Mayor Gregg Hartung announced that the borough’s Martian of the Year will be honored at the Mars New Year Blast Off Dinner on Thursday, Feb. 23.

“Colleen Hinrichsen, who’s the STEM education teacher for Mars Area School District, will be honored as the Martian of the Year,” Hartung said. “She was very instrumental in getting the Mars and Moon maps for our school district.”

Hinrichsen will be honored along with the previous Martian of the Year, Mary Snow, who was unable to be honored during the pandemic.

The event will kick off at 5 p.m. Thursday and feature Tara Ruttely, two presentations, student artwork and more than160 guests, according to Hartung. Ruttley is associate chief scientist for microgravity research at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C.

“It will be sort of a mini-version of the (Mars New Year Festival) — June 9 and 10,” Hartung said. “So it will kind of kick off that.”