"This is the first planetary mission when, through the use of television and on-line coverage, individuals can almost simultaneously experience at home what NASA's project managers are experiencing," said Robert Pearlman, NSS On-line Manager and designer of the "Madness" site.

"Mars Madness" website features a Mars Party Planner with ideas on how individuals or groups can host a Mars celebration, including suggestions for event locations, "red" food and drinks, party activities, and invitation gimmicks. The Event Calendar lists Mars celebrations or events being held by NSS and its chapters during the month of July. Completing the site are a reference journal and image archive which will provide the latest facts and images from the Mars surface as the mission progresses.

On America Online, NSS hosts two Mars-related live events. On Thursday, July 3 at 7:00 pm EDT, Kim Stanley Robinson, award-winning author of "Red Mars," "Green Mars" and "Blue Mars," will entertain questions on his view of the future of Mars exploration. On Monday, July 7 at 7:00 p.m. EDT, Ms. Donna Shirley, manager of the Mars Exploration Program Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will chat with on-line visitors about the Martian images and the Mars Pathfinder mission. Ms. Shirley will also be the primary technical advisor for CNN from July 4 - 6. For more information on these two guests and how to join the audience, America Online subscribers can go to keyword "space."

The National Space Society is an independent, nonprofit space advocacy organization with headquarters in Washington, DC. Its 25,000 members and 95 chapters worldwide actively promote the creation of a spacefaring civilization. For more information, visit the NSS website at http://www.nss.org/