Mars the Exhibition

Come listen to a talk about Mars as we launch our Mars Exhibition at Stonehenge Aotearoa.

Mars is passing close by Earth at the moment, in an occurrence called opposition. This is a prime opportunity to launch scientific missions to Mars as the United States, China and the UAE have done in the last few months. The focus on Mars is that it is a planet that may have hosted microbial life in its past and these missions have been sent to the red planet to look for evidence for past life and understand more about the planet.

Both NASA and SpaceX have publicly stated their desire to put humans on Mars within the next decades. This focus on Mars creates a huge opportunity for New Zealand as we embark on the start of our journey to participate in the rapidly growing space economy. Already New Zealanders are working on space launch systems, robotics, software and space craft design, just to name a few potential career pathways.

To encourage our young people to take up studies of science and engineering (STEM) we want to educate New Zealanders on the possibilities.

With the support of Stonehenge Aotearoa, the Embassy of the United States of America, the Phoenix Astronomical Society and Milky-Way.Kiwi, the New Zealand Astrobiology Network has put together a Mars exhibition at Stonehenge Aotearoa. This is to showcase Mars and the science missions to the planet that are there on the moment or on their way.