From BMackenzie at alum.mit.edu  Tue Apr  8 14:46:03 2008
From: BMackenzie at alum.mit.edu (Bruce Mackenzie ph)
Date: Tue Apr  8 14:50:45 2008
Subject: [MarsHome] Sad news about Richard Sylvan,
	design team and political t.f.
Message-ID: <47FBBD6B.7020708@alum.mit.edu>


Dr. Richard Sylvan passed away this past weekend.

Richard was passionate about helping people, obviously as a doctor.  But, I knew him for his work in 
helping people move beyond the Earth, to open up new opportunities for the next generations on the 
next world, Mars, and beyond.

Richard was instrumental in the Mars Homestead project.  He helped design our first Mars Settlement 
design, now called the Hillside Settlement, especially the medical facilities.  He was very 
interested and knowledgeable, such as on the effects of radiation and gravity.   And, he helped 
support the Mars Foundation and its Mars Homestead effort is several other ways, when it was most 
needed.

I had first met Richard through the Mars Society; he was especially active in the Political task 
force.  His health was already not good, when we met.  It took significant effort for him to travel, 
yet he loved to attend Mars and Space conferences to learn and spread his knowledge to others.   I 
remember him as passionate, and as energetic as he was able to be given his health.

Richard also had good stories to tell from his past, I wish I had known Richard when he was younger.

Here is a photo of Richard (on right), explaining something to Matt Bowes, at a conference in 2004:
http://www.marshome.org/images2/displayimage.php?pos=-1527

Richard is 2nd from the right, in both of these photos of some of the members of the Mars Homestead 
programming team:
http://www.marshome.org/images2/displayimage.php?pos=-1794
http://www.marshome.org/images2/displayimage.php?pos=-1894

We don?t have an image of Richard?s work, but he laid out a medical room for the Mars Hillside 
Settlement, which is just around the corner to the left in this interior view (by Phil Smith):
http://www.marshome.org/images2/displayimage.php?pos=-3420

A service will be held Wednesday, April 9, 2008, at 1:30 edt, in Boynton Beach, Florida.  Richard 
resided in Atlanta and Florida.

-Bruce Mackenzie

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