I Want to Go!

Tibbetts' Page on Space Exploration

Mars -- How and why to go, and what's waiting for us!

The Mars Society: Committed to the exploration and settlement of Mars by both public and private means. Read the Society's "flagship online magazine" New Mars to learn the latest about its many projects, including the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station on Devon Island (in the Canadian Territory of Nunavut) and the Mars Desert Research Station in southern Utah.
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter: Launched by NASA in August 2005, "will make a more comprehensive inspection of our planetary neighbor than any previous mission." MRO is designed to examine Martian landscape details a small as a coffee table and will use penetrating radar to look for water below the surface.
Mars Exploration Rover Mission: Launched by NASA in June and July 2003, the rovers Spirit and Opportunity landed on Mars in January 2004. Designed to explore the surface of the Red Planet for about 90 days, they continue to function 6 years later!
Mars Express: This European Space Agency space probe, launched 1 June 2003 on a Russian Soyuz/Fregat launcher, is in orbit around Mars mapping the surface, mineral, and atmospheric composition the Red Planet. The British lander Beagle 2, built to seek signs of life and perform geochemical/atmospheric analyses, descended to Mars' surface on Christmas Day 2003 and hasn't been heard from since. The orbiter of this first European mission to Mars has otherwise been a spectacular success. See also this Mars Express site from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Mars Odyssey: Orbiting the Red Planet since October 2001, Odyssey's mission "is to map chemical elements and minerals on the surface of Mars, look for water in the shallow subsurface, and analyze the radiation environment to determine its potential effects on human health."
Mars Global Surveyor: Get the latest news and photos from the craft that has been in orbit around Mars since September 1997, studying Mars' surface features, atmosphere, and magnetic properties.
Mars Pathfinder: Pictures from the surface of a whole 'nother world! See what it was like at the Sagan Memorial Station on the planet Mars from its landing 4 July 1997 until the mission ended when its battery ran down that September 27 -- three times longer than expected.
Missions to Mars: Learn about the past, present, and future missions to Mars, from the Mariners of the 1960s through a proposed mission to return Martian soil and rock samples in the 2010s.
MarsQuest Online: "On this site you can launch a spacecraft to Mars, explore its volcanoes and canyons, solve mysteries about the search for life on the Red Planet, and explore the latest Rover images." Try to drive a Mars Rover the way NASA does!
The Whole Mars Catalog at Mars Today.com: What's happening on and with Mars? This is the place to grok Mars in fullness.
MarsDaily: "Your portal to Mars." The latest news about Mars from SpaceDaily.com.

Space Organizations -- so we can go to the Space Frontier

Several of these sites are also excellent resources for the latest news in space exploration and/or astronomy.

American Astronautical Society

The AAS "is the premier independent scientific and technical group in the United States exclusively dedicated to the advancement of space science and exploration." The Society's 56th National Conference and Annual Meeting met in November 2009. While geared for those whose profession is in the field of astronautics, the AAS is open to anyone interested in space activities.

The Artemis Society International

"12 men have walked on the Moon. When do you get to go?" The Artemis Project is a private venture to establish a permanent, self-supporting community on the Moon. It's not just a dream any more!.

L5 Society

The cry "I want to go!" started here. Inspired by the ideas Gerard K. O'Neill to build a space colony at Lagrange Point 5 between the Earth and the Moon (later popularized in his book The High Frontier

, the Society later merged with the National Space Institute (founded by Werner von Braun) to form the National Space Society (next link). It just hasn't been quite the same since.

National Space Society

Promoting a Spacefaring Civilization, NSS is also the publisher of Ad Astra magazine. Our vision is "People living and working in thriving communities beyond the Earth."

: We Want to Go! The Los Angeles Chapter of the NSS, the Organization for the Advancement of Space Industrialization and Settlement has been active since 1978 and is one of the oldest NSS chapters.
Lunar Reclamation Society [broken web link]: The Milwaukee NSS chapter, publishers (together with the Artemis Society and the Moon Society) of the monthly Moon Miners' Manifesto.

The Planetary Society

The largest space group on Earth was founded in 1980 by Carl Sagan and others to encourage the exploration of our solar system and the search for extraterrestrial life.

Space Access Society

Can we get there in a decade? Will there be cheap access to space? The SAS answers both questions: YES!!!

: Space Frontier Foundation

Space is a Place, not a Program! SFF is about "transforming space from a government-owned bureaucratic program into a dynamic and inclusive frontier open to people."

Space Studies Institute

SSI is being "re-energized to continue in it role as a catalyst for space development," building upon Prof. Gerard K. O'Neill's pioneering research enabling us to open the High Frontier of space.

Space Foundation

"Champions of the High Frontier" whose goal is to vigorously advance civil, commercial and national space endeavors for a brighter future.

Other Space Missions -- current, recent, and possible explorations.

Messenger: This spacecraft launched May 2004 to begin a scientific investigation of the planet Mercury. Only the second craft to be sent there -- Mariner 10 made three flybys in 1974-1975 -- Messenger's journey includes one Earth flyby, two Venus flybys, and three of Mercury itself twice before settling into orbit around the innermost planet in July 2009.
New Horizons: This robotic mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt (the outer fringes of the Solar System) launched in January 2006. NASA's New Horizons will fly-by Jupiter in February 2007, then encounter with Pluto and its moons—Charon, Nix, and Hydra— in July 2015. It will continue to explore the Kuiper Belt in 2016-2020.
Cassini-Huygens: On January 14, 2005, the European Space Agency's probe Huygens landed on Saturn's moon Titan (Europe's first landing on another world) and for 3 hours sent photographs, sound, and other data from the surface. Launched in 1997, Cassini is a joint mission of NASA, the ESA, and the Italian Space Agency. Cassini-Huygens flew by Jupiter in December 2000 and has been orbiting Saturn since July 2004.
Deep Impact: This spacecraft flew by Comet Tempel 1 this summer for a close-up study of a comet. On 4 July 2005 a small "Impactor" craft crashed onto the comet, creating a spectacular display and a crater, and giving man our first look inside a comet.
NEAR Shoemaker: NEAR (Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous) successfully landed on the asteroid Eros on 12 February 2001 at the completion of its mission as the first artificial satellite of any asteroid, and continued to transmit data for the rest of the month!
Genesis: orbited the Sun at L1 for 29 months beginning November 2001. This mission to study the Sun included taking samples of the solar wind, which were returned to Earth in a crash landing in Utah in October 2004.
Galileo: Galileo began orbiting Jupiter in December 1995, studying the huge planet and several of its moons for what was planned as a 2-year mission. The mission finally concluded on September 21, 2003, after nearly 8 years in orbit, when Galileo was sent into the crushing atmosphere of Jupiter. Launched from the Space Shuttle Atlantis on October 18, 1989, this craft also flew by Venus, Earth (twice), and the asteroids Gaspra and Ida -- and witnessed the crash of Comet Shoemaker-Levy into Jupiter. Check out the pictures!
Pioneer Homepage: Describes the missions of Pioneer 10 and 11, the first human spacecraft to go through the Asteroid Belt. Both craft flew by Jupiter and Pioneer 11 made the first direct observations of Saturn. Launched in April 1973, no signals have been received from Pioneer 11 since September 1995. Signals from Pioneer 10, launched in March 1972, were last received January 2003 when it was 7.6 billion miles from Earth. Its science mission ended March 1997.
Stardust Mission: Launched February 7, 1999, Stardust redezvoused with Comet Wild 2 on January 2, 2004, collected samples of the comet, and is returning to Earth for a January 2006 landing. Stardust has also just completed collecting samples of interstellar dust.
Voyager: Launched in the summer of 1977, Voyager 1 and 2 are still going strong after more than 27 years! What began as a 4-year journey to Jupiter and Saturn, Voyager 2's mission was extended for a flyby of Uranus and Neptune. Both craft are now headed for interstellar space and continue to transmit data as they travel the far reaches of the solar wind.
The Hubble Space Telescope: Seeing the Universe clearly from above Earth's atmosphere since 1990! If you thought the Space Telescope was a flop, think again. The Hubble Heritage Project gives you another sample of the images of the Universe caught by Hubble.
Space Telescope Science Institute: Operators of the Hubble Space Telescope, and designers of the next-generation James Webb Space Telescope now scheduled to be launched in 2011.
SOHO: The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory: This exploration of the Sun is a co-operative project of the European Space Agency and NASA. See also the NASA site for this craft orbiting the Sun.
ESA Science: The European Space Agency's space science missions.
The Institute of Space and Astronautical Science: ISAS is Japan's national space research center. Click here for direct access to all the ISAS current, completed, and scheduled missions.

NASA -- The Space Agency of the United States of America

"Thirty-six years after sending John Glenn into orbit, NASA has finally achieved the capability to..."

The NASA Homepage: The place to start for just about anything related to current space missions.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory: At the California Institute of Technology, JPL undertakes NASA's robotic exploration of the solar system. Another great starting link for all the cool pictures from Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, etc.
NASA's Future: The Vision for Space Exploration: President George W. Bush called for a bold vision for NASA, including a return to the Moon and a manned journey to Mars. JPL robots are great. Human exploration is our destiny. Will Congress (and future Presidents) let NASA do what it really ought to be doing?
Office of Space Operations: A good place for links to current and future manned missions.
NASA Human Spaceflight: A base site for Space Shuttle and International Space Station information.
Space Hotlist: Links of all sorts from NASA's Office of Space Operations.

"...send John Glenn into orbit."

(Quote from Rick Tumlinson, President of the Space Frontier Foundation, 1998.)

The Rev. Steven Paul Tibbetts, STS
Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church
1534 S. Easton Avenue
Peoria, IL 61605-3407
(309) 637-9150

Copyright © 1997-2010 Steven P. Tibbetts, all rights reserved.
Created -- 5 July 1997
Last Revised -- 11 May 2010

URL: http://homepage.mac.com/pastorzip/iwannago.html