Republican and Democratic

The Republican and Democratic parties have created systems where you can express an opinion on what should appear on their national platforms. This is a terrific opportunity for the space community to remind both campaigns that destination-driven human space flight is not only vital to the interests of the United States, but that there are a LOT of constituents who support such programs.

Recent discoveries by the Phoenix Mars Lander, the ongoing success of the Spirit and Opportunity rovers, and other positive space-related developments such as the recent string of successful construction missions for the International Space Station, have generated much positive publicity. This puts us in a particularly strong position to promote our cause.

The Republican Party allows you to submit ideas directly on the web. The Democratic Party is having platform "listening" events all around the country. You can go to these meetings and express your views. Enter your zipcode at the site and it will list all the meetings going on in your area. You will notice that some of them are geared toward specific issues.

FAX your member of Congress and the Candidates

You can also use The Mars Society's fax program to send a fax to Congress and the Presidential candidates. As we approach the political conventions, it is even more importation that we remind Senators McCain and Obama that there is a lot of support in this nation for sending humans to Mars.

Using the fax tool is as easy as entering your name, address, and the body of your letter (the header and footer will be added automatically by the program). The system will automatically send your message to the appropriate office(s), and allow you to download PDF copies of the letter you've sent for your records.