewSci: First multiple planet system found by microlensing.
• 15 Feb 08 UT: Another Solar System Found with Saturn and Jupiter-Sized Planets
• 12 Feb 08 NewSci ($): Organic molecules found on alien world for first time + Stepping up the search for ET
• 11 Feb 08 Nature ($): The Moon: destination or distraction?
• 11 Feb 08 NewSci ($): Stepping up the search for ET.
• 5 Feb 08 JPL: Possible Salt Deposits in Noachis Terra (Mars)
• 5 Feb 08 Space Review: Not-so-rare Earth?
• 1 Feb 08 NewSci: Bizarre spider scar found on Mercury's surface.
• 27 Jan 08 ESA: Traces of the martian past in the Terby crater + THEMIS: Numerous gullies dissect the northeastern rim of this unnamed crater in Noachis Terra + Multiple gullies are located on the northwestern rim of this unnamed crater in Terra Cimmeria.
• 24 Jan 08 UT: Mercury in Living Color
• 20 Jan 08 NewSci: Probe returns first image of Mercury's unseen side 
• 18 Jan 08 UT: Has a Signal from ET Really Been Detected? Bad Astronomy: No alien signal
• 3 Jan 08 NewSci: First planet discovered around a youthful star
• 3 Jan 08 SpaceDaily: Unveiling The Mountains Of Titan.
• 28 Dec 07 SpaceDaily: Dawn Of The Ion Age - the probe will spend most of its time doing what it is doing today: patiently reshaping its orbit around the Sun with its amazingly efficient ion propulsion system.
• 24 Dec 07 Spaceviz: New video Planetary Defense
• 24 Dec 07 SpaceDaily: In Search For Water On Mars Via Clues From Antarctica + Global Map Reveals Mineral Distribution On Mars + How Mars Could Have Been Warm And Wet But Limestone-Free + NASA Delays Mars Scout Mission To 2013 +  Messenger Zeros In On Mercury + Astronomers Monitor Asteroid To Pass Near Mars + Asteroid nears Mars at 8 miles per second
• 21 Dec 07 BBC: Greenhouse clue to water on Mars - sulphur dioxide?
• 20 Dec 07 BBC: Funds boost Europe Mars mission + 'Active glacier found' on Mars (more on Mars glaciers)
• 18 Dec 07 SpaceDaily: Hot Spot On Enceladus Causes Plumes.
• 14 Dec 07 ABC Radio: Interview with Ann Druyan.
• 12 Dec 07 NewSci: Global group aims to return Martian soil to Earth.
• 11 Dec 07 BBC: Mars robot unearths [tenuous] microbe clue
• 11 Dec 07 Space.com: Aliens Apart - SETI
• 5 Dec 07 UT: Future Mars Explorers Might Only See the Planet from Orbit
• 5 Dec 07 SpaceDaily: The Venusian Climate And Its Evolution - some time in the past, Venus was probably much more Earth-like and contained large quantities of water...(more Venus transpermia links)
• 5 Dec 07 SciAm ($): Are Aliens Among Us? - In pursuit of evidence that life arose on Earth more than once, scientists are searching for microbes that are radically different from all known organisms - by Paul Davies
• 1 Dec 07 NewSci: Orion: NASA returns to the rocket + Arthur C Clarke: Still looking at the stars - As a high-school student in the early 1950s, Sagan decided to become an astronomer after reading Interplanetary Flight, Clarke's first book.
• 1 Dec 07 Acta Astronautic ($): Control of Lagrange point orbits using solar sail propulsion.
• 30 Nov 07 UT: Voyager 2 is About to Cross the Termination Shock (see also the Nature item about Voyager funding)
• 19 Nov 07 EPSL: Implications from sulfur isotopes of the Nakhla meteorite for the origin of sulfate on Mars - produced by photochemical smog (a Martian Los Angles?) rather than hydrothermal action.
• 17 Nov 07 TPS: Report on the First International Conference on the Exploration of Phobos and Deimos
• 17 Nov 07 ESA: The European Mars Science & Exploration Conference: Mars Express and ExoMars has just concluded. We present interviews with selected experts on some hot topics.
• 16 Nov 07 BBC: Europe eyes Mars landing sites.
• 16 Nov 07 ABC: Time [for Australia] to rejoin space race, say scientists
• 14 Nov 07 Space.com: Wow! Moon Probe Captures 'Earth-rise' in High Definition - see also these other pictures of Earth from deep space.
• 14 Nov 07 SciAm ($): Are Aliens among Us?
• 12 Nov 07 NewSci: Mars's tiny moons – one small step for mankind? - see further links on Phobos missions
• 9 Nov 07 Space.com: SETI: Is It Worth It?
• 7 Nov 07 Space.com: Mars Rovers: Scientific Staying Power + Planet System Similar to Ours Revealed
• 3 Nov 07 NewSci: Prime landing sites chosen for biggest Martian rover.
• 2 Nov 07 NASA: Mars Express Probes Red Planet's Unusual Deposits - They could be ice-rich deposits, somewhat similar to the layered ice deposits at the poles of the planet, but formed when the spin axis of Mars tilts over, making the equatorial region colder... although the electrical properties are consistent with water-ice layers, there is no other strong evidence for the presence of ice today in the equatorial regions of Mars. "If there is water ice at the equator of Mars, it must be buried at least several meters below the surface"
• 24 Oct 07 BBC: Life from Mars theory put to test (transpermia)
• 20 Oct 07 UT: Mars Rovers' Mission Extended Yet Again + Maunder Crater on Mars
• 20 Oct 07 Space.com: Martian Volcanoes May Not be Extinct + Want to Go to Mars? Crews Wanted for Mock Missions 
• 13 Oct 07 New Scientist: Did Venus's ancient oceans incubate life?
• 13 Oct 07 BBC: Skies to be swept for alien life (Allen Telescope Array)
• 8 Oct 07 SpaceDaily: Russia to help NASA explore Moon, Mars.
• 8 Oct 07 TPS: Scientists Spy Likely Birth of a New "Earth".
• 8 Oct 07 BBC: Japanese probe enters lunar orbit.
• 4 Oct 07 NewSci: Sun's 'twin' an ideal hunting ground for alien life.
• 2 Oct 07 NASA (staff page): The Space Station in Empty Space "An object orbiting the Earth as in Figure 54 behaves as if it would form the pinnacle of a enormously giant tower (naturally, only imaginary) 35,900,000 meters high..." from The Problem of Space Travel, attributed to  "Hermann Noordung" (possibly Austrian Hermann Potocnik) and published in 1929. If accurate, this predates Arthur C Clarke's 1945 proposal for geosynchronous communication satellites. (credit New Scientist letters)
• 1 Oct 07 New Scientist: Mars Society seeks to rescue crewed mission + ($) Weird worlds: Planets that defy convention + 'Self-aware' space rovers would be speedy explorers.
• 28 Sep 07 Space.com: Huygens Data Paint Turbulent Picture of Titan.
• 28 Sep 07 UT: Opportunity is Now Working Inside Victoria Crater.
• 25 Sep 07 SpaceDaily: NASA aims to put man on Mars by 2037.
• 22 Sep 07 UT: More Martian Cave Entrances Discovered.
• 21 Sep 07 Science ($10): Is Mars Looking Drier and Drier for Longer and Longer? + A Closer Look at Water-Related Geologic Activity on Mars. + Space.com: Hope for Water on Mars Dims with Sharp New Images.
• 21 Sep 07 NASA: NASA Orbiter Provides Insights About Mars Water and Climate. Mixed news about water on the planet: "...the [fresh] deposit is not frost, ice or a mineral left behind by evaporation of salty water...Other gullies, however, offer strong evidence of liquid water flowing on Mars within the last few million years...Another new finding from that camera may help undermine arguments that very ancient Mars had a wet climate on a sustained basis....images from the high-resolution camera [to] show lava flows completely draping a young Martian channel network called Athabasca Valles. This creates ponded lava over an expanse that other researchers had interpreted in 2005 as a frozen sea...."
• 17 Sep 07 SpaceDaily: New Theory Explains Ice On Mars
• 10 Sep 07 Washington Post: [Arecibo] Radio Telescope And Its Budget Hang in the Balance.
• 26 Aug 07 Spacedaily: Shuttle Brings Space-Grown Strep Bacteria Back For Study - a cause for concern for long-duration space travelers
• 23 August 07 NASA NEO News: Two new papers make extraordinary claims about comets and life (see 16 Aug)
• 23 Aug 07 ESA: Google brings the cosmos down to Earth.
• 16 Aug 07 SpaceDaily: China reveals deadly threat to first flight [4 years ago]
• 16 Aug 07 Space.com: Scientist: Calculations Prove Life Began in Comet  + How I Spent My SETI Summer.
• 5 Aug 07 New Scientist: Phoenix lander blasts off to Mars + ($) Helping NASA back to the moon - NASA called in a group of retired Apollo programme engineers. They were asked to share their experience, gained in the 1960s and 70s, with the team now working at NASA to return Americans to the moon by 2020. The veterans had worked as testers for the Grumman Corporation, which built the module that took astronauts down to the lunar surface.
• 31 Jul 07 Space.com: NASA Insiders Propose Stepping Stone Path to Deep Space - human missions to  NEOs
• 10 Jun 07 NewSci: Mars rover finds "puddles" on the planet's surface - the blue colour is an artifact of the processing. Note that "bulldust" behaves like a fluid and will form "ponds". 
• 9 Jun 07 The Australian: ACA closure 'short-sighted' - NASA's Australian-born astronaut Andy Thomas has joined international condemnation of the decision to shut down the Australian Centre for Astrobiology at Macquarie University in Sydney.
• 8 Jun 07 New Scientist ($): Life - but not as we know it +  Still no aliens + Landslides old and new found on Mars.
• 3 Jun 07 TPS: Spirit Finds "Explosive" Evidence of Past Water, Opportunity Revs Up, Revisits Cape of Good Hope - comprehensive update on the rovers
• 30 May 07 SpaceDaily: Forecasting Earth-Like Worlds.
• 30 May 07 BBC: Planet hunters spy distant haul - The finds increase the total number of known exoplanets to 236...
• 27 May 07 CSA: Canadians Teaming Up to Develop Mars Mission Concepts - Australian Michael West is on the Phobos mission team: Canadian Mission Concept to Mysterious Mars moon Phobos to Feature Unique Rock-Dock Maneuver . Thanks MSA.
• 22 May 07 NASA: Mars Rover Spirit Unearths Surprise Evidence of Wetter Past.
• 18 May 07 New Scientist: Strange alien world made of 'hot ice' + Grinding ice generates Saturn moon's icy plumes
• 18 May 07 Space.com: Planet of Promise: Small, Rocky World Could Harbor Life
• 18 May 07 Acta Astronautica Volume 61: Sir Hermann Bondi: A journey through his life and the early endeavours of Europe into space + Robotic lunar exploration: Architectures, issues and options + Recent advances in solar sail propulsion systems at NASA + SMART-1 operations experience and lessons learnt + A high-energy sample return Earth re-entry demonstrator to address planetary protection issues + The crew exploration vehicle (CEV) and the next generation of human spaceflight + Mars sample return: The critical next step + Initial results from Harvard all-sky optical SETI + The SIM PlanetQuest science program + Status of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission + The Cassini Mission at Saturn 
• 9 May 07 Space.com: Old Rockets Carry Bacteria to the Stars.
• 6 May 07 Space.com: Surprise Slosh! Mercury's Core is Liquid
• 6 May 07 SpaceDaily: Mars Rover Spirit Finds Evidence Of Ancient Volcanic Explosion.
• 6 May 07 TPS: New Horizons’ Close Encounter Provides Rare Views of the Jovian System +  Spirit Finds Past Water at Home, Opportunity Takes in Tierra del Fuego
• 6 May 07 BBC: 'Up to half' of Mars may have ice + UT: Ice Depth Varies Across the Surface of Mars + NS: 'Bumpy' ice on Mars points to active water cycle.
• 6 May 07 NS: Jupiter moon [Io] spews volcanic plumes in new images.
• 30 Apr 07 Space.com: Search for Life Gets Serious.
• 25 Apr 07 Space.com: Major Discovery: New Planet Could Harbor Water and Life [Goldilocks planet]
• 18 Apr 07 TPS: Life Experiment: Phobos - In an ambitious new initiative, the Society is studying the possibility of sending a collection of living organisms on a three-year trip to the Martian moon Phobos and back to Earth. This will be  test of the Transpermia Hypothesis. Donations are sought.
• 18 Apr 07 ABC: Buzz Aldrin plans space travel lottery - Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, has announced plans for a lottery that will send its winner into space in a bid to spread the dream of extraterrestrial travel beyond the super-wealthy. ShareSpace Foundation (under construction!)
• 12 Apr 07 NASA Shows Future Space Telescopes Could Detect Earth Twin.
• 12 Apr 07 BBC: Water detected on distant planet + New Scientist: First sign of water found on an alien world (but 1000 C temperatures!)
• 31 Mar 07 BBC: Many planets may have double suns.
• 31 Mar 07 Space.com: New X-ray Image Shows Jupiter's Powerful Sky Lights.
• 20 Mar 07 TPS: The Empire Strikes Back - Europe’s First Trip to Mars Brings Home "The Gold"
• 17 Mar 07 BBC: Icy map to probe Europa's secrets.
• 16 Mar 07 NASA: Mars' South Pole Ice Deep and Wide.
• 15 Mar 07 EPSL: Transient mantle convection on Venus: The paradoxical coexistence of highlands and coronae in the BAT region 
• 15 Mar 07 Icarus: Infrared transmission spectroscopy of carbonate samples of biotic origin relevant to Mars exobiological studies + Mars' water isotope (D/H) history in the strata of the North Polar Cap: Inferences about the water cycle + Comparison of small lunar landslides and martian gullies 
• 15 Mar 07 BBC: Movies provide new view of Mars.
• 15 Mar 07 NASA: Mars Rover Churns Up Questions With Sulfur-Rich Soil.
• 14 Mar 07 NASA: Cassini Spacecraft Images Seas on Saturn's Moon Titan.
• 14 Mar 07 Acta Astronautica  : Materials refining on the Moon. See also Riches in the Rubble.
• 13 Mar 07 BBC: Major space missions move ahead- [NASA] is considering four targets: the Jupiter system, Jupiter's moon Europa, and Saturn's moons Enceladus and Titan...Europa, Titan and Enceladus are also among the destinations expected to be proposed [to ESA]...Other proposals likely to be submitted include a mission to return soil from a near-Earth asteroid.
• 13 Mar 07 NASA: A Hot Start Might Explain Geysers on Enceladus.
• 13 Mar 07 Space Review: New directions in the search for life in our solar system
• 8 Mar 07 SpaceDaily: Early Mars Had Underground Water System + Nature: Not a sea, but a seep, on Mars.
• 2 Mar 07 ESA: Rosetta delivers Phobos transit animation and 'sees' Mars in stereo.
• 2 Mar 07 NASA: Cassini Returns Never-Before-Seen Views of the Ringed Planet.
• 2 Mar 07 BBC: Probe spies moon's volcanic plume [on Io].
• 1 Mar 07 ABC Science Show: Mars - were there ever habitable environments for life?
• 1 Mar 07 Space.com: New Instrument Designed to Sift for Life on Mars.
• 1 Mar 07 BBC: Nasa [Pluto] probe makes flyby of Jupiter.
• 24 Feb 07 Acta Astronautica ($): Optimal heliostationary missions of high-performance sailcraft + Optimal control of the deployment process of solar wings on spacecraft + Propulsion tradeoffs for a mission to Alpha Centauri.
• 24 Feb 07 EPSL ($): Production of hydrogen peroxide in Martian and lunar soils - Reactive, pulverized minerals are important on planetary bodies where impact processes have generated fine-grained basaltic dusts, and may pose a significant health risk to astronauts visiting planetary surfaces where impacts have generated such materials.
• 24 Feb 07 SpaceDaily: Absence Of Water In Distant Exo Planet Atmosphere Surprises Astronomers.
• 17 Feb 07 SpaceDaily: Orbiter Provides New Hints Of Past Groundwater Flows On Mars + Science ($): Fracture-Controlled Paleo-Fluid Flow in Candor Chasma, Mars.
• 17 Feb 07 BBC: Antarctic water world uncovered  - analogue for Mars glaciers?
• 16 Feb 07 NewSci: Underground pipes channelled water on Mars.
• 10 Feb 07 BBC: Martian moon 'could be key test' - see also the proposals for a human mission to Phobos.
• 6 Feb 07 Spacedaily: Looking For Microbial Martians.
• 6 Feb 07 Space.com: Finding New Worlds: Theoretical Conjecture Versus Hands-on Astronomy (no mention of extra-solar impacts)
• 2 Feb 07 NewSci: 'Oceans' of water may hide on Mars.
• 2 Feb 07 NASA: Cassini Images Mammoth Cloud Engulfing Titan's North Pole.
• 1 Feb 07 ESA: How SMART-1 has made European space exploration smarter.
• 31 Jan 07 Space.com: Study: Surface of Mars Devoid of Life
• 30 Jan 07 PSRD: Did Martian Meteorites Come From These Sources?
• 30 Jan 07 Geophys. Res. Lett ($): Role of photoionization in the formation of complex organic molecules in Titan's upper atmosphere + Shock-induced compaction, melting, and entrapment of atmospheric gases in Martian meteorites + Sublimation rate of ice under simulated Mars conditions and the effect of layers of mock regolith JSC Mars-1.
• 30 Jan 07 BBC: Frozen sea may harbour Mars life - see also Glaciers on Mars - a safe landing for hitchhiking microbes from Earth
• 29 Jan 07 New Scientist ($): 'Life came from Mars' theory survives pressure test (see also 30 Dec & transpermia) + The search for ET must go on.
• 20 Jan 07 Icarus ($): Hydrocarbon lakes on Titan + Arecibo radar observations of Phobos and Deimos (see Spaceguard alert 30 Dec 06 - Arecibo is scheduled for closure!) +  Experimental evidence for the potential impact ejection of viable microorganisms from Mars and Mars-like planets (see also Transpermia)
• 20 Jan 07 Science ($): WILLIAM K. HARTMANN:Renaissance Man of the Solar System + ASTROBIOLOGY: Pete Worden 'Ames' for the Moon and Beyond + ASTROBIOLOGY: It Rains in Spain and Wilts in Australia - Dozens of Spanish researchers are enthusiastically probing the hows, wheres, and whys of life in the universe at Spain's Centro de Astrobiología. The mood is much more somber at the Australian Centre for Astrobiology + Astrobiology Fights for Its Life - A decade after NASA pledged to create a robust program to find and understand life in the universe, researchers face a debilitating budget crunch and skepticism within their own agency.
• 19 Jan 07 Space.com: When Does SETI Throw in the Towel? + New Scientist: Aliens need a lot more time to find us.
• 12 Jan 07 NewSci: Europe targets its own Moon and Mars missions.
• 4 Jan 07 SciAm: Moon River: Titan's Polar Surface Dotted with Lakes of Methane.
• 3 Jan 07 Science ($): Lineages of Acidophilic Archaea Revealed by  Community Genomic Analysis - "it may be necessary to reconsider existing paradigms for the minimum requirements for life..." - see also Transpermia/Nanobes.

News archive (from Nov 1997)


See also Mars News
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Carl Sagan

Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan in Ithaca 1995.


Carl Sagan is one of the founders of TPS. He died on Dec.20, 1996 after 62 revolutions around our star. Carl and Ann's main works include

See also a brief review of Carl Sagan's books. New "Carl Sagan's Universe" - a collection of ground-breaking papers by scientists at the Sagan Symposium - held to celebrate Carl's 60th birthday and an extract from an early Sagan book "Planets"

"We make our world significant by the courage of our questions and by the depth of our answers."
[Carl in Cosmos 1980]
"May your husband be an inspiration to all for the search for truth."
[Horst to Ann 1/1/97]

Horst's Tribute to Carl Sagan - updated 14 Feb 1998. 

24 Dec 06 Planetary Society: Where Would We Be With Carl? by Ann Druyan

Contact details: Carl Sagan Productions (West) Inc.
7165 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, California 90046-4417 USA
Contact: Kent Gibson or Ann Druyan
www.carl-sagan.com
Quote:"The COSMOS series has recently been fully acquired by Carl Sagan Productions but it cannot  be sold until the music rights have been re-cleared. We are planning to re-issue it on DVD and VHS after the legal work is complete." (20 Oct 1999)
12 Nov 2000 Project Voyager: OneCosmos represents the realization of a shared lifelong hope to organize and lead a team that will deliver the vision of Cosmos through every available screen: spectacular living Internet, engaging television and cinematic works of art.
 

Related sites:

• Links with rankings
• Astronomy magazine Oct 1999 Carl Sagan's Coming of Age
• ONE LIFE, TWO TAKES (Scientific American, Sept 1999)
• Planetary Society Tribute
• Cornell University press release on Dr Sagan's death
• NASA's Carl Sagan page
• Carl Sagan Home Page
• WWW Places of Interest to Dr. Sagan
• CSICOP/Skeptical Inquirer (Dr Sagan was one of the founders)
• 'Kidnapped by UFOs?' Nova interviews Sagan
• Carl Sagan's Honors
• Interview with Carl Sagan
• Carl Sagan Photo Gallery
• Clark Chapman's tribute
• The Baloney Kit from the Demon Haunted World
• Scientific American's Review of 1997 is a tribute to Carl Sagan - many of the scientific achievements of the year were linked to him.
• Marie Smith's webpage.
• NASA Solar System Exploration - Solar System missions could not exist without the brilliant minds behind      them. Carl Sagan and Donna Shirley represent two such minds. They have been among the most important contributors to the efforts of space exploration.

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Founders of The Planetary Society



The founders of the Planetary Society: Bruce Murray, Carl Sagan and Louis Friedman in front of the TPS home in Pasadena, California.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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About TPS Australian Volunteer Coordinators

The Australian Volunteer Coordinators are members of The Planetary Society (an international non-profit organisation based in the USA). They help with planetary-science related events in Australia. There are several such groups around the world (see web links).

TPSAVC Seminars

SETI from Australia, Canberra, October 9, 1993.
Dr Roberta Vaile, late CSIRO Honorary Fellow, University of Western Sydney.
Dr Jeff Kingwell, CSIRO Office of Space Science & Applications, Canberra.
Mr Ted Ankrum, NASA Senior Representative in Australia, Canberra.
Dr Guillermo Lemarchand, The Planetary Society, University of Buenos Aires, S.A.
Mr Wilson da Silva, Reuters and 21C Magazine, Melbourne.

SETI SEMINAR, Australian Science Festival, Canberra, May 1994.
Professor Marcus Price, Director, Parkes Radiotelescope, ATNF CSIRO.

PLANETARY SOCIETY SEMINARS, Australian Science Festival, Canberra, May 1995.
Dr Jill Tarter, Chief Scientist, Project Phoenix, SETI Institute, California.
Ms Erica Sloan, NSSS - ANU, Russian Soyuz Society, Canberra.
Dr Malcolm Walter, Macquarie University, NASA-Mars Pathfinder, Sydney.

PLANETARY SOCIETY SEMINAR, Australian Science Festival, Canberra, May 1996.
Dr Raghbir Bhathal, Chair, SETI Australia Centre, University of Western Sydney.

PLANETARY SOCIETY SEMINAR, Australian Science Festival, Canberra, May 1997.
Dr Malcolm Walter, Macquarie University, NASA-Mars Pathfinder, Sydney.

PLANETARY SOCIETY SEMINAR, Australian Science Festival, Canberra, May 5, 1998.
Dr Miriam Baltuck, NASA Senior Representative in Australia, Canberra.

"Collision Course" seminar, Australian Science Festival, Canberra, May 5, 1999. Dr Ken Russell, Anglo-Australian Observatory, asteroid hazards.

"Australian Astronomy in the New Millennium", Australian Science Festival, Canberra, May 3, 2000
 Prof Ray Norris, Head, Astrophysics and Computing Group, CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility.
 

• Is there water on Mars? Lecture by Dr Nick Hoffman, 7:30 pm, April 5th, 2001 Old ArtsTheatre D (Building 149, ground floor), University of Melbourne. Tickets $2 at the door - contact Kevin Walsh



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Diary - Planetary Events in Australia

• 4 Jul 08 Mars Society of Australia: The 8th Australian Mars Exploration Conference will be held in Adelaide over the weekend of 4th - 6th July, 2008.
• 7 Feb 08 East Coast of Australia: Partial solar eclipse. Starts at 14:52 in Sydney, peaks at 15:44 - see Paul Floyd's Fact Sheet. Tips for safe observing.
• 9 Oct 07 Sydney: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Exploring Mars:  The Journey of the Mars Exploration Rovers - Dr Mark Adler, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Tuesday 9th October 2007.  Free. Please be seated by 6:20pm. For further information, contact Ron Houghton  or Jeff Lock 
• 6-14 Oct Sydney:  50th Anniversary of Space Celebrations at the Powerhouse Museum: 
• Australia in Space, Sat 6 October, 1.30pm , Prof. Iver Cairns, Research Professor in Space Physics, University of
  Sydney. 
• The Drake Equation: a modern review, Sat 6 October, 3.30pm, Wilson da Silva, Editor-in-Chief, Cosmos Magazine 
• Blast Off: adventures from the dawn of the Space Age to the present ,  Sun 7 October, 2.00pm , Dr. Ken McCracken, Research Fellow, University of Maryland 
• 50th Years of Spaceflight: the highlights, Wed 10 October, 12.30pm , Kerrie Dougherty, Curator, Space Technology, Powerhouse Museum
• The Spitzer Space Telescope, Sun 14 October, 3.30pm, Robert K. Wilson, the Spitzer Project Manager
• Surfing the Solar System with Lucy Hawking - the young person's guide to
  the universe Sunday 14 October 2.00 - 3.00pm
  
• 5 Oct 07 Sydney WEA:  Sputnik: 50 Years in Space. 6pm $35.
• 28 Aug 07 Total Lunar Eclipse - visible from most of Australia. Partial eclipse starts 6.50pm AEST, full eclipse starts 7.52pm. Ends 9.22pm. See Paul Floyd's newsletter.
• 18 July 07 Sydney 7pm: Astrophotography and the Discovery of the Universe - free talk by Prof David Malin at Warringah Council Chambers - Dee Why.
• 13-15 July 2007 Perth: 7th Annual Mars Exploration Conference (AMEC) by the Mars Society of Australia.
• 7 April 07 Eastern Australia around 8.30pm: The Moon will pass in front of or 'occult' Antares (the brightest star in the ancient Greek constellation Scorpius The Scorpion) on the evening ofSaturday 7 April 2007. Information Sheet from Paul Floyd.
• 18-21 Jan 07 Hunter Valley NSW: The IceInSpace AstroCamp at Lostock is a new star party, in only it's 2nd year, being organised by the IceInSpace community. The event will be held over 3 nights, from the 18th to the 21st of January 2007, at Lostock Scout Camp, Lostock in the beautiful Hunter Valley area of NSW.
• 9 Nov 06: For Eastern Australian residents the Transit of Mercury will be visible from just after dawn on Thursday 9th of November to late morning. See Paul Floyd's webcast. ASA Factsheet. Tips for safe observing. Thanks for the tips Ian Musgrave.
• 13-15 Oct 06 Melbourne: MSA - Australian Mars Exploration Conference - AMEC 2006
• 2 Sep 06 Sydney: Powerhouse Museum,  "Roving on Mars: The Continuing Saga of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover
  Missions" - Dr. James W. Rice, Jr, Arizona State University, 2:00pm - 3:00pm, Target Theatre, Powerhouse Museum (thanks MSA)
• 21-22 Jun 06 Canberra: From Stars to Brains: pathways to consciousness in the natural world - Manning Clark House, 20-21 June, 2006, at the Academy of Science, Canberra, A.C.T
• 5 Apr 06 Sydney Uni: Sydney Science Forum with Dr Karl Kruszelnicki.
• 13 Mar 06 Sydney Uni Dean's Annual Lecture: "My personal experiences as an astronaut" by Andy Thomas + "Astronaut Training" by Shannon Walker. Mon 13 Mar at 5.30pm. Invitation (PDF) 
• 26-30 Jan 06 Star Party DownUnder at Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary, Northern Flinders Ranges, South Australia - magnificant scenery, geology and astronomy.
• 1 Dec 05 Uni Sydney: Time: 6.30pm,   Location: Eastern Avenue Auditorium, F19, Camperdown campus , Cost: Free  "Seeking extraterrestrial physics and intelligence during the international year of physics" by Dr Jill Tarter, of the SETI Institute, (thanks for news tip Michael West)
  
• 7 Nov 05 MSA: Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter - Jim Graf, Project Manager for the Mission,  NASA JPL - Common Room, School of Physics, Old Main Building, UNSW,Monday November 7, 3pm
  
• 13-16 Sep 05 Melbourne: NSSA 5th Australian Space Science Conference.
  
• 25 Aug 05 Brisbane: "Spirit, Opportunity, and the Exploration of the Red Planet" by Steve Squyres, 3.15pm for 3.30pm, Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium, Mt Coot-tha Road, Toowong, Please phone 3403 2578 after 11am, Tue to Sun. (thanks Paul Floyd)
  
• 19-21 Aug 05 Canberra: MSA 5th Australian Mars Exploration Conference (AMEC) - keynote speaker Steve Squyres from the Mars Rover mission.
  
• 13-21 Aug 05 Everywhere: National Science Week 2005 - Astronomy resources from Paul Floyd.
  
• 13 Jul 05 Sydney: MSA "Beyond FMARS: The Next Required Evolution of the Mars Analogue Program" by
  Jason Held, 6pm,  Engineering Conference Room, Level 3, Mechanical Engineering Building, University of Sydney.  Contact
  nswATmarssociety.org.au
• 4 Jul 05 Sydney: CSIRO/UniSyd: The Brightest Explosion in History: Amazing Magnetars and the Giant Flare of 27th December by Bryan Gaensler (Harvard), Monday 4 July, 7:30pm - 9:00pm.Webster Theatre, Veterinary Conference Centre, University of Sydney, Contact outreach@physics.usyd.edu.au (thanks Paul Floyd)
  
• 23-26 Jun 05 Everywhere, Paul Floyd: [Very] rare June planetary conjunction - see three planets close together just after sunset.
  
• 21 Jun 05 Sydney: MSA "AstroVision: The Future of Satellite Imagery or Australia's First Weather Satellite" by Shubber Ali, 6pm , Engineering Conference Room, Level 3, Mechanical . Details from Michael West, NSW MSA.
  Engineering Building, University of Sydney - Map Ref N25
  
• 17 & 18 Jun 05 Sydney: Sydney Observatory Festival of the Stars
  
• 16 Jun 05 ABC TV: Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets - from the producer of Walking With Dinosaurs
• 16 Jun 05 Queensland: Paul Floyd Daytime occulation of Jupiter bythe Moon - starts around 3.30pm.
  
• 17 May 05 Sydney: MSA "Hydrothermal Systems on Mars - the latest from ESA Mars Express and the NASA
  Rovers" Location: Engineering Conference Room, Level 3, Mechanical Engineering Building, University of Sydney at 6pm. See also this ACA talk.
  
• 14 Apr 05 Frankston, Vic: National Australian Convention of Amateur Astronomers (NACAA)
  
• 4 Apr 05 Sydney AIAA: Sydney Section of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics will be holding a guest lecture on Monday 4th April at Sydney University. The speaker will be Dr. Allan J. McDonald recently retired as the Science
  and Engineering Deputy and Technical Director for Thikol Propulsion. Dr McDonald will speak on his involvement in attempting to delay the launch of the Challenger and the lessons learned from his experiences with the media, the Presidential Commission and the US Congress investigation.
  Details: Monday 4th April 2005, Time: 5.30pm for 6.00pm
  Venue: Sydney University, Camperdown, Lecture theatre N 205
  Off the main quadrangle, opposite side to the clock tower. For more information contact Ron Houghton
  
• 14 Feb 05 Perth, MSA: Weathering, erosion and landscape processes on Mars identified from recent rover imagery, and Earth analogues by Dr Colin Pain. Senior Lecture Theatre, Trinity College, Trinity Ave, East Perth.  Tuesday, 15th February 2005, 7 for 7.30pm, $5 for Adults, $2 for Under 18s. Further information from Dave Cooper outreach@marssociety.org.au
  
• 8 Feb 05 Sydney: SSFS:  The Nasa Plan for Space Exploration -  Sydney Space Frontier Society Chapter Meeting,  7:30 pm,
  SCHOOLS Briefing Room, Level 3, POWERHOUSE Museum, 500 Harris St, Ultimo. Contact Wayne Short.
  
• 22 Jan 05 Sydney: Cosmology talk by Paul Davies at Sydney Observatory.
  
• 14 Jan 05 Mornington Peninsula, Vic: Starry Nights Forever - Astronomy on the Move (and many more throughout the year)
  
• 14 & 15 Jan 05 Sydney: Sydney Observatory Open Night  - Saturn viewing.  Note that Hugyens lands on Titan on 14 Jan.
  
• 28 Nov 04 Sydney: Powerhouse Museum, 'Australia from Space' by NASA Astronaut Dr Story Musgrave. 12.30pm at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney.
  
• 21 Nov 04 Perth: Monthly Meeting of Mars Society, WA branch.  Guildford 6pm.
• 20 Nov 04 Sydney: Australian Museum TAMS lecture:  Mars Attacks! - Dr Phil Plait (the "Bad Astronomer")
  
• 17 Nov 04 Melbourne: ANZAAS, Victorian Division: "Exploring Mars with robotic rovers Spirit and Opportunity"MARION ANDERSON (School of Geosciences, Monash University). All welcome, free entry. No booking needed. Kaleide Theatre (RMIT), 360 Swanston Street, Melbourne. Refreshments following the talk. Starting 8 pm.
• 16 Nov 04 Sydney: Geological Society of Australia free public lecture: 'The Search for Life on Mars, Professor Malcolm Walter (plus other topics), Australian Museum, 6pm.
• 15 Nov 04 Canberra: Australian Skeptics Society:The Face on Mars - Dr Phil Plait (the "Bad Astronomer"), 8pm, Haydon-Allen Tank, ANU, Canberra
  
• 13 Nov 04 Sydney: Australian Skeptics Societ