MARS SOCIETY UK SYMPOSIUM GREAT SUCCESS
Bo Maxwell

The 1st Mars Society UK 1-day Symposium proved a great success. Held
on the 19th January 2002, the event was attended by over 100 people
of all ages and backgrounds. Featuring a total of 5 keynote speakers,
the event promised to bring a huge amount of expertise and knowledge
on Mars and exploring Mars together in one place.

The morning got off to a flying start with Dr. Robert Zubrin
appearing on the BBC News 24 morning bulletin, which not only gave
him a chance to talk about the Society and Mars Direct, but which
also lead directly to a number of additional attendees coming along
to the event afterwards.

After the opening address from the Mars Society UK President, Bo
Maxwell, the event got underway with a 75-minutes presentation and
Question and Answer session with Professor Colin Pillinger of the
Beagle 2 project. During his talk, Professor Pillinger reviewed the
history and progress of the Beagle 2 mission, before looking towards
next year and the lander's launch aboard the Mars Express mission in
June 2003. He also looked at the science Beagle 2 will be taking to
Mars and related it back to studies of Martian meteorites here on
Earth, bringing the audience right up to date with the latest
thoughts on ALH84001 and other meteorites.

Following a robust question-and-answer session, Professor Pillinger
was followed by Dr. David Cullen of the Cranfield Biotechnology
Institute who talked about new means and methods for detecting
possible life on Mars and the development of biotechnology that might
be used in future missions to Mars. In his 40-minute presentation,
Dr. Cullen unfolded many of the mysteries of biotechnology,
presenting their benefits in a clear and concise manner.

During the lunch period, attendees were able to spend time with
Professor Pillinger and his wife Dr. Judith Pillinger and Dr. Ian
Wright and Dr. Mark Sims of Beagle 2, examining the model of the
lander and asking questions about the mission. Trade stands provided
by the Mars Society, Lambda Press (computers software including the
3D Atlas of Mars) and Terra Publishing provided attendees to purchase
more Mars-related information. By that time Dr. Zubrin had returned
from the BBC News Centre in London, and was interviewed by the BBC
television series "Final Frontier" for a programme to be broadcast in
the UK in March 2002.

After lunch, Dr. Zubrin was again in the spotlight when he presented
a 65-minute presentation on the Mars Society, Mars Direct, the MARS
project, and the Translife project before taking a number of
questions from the floor. Received with considerable warmth and
enthusiasm, Dr. Zubrin's address lead directly to a number of
attendees signing-up with the Society, with two donations towards
projects being made to Society representatives at the sales desk.

Charles Frankel followed Dr. Zubrin and gave an enlightening and
witty presentation on his experiences at the Flashline Mars Arctic
Research Station on Devon Island before taking a closer look at the
geology of Mars and how studying it may lead to a greater
understanding of geological processes operating here on Earth.

Rounding-out the day, after two brief presentations on the Euro-MARS
and on potential technology developments related to Mars exploration,
Mr. Martyn Fogg gave an informative talk on the possibilities for
terraforming Mars at some point in the future. Always an emotive
subject, this talk reviewed some of the most promising models
developed for planetary terraformation, including those developed by
Mr. Fogg himself along with Dr. Chris MacKay and others.

Prior to the closing comments, given by Philip Dembo, the Mars
Society's Executive Director, the guests were joined on stage by Dr.
Mark Sims (substituting for Professor Pillinger, who had to depart
before the end of the day), in an open panel discussion / question
and answer session in which the press and the audience were able to
pitch questions to them all as a panel of experts.

All-in-all the event was warmly received by the audience, and
prompted numerous requests for the Society to hold more such symposia
and meetings in the future, and well as generating a lot of support
for the Society's work in Europe and the USA, including the
generation of several new members of the Society, whom we welcome
with thanks for their time and support.

Further information on Mars Society UK events can be found be
visiting the Mars Society UK website at marssociety.org.uk.

For more information about the Mars Society, visit our website at
www.marssociety.org, or contact info@marssociety.org

-p