Bailie Rhor, 16, talks with NASA program scientist Mike Kelley about materials used to fabricate Mars rovers during the first day of Martian New Year celebration 2017 on Friday.

MARS – The second Mars New Year celebration held in downtown Mars on Friday evening and most of the day Saturday, offered fun, food, friendship and fantasy.

The science and technology festival coincides with the complete revolution of the Red Planet around the sun, which occurs every 22 months.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration sent 30 astronauts and experts to the 2017 Mars New Year, which is double the number sent to the inaugural event in 2015.

NASA booths lined Irvine Street, where space enthusiasts of all ages used viewfinders to take a virtual walk on the planet Mars, saw a scaled-down model of the Mars Rover vehicle operated by remote control, and observed NASA's huge inflatable space launch system.

The University of Pittsburgh's Mobile Science Lab saw graduate students teaching children about the effects of climate change on the earth through two experiments and games and demonstrations on four laptop computers set up in the specially outfitted coach bus.

Speakers from NASA and a costume contest graced the large stage at the south end of Grand Avenue.

The speakers discussed NASA's goal of sending humans to the planet Mars in the 2030s and the challenges of that mission.

The highest ranking NASA official at Mars New Year was Michael Meyer, the chief scientist of the Mars Exploration Program.

Meyer's keynote speech on Friday night centered on the potential presence of water on Mars and its meaning in the planet's past future.

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