On the campus of the University of Southern California, the morning sun illuminated an inflatable replica of a white space station fit for human habitation. The little sign next to it declared: “Mars: The time has come!”
Starting on Oct. 9, astronomers, robotics engineers and planetary scientists stepped past the sign on their way to a three-day convention held by the Mars Society. They were joined by high school students, sci-fi aficionados and I.T. guys — people who did not work in the space industry yet were bonded by their desire to look up at the stars and wonder: What’s out there? And: When can I go?
They sipped coffee outside a lecture hall while exchanging LinkedIn contacts and discussing which presentations they would attend, among them “Debating the Martian Constitution” and “Brewing Quality Coffee on Mars.” Souvenirs for sale included Elon Musk socks, boxers with Hubble Space Telescope images and hoodies that read “Occupy Mars.”
Marge Lipton, a 77-year-old volunteer, was managing the merch table. “I still remember the earth rumbling and how it inspired me,” said Ms. Lipton, who witnessed the launch of Apollo 15 when she was a producer for ABC News. “As a kid of the 1960s, I got the space bug and it never left me. For so many of us here, we want to know what’s across the river, what’s on the other side of the mountain.”
A fellow volunteer beside her busily assembled a Lego space rover.
“All of us want to get to Mars,” Ms. Lipton continued, “but we realize the American people have lots of other things on their minds right now. How we’ll get over this moment in America, and bring attention back to Mars, I don’t know. But at least when we’re here, we don’t have to explain ourselves to each other.”
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