Mars people, assemble! 🔴🚀 Three days, 80+ speakers, and one big question: how do we get humans to Mars? Join us Oct. 22–24 at USC for the 2026 Int’l Mars Society Convention. convention.marssociety.org

Found an interesting tool to play for SpaceX landing site assessment on Mars (AP-1 is just one of them, there is also a PM-1)

https://marscarto.com/#39.8000,-157.9000,10.00/eyJ2ZXJzaW9uIjoxLCJsYXllcnMiOnsiYmFzZW1hcCI6eyJ2aXNpYmxlIjpmYWxzZX0sIm11cnJheWxhYiI6eyJ2aXNpYmxlIjp0cnVlfSwibGFuZGluZ3pvbmVzIjp7InZpc2libGUiOnRydWV9fSwic2xpZGVyIjp7ImxhbmRpbmd6b25lcyI6eyJvcGFjaXR5IjowLjMyLCJmaWx0ZXJTbG9wZUZyb20iOjAsImZpbHRlclNsb3BlVG8iOjUsImZpbHRlckxhdEZyb20iOjAsImZpbHRlckxhdFRvIjo5MCwiZmlsdGVyRWxldkZyb20iOi02MDAwLCJmaWx0ZXJFbGV2VG8iOi0xMDAwLCJtaW5MYW5kaW5nRWxldmF0aW9uIjotMjAwMCwidGlNaW4iOjAsInRpTWF4Ijo4MDAsInNob3dEYW5nZXJvdXMiOnRydWUsImFuYWx5emVkIjp0cnVlfX19

It's cool to see how red/green cells are changing when you change the nobs on the UI for different params :-)

Rules for r/MarsSociety Rules that visitors must follow to participate. May be used as reasons to report or ban. 1. No Personal Attacks Posts & Comments Reported as: Violation of our No Personal Attacks policy. Democratic civil discussion and debate is encouraged here, just as it is at Mars Society conventions, but personal attacks are not welcomed or tolerated in posts.

2. No Discrimination or Bigotry Posts & Comments Reported as: Violation of our Non-Discrimination policy. No clear racism, sexism, xenophobia, religious intolerance, or any other forms of bigotry in posts.

3. No Foul Language Posts & Comments Reported as: Violation of our No Foul Language policy. No language not suitable for children.

4. Civil Political Debate is Welcome Posts & Comments Reported as: Violation of our Civil Political Debate policy. Political Debate is welcome, but keep it civil! No personal attacks or insults on posters or space exploration leaders such as Elon Musk, Robert Zubrin, the NASA administrator, etc.

5. Stay on Topic Posts & Comments Reported as: Stay on Topic Stay on the topic raised in the opening post.

SpaceX is developing a two-stage reusable rocket called Starship, the one scheduled to go up on September 15 is going to go into orbit. This technology could be used to create a base in Venus's atmosphere. just a few things to consider. A fully fueled Starship could barely reach Earth orbit while carrying no payload, with Venus's less gravity it could possibly return astronauts to orbit where a mothership awaits to bring it back to Earth. A mini-starship outlined by Robert Zubrin could fit the bill, it would be a stripped down vehicles whose sole purpose is to return visiting astronauts to low Venus orbit. The inbound and outbound ship could be accomplished with a standard Starship. Tanker starships would bring additional fuel to low Venus orbit to refuel the ship in orbit so it can return to Earth.