In 1998 Dr. Robert Zubrin brought into being The Mars Society, and thousands of people from around the world have flocked to his red, green, and blue banner. People from all walks of life have
shown support for the exploration and settlement of Mars.

Each year the Mars Society holds its annual conference, when experts and enthusiasts can meet to present and exchange ideas and information. This book and the included CD-ROM contain over 130 papers and essays that have been presented at these Mars Society Annual Conferences.

Increasingly in the last three years, the conference has served as a venue for reviewing the previous season's experience of about one hundred volunteers who have served as crew at the Mars Society's Analog Research Stations at Devon Island, Nunavut, Canada and at Hanksville, Utah, USA. The interaction of analog research station crews during the Mars Society Conferences has resulted in planning and execution of ever more realistic simulations of the habitat infrastructure, exploration techniques, and organization among the crew members. This iterative improvement process is documented in many of the papers in this second of the "On to Mars" series.

Although some aspects of exploring and colonizing Mars still need refining and fine tuning, the lion's share of the technology and the understanding of the human condition are already in existence. The major missing factor is simply the realization and the commitment necessary to begin. The people of the Mars Society are working to educate and convince the political powers, the industry leaders, and you and me. We all have a stake in this.

Many of the diverse specializations and concerns of Mars missions are introduced and explained in this book.