Public Participation in Planetary Exploration

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Scientific paper

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Mars Exploration, Public Relations, Mars Missions, Mission Planning

Scientific paper

In the past several years The Planetary Society has created several innovative opportunities for general public participation in the exploration of the solar system and the search for extraterrestrial life. The conduct of such exploration has traditionally been the province of a few thousand, at most, of professionally involved scientists and engineers. Yet the rationale for spending resources required by broad and far-reaching exploration involves a greater societal interest - it frequently being noted that the rationale cannot rely on science alone. This paper reports on the more notable of the opportunities for general public participation, in particular: 1) Visions of Mars: a CD containing the works of science fiction about Mars, designed to be placed on Mars as the first library to be found by eventual human explorers; 2) MAPEX: a Microelectronics And Photonics Experiment, measuring the radiation environment for future human explorers of Mars, and containing a electron beam lithograph of names of all the members of The Planetary Society at a particular time; 3) Naming of spacecraft: Involvement in the naming of spacecraft: Magellan, Sojourner; 4) The Mars Microphone: the first privately funded instrument to be sent to another world; 5) Red Rover Goes to Mars: the first commercial-education partnership on a planetary mission; 6) Student designed nanoexperiments: to fly on a Mars lander; and 7) SETI@home: a tool permitting millions to contribute to research and data processing in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. A brief description of each of the projects will be given, and the opportunity it provided for public participation described. The evolving complexity of these projects suggest that more opportunities will be found, and that the role of public participation can increase at the same time as making substantive contributions to the flight missions. It will be suggested that these projects presage the day that planetary exploration will be truly and global and mass public enterprise, with people in their homes, and in schools, in direct communication, and even control, of robotic devices on other worlds. The effect of this on future human and robotic exploration plans is considered. Specific suggestions and plans for the Mars program will be offered - for the 2003, 2005 planned missions, for rovers, balloons and other aerostats, and for outposts leading to human flight. Partnerships among government and non-government organizations internationally and domestically and among different types of organizations contributing to education and public outreach will be discussed.

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