Mars Society UK News Release

Contact : Bo Maxwell, President, Mars Society UK

Date : For immediate Release, 12th July, 2004

Phone : 0709 280 5915

Brown Must Back UK Participation in European Mars Exploration

“With his 10 year framework for science Brown should back the UK’s involvement in the European Space Agency’s long term Aurora space exploration programme for the long term good of the nation’s science base and aerospace industry. Currently the deal is £25m a year to join Europe’s biggest exploration programme. Its nothing compared to the £5 billion the Chancellor intends to spend”, said UK Mars Society President Bo Maxwell.

The largely robotic Aurora programme aims to explore the red planet with the possibility of carrying out the ill-fated Beagle 2’s experiments that could have found evidence of life. It also aims to develop the technologies for a human mission. The UK could also contribute to these. Mars Society UK’s comments echo those of campaign Save British Science and European space company EADS Astrium, based in Stevenage.

The Mars Society UK will be lobbying for another Beagle like mission and UK involvement in the European Space Agency's Aurora plans throughout the summer, in the lead up to the society's European conference for all the European sections of the Mars Society, to be held in October at the Open University, where Professor Pillinger's planetary sciences department is based.

Notes for Editors

The Mars Society is a worldwide organisation active in over 40 countries around the world, with many of its members actively engaged in space research and development. The goal of the Society is the human exploration of Mars, and to support this the Society undertakes a wide range of research activities, including the operation of a series of Mars Analogue Research Stations in which teams of scientists and engineers perform real-world field studies into living and working in Mars-type environments. The most recent of these stations will be operated by the Mars Society in Europe, and is to be located in Iceland. The Mars Society is also responsible for the Mars Direct mission proposal which revolutionised world-wide thinking in to how human Mars missions could be undertaken.

 

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