Boots on Mars: 19th Mars Society Convention Opens Thursday

What technological advances or new strategies are needed to make this long-held dream finally come true? The timing and location of this year's meeting are no accident, said Mars Society President Robert Zubrin. "The idea was to try to have this talked about in Washington right with an election pending, to give an idea to the next admininstration, whichever it may be, of how to have a space program that accomplishes something within the next president's two-term stay," Zubrin told Space.com.