Benson made his case to members after the society’s president delivered an impassioned speech about the greatest mission humans can aspire to at the end of the millennium: human exploration of Mars and the eventual seeding of earthly life on that planet.
"This new world which is now devoid, or almost devoid of life, should be one which is filled with life," Mars Society president and co-founder Robert Zubrin told about 400 Mars enthusiasts. "Mars was once a warm wet planet and it could be made so again."
Zubrin showed slide projections that illustrated what the first Mars bases might look like – white domes and bubble-wrap greenhouses arrayed in a landscape of red rocks and towering buttes. He said it was humanity’s duty to cultivate Mars.
"It is the nature of life to take barren environments and transform them into those that are friendly for the propagation and development of life. In some sense it would be unnatural if humans – as the form that the biosphere has evolved that allows it to leap across interplanetary space and establish itself and bring to life new worlds – if we did not fulfill that role. That role of bringing life to Mars and Mars to life will be one of the most noble things the human race has ever done," Zubrin said.
Some six hundred people are registered for the conference, and organizers expect a few hundred more to stop by. Attendees have traveled from across the United States and from foreign countries to strategize about human exploration of Mars.
While many of the discussions, speeches and presentations of the next four days are inspired by long range dreams such as the vision of making Mars teem with biology, most of the focus is on practical matters. Presenters range from amateur space scientists to university and NASA researchers. They will address such practical needs as making fuel from Mars’ carbon dioxide atmosphere and building human-powered vehicles for exploring the surface. A good portion of discussion will deal with even more immediate needs of cultivating public and political support for humans-to-Mars programs.
Mark Eby, a chemical engineer from Mobile, Ala., carpooled with two friends to come to the conference. The three took turns driving 32 hours straight to arrive in Boulder Wednesday afternoon. They drove a maroon minivan with the mystical red orb of Mars taped to the windshield, in the form of an 8-by-10-inch NASA photograph of the planet. The side windows were adorned with the slogan "Mars or Bust." The URL of the Mars Society website was also painted in red tempura paint on the glass.
Eby said the search for life on Mars had captured his enthusiasm years ago. He is attending the conference to share his experiences in public education and outreach and to help build local Mars Society chapters in the South. He said his professional skills don’t necessarily translate to Mars exploration. "Unless we actually go to Mars and build a chemical plant to start pumping our greenhouse gasses, there’s not a whole lot I can do, but I help in the public education effort," Eby said.
One of his traveling partners, Shelly Hynes, is a physics student at Northwest State University of Lousiana. She spent the summer last year working as a research assistant at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. Hynes helped conduct research into methods of detecting small amounts of chlorophyll in Martian-like soil. Researchers at Ames are trying to develop tests that will be able to analyze Martian soil and detect the slightest signs of life. Chlorophyll, which is produced by simple life forms like algae, is one of those signs.
The conference will continue at the University of Colorado campus through Sunday.
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