"First of all, I want to thank all those who submitted proposals," said Mars Society Executive Director Chris Carberry. "All the submissions represented a lot of work and commitment to the Mars exploration cause. I am impressed by the range of concepts that these finalists represent and I am sure that all of these final ten entries could be wonderful projects for The Mars Society to undertake in the upcoming years."

All those participating were required to submit their concept on a quad chart and a one page summary and needed to address a key aspect of humans to Mars exploration and have the potential to stimulate public and media interest. All ten teams or individuals will be invited to make a 15 minute presentation at The Mars Society Convention in Boulder to make the argument of why their concept should be the next big project.

The finalists are as follows:

• Autonomous Planetary Agriculture System (Submitted by Robert Van Dyk)
• Mars Navigation Aid Demonstrator (Submitted by Guy de Carufel)
• Mars Open Source Operations Commander (Submitted by Jason Held and Saber Astronautics)
• Mars Sample Return Prototypes Competition (Submitted by Kent Nebergall)
• Martian Flying Saucer - Wiki Design (Submitted by Sherry Draisey)
• Martian Meteorite Simulation (Submitted by Steve McDaniel, Gary Fisher, Gus Frederick, Penny Boston)
• Project Mars Power: ISPP on Mars (Submitted by Mark K. Moran, B.S.A.E., M.S.P.H.)
• Tethered Experiment for Mars (TEMPO^3) (Submitted by Tom Hill)
• The Mars Foundation: "The Mars Education Center" (Submitted by The Mars Foundation Design Team, with special thanks to: Bruce Mackenzie, Bart Leahy, Georgi Petrov, Shaun Moss, and Susan Martin
• Tumbler (Submitted by Jason Held and Saber Astronautics)

VOTE NOW FOR A PROJECT

From now until The Mars Society Convention, paid Mars Society members will be able to vote for the projects that they think would best advance the cause of Mars exploration. While this will not be a binding vote, the Mars Society Steering Committee will take this vote into account when they select the next project. The winning project will be announced at the Mars Society banquet on August 16, 2008 in Boulder.

When voting, members can select their first, second, and third choices, in order of preference; points will be apportioned based on that ranking (i.e. a project receiving a first-choice vote will earn more points than one receiving a third-choice vote). Anyone having difficulty voting should first check that their account is paid up-to-date, and if not, renew their membership before voting. If your account is current and you are still experiencing difficulty, please contact the Webmaster for help.