After receiving the highest number of votes cast by members of the Mars Society and the endorsement of the Steering Committee, Hill's concept to launch a microsatellite that will test artificial gravity generation techniques - which will be of immense value to the crew of a six-month flight to Mars - was named the winner of the MPC Saturday evening at the 11th Annual International Mars Society Convention.

"I'm just honored to have my project selected, when so many other excellent projects were up for consideration," said Hill, who will be the project lead.

"I'm really looking forward to helping advance the state of the art here. NASA carried out tethered artificial gravity generation experiments during the Gemini program in the 1960s, but never got back to it in the Apollo, Shuttle, or Space Station eras. Artificial gravity is important for a Mars-bound crew, so we will take the concept forward."

While the full details of the project are still being worked out, TEMPO 3's broadly stated goal is to use an inexpensive nanosatellite to conduct research into the feasibility of generating artificial gravity during the six-month journey to Mars.

Proving that artificial gravity can be generated for a crew flying to Mars will help remove one of the major technical barriers to human exploration of the Red Planet.

"Similar problems were encountered during the early part of World War II, when aircrews flew at high altitude and low oxygen levels," said Mars Society President Robert Zubrin.

"The technological solution of providing oxygen through enigneering techniques was frowned upon by aviation doctors in favor of trying to 'negate the effect' of the low oxygen through medication. Today, flight crews use oxygen at high altitudes, and we expect astronauts to travel with gravity."