Welcome educators, students and members of the general public to the Mars Society’s Education page and our Educational Blog called The Red Planet Pen!

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Understanding the Risks: Radiation Exposure During Interplanetary Travel (Issue #26)

Guest blog by Kathryn Sharp

Recent years have seen an exciting uptick in the number of humans-to-Mars mission plans, from manned fly-bys to permanent settlements. Each lays out its own priorities and objectives, suggesting creative solutions to challenges common to all of them. One important challenge each mission will face is the danger of space radiation exposure over the course of lengthy interplanetary travel.

There are two major types of radiation: ionizing and non-ionizing. Many forms of nonionizing radiation will sound familiar: your car radio, cell phone, microwave, all of .which operate at frequencies low enough that their energy isn’t sufficient to damage human DNA… Read more…..

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***READ THE LATEST ISSUE OF ASTRONOMY WISE MAGAZINE!***

The Mars Society’s Education Director, Nicole Willett, has had a detailed article published in the December 2013 issue of Astronomy Wise Magazine.  The article begins on page 21.

How toTerraform Mars and Why We Must

The Sun has an approximate lifespan of ten billion years. Most scientists believe we are about halfway through that life span. Recently scientists have stated that the Sun will begin its death throes in about 2.8 billion years. If humans behave in a way conducive to the health of the planet and themselves, we may still be in existence y then. We tend to take for granted the planet we live on and our star that allows for life  to be present. Our star and our planet have a finite life. All stars and planets do. Humans live on Earth and without a home we will perish. Humans have an innate desire to live. What can be done in order to preserve humanity? When under pressure, we have the ability to accomplish super human feats. If that is the case we must be able to take humanity to a new home. The Red Planet is a perfect first stop in this process. Mars will survive longer than Earth. But the Red Planet will eventually perish as well. In that case we must use Mars as a “practice” ground for learning how to take humanity to extrasolar planets in order to spread humanity around the galaxy.

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 ****NEWS FLASH****  The Mars Society has launch its new Red Planet Radio podcast. Hosting the regular online program will be Mars Society Deputy Education Director Chuck McMurray.

The inaugural broadcast included interviews with NASA astrobiologist Dr. Chris McKay, who will discuss the ongoing search for life on the Red Planet, and University Rover Challenge Director Kevin Sloan, who will talk about the 2013 URC competition, held recently at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah. In addition, Mars Society Executive Director Susan Holden Martin will give an update on organizational news, while Mars Society Education Director Nicole Willett will talk about the rapidly-growing Mars educational outreach program. To listen to the Red Planet Radio podcast, please visit our web site radio.marssociety.org

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The Mars Society’s Education Task Force is reaching out to the public with information in order to help raise awareness of the latest news and discoveries about the planet Mars and its potential as a second home for humanity.  There are many resources available here so we can fulfill the purpose of the Mars Society’s Education Page. Browse our Future Events for a talk near you, or see our Past Events where we have presented.