Comments | _starlady_: Going to Mars

_starlady_

Going to Mars

Oct 28, 2012 14:50

Nora and I heard back from the Mars Society. We've been invited to join Crew 120 for the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) north of Hankville, Utah for the two weeks around Christmas. Nora is my TA this semester for Intro to Astronomy at CMU. We'll follow in the footsteps of science fiction authors David D. Levine (2010, The Days are Just Packed ( Read more... )

Comments 17

shsilver October 28 2012, 19:38:16 UTC

Well, I'm sure the Pittsburgh area SF groups would be a good start, along with Philly if it isn't too far. Various schools (perhaps colleges). I'm also sure David would be willing to share pointers on where he spoke and how he got the word out.

_starlady_ October 29 2012, 01:45:59 UTC

PARSEC, yes, I can do a monthly meeting of the Pittsburgh SF club. And I just got invited to RavenCon -- which looks interesting and not too far away. (April 5 - 7, 2013, Richmond VA, http://www.ravencon.com/).

I noticed David talked about his experiences at WorldCon this year. On the panel with him were two others. From the schedule:

Mars Desert Research Station
To date, over 100 crews have simulated over 1000 days of living on Mars. We'll discuss what these bases do, adventures and misadventures, and how to participate in upcoming crews.
David D. Levine, Kent Nebergall, John Strickland

We may actually go to WorldCon this year since Anthony is one of James Gunn's students. And Anthony's a Texan.

j_cheney October 28 2012, 20:33:01 UTC

Congratulations!

_starlady_ October 29 2012, 01:47:05 UTC

Thanks. Always so curious to find out how many people applied to MDRS and how many got in. I'm excited!

mckitterick October 28 2012, 22:09:43 UTC

That is SO COOL! Congratulations, and have fun!

You shouldn't have trouble finding places to talk. Heck, if you come to Kansas in the spring, I would love to have you speak here for the SF class and club!

_starlady_ October 29 2012, 01:53:19 UTC

Getting my motorcycle license, taking a first aid/AED class, taking a shop class and that great science writing class--who knows what it was that struck them and convinced them to invite me. I'm amazed. I might be the oldest person to ever go. I have to start exercising today and for the next six weeks--my body-building sister is helping motivate and train me (long distance). She says as you get older, the exercise you do should match your goal. So, if my goal is to hike five miles up hills in a space suit carrying a pick-axe and a rock specimen bag, then I need to train doing that. If you aren't in shape, the space suit helmet fogs terribly.

mckitterick October 29 2012, 15:51:05 UTC

That sounds exactly right: train for real scenarios. Heck, that's Crossfit's theory, too.

lauriemann October 28 2012, 23:36:50 UTC

What a thrilling thing to do! You should consider going to Boskone next year, I bet that would be a great place to give a talk. Have a fascinating time!

_starlady_ October 29 2012, 01:55:59 UTC

I'll be teaching a new class next spring that I don't know how to do yet, so I'm making no travel plans during the semester. It's an experimental physics lab. Someday, I'll get back to Boskone, but this year isn't the one.

All my free time will be spent exercising for the next six weeks. Want to exercise together? Walking counts!

my neck of the woods phaedrekathleen October 29 2012, 00:15:37 UTC

Hey! This is great! Cngratulations!

Will you be flying into SLC? Maybe I can come out to the airport to see you? (Hanksville is about 4 hours' drive away from me.)

Kathleen

Re: my neck of the woods _starlady_ October 29 2012, 02:24:02 UTC

We're supposed to fly into Grand Junction, CO. After the 7 or 8 hour flight, it's a 160 mile, 2.5 hour drive from Grand Junction to Hanksville. I might head for Kansas when I leave--I have to look into flights still. Seems like ~$500 expense if we buy them soon. I would love to see you again. I wonder if the airport we fly into is optional . . .

Re: my neck of the woods phaedrekathleen October 29 2012, 15:48:12 UTC

Grand Junction definitely makes more sense, both with regard to travel time, and what you have to travel over. From SLC there's a nasty summit or a long, not much better, drive around.

And there's no telling what the roads will be like that time of year.

Darn it! I'd say stick with Grand Junction.

Re: my neck of the woods _starlady_ October 30 2012, 00:29:36 UTC

Yes, looking into it further, we are required to all fly into the same airport and drive together to Hanksville. Then afterward, I think I'm meeting Anthony in Fort Worth, TX (at his grandparent's house). I've hardly ever been in Utah before, so I'm really looking forward to that part.