Download or read book The Andromeda Strain written by Michael Crichton and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2012-05-14 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the author of Jurassic Park, Timeline, and Sphere comes a captivating thriller about a deadly extraterrestrial microorganism, which threatens to annihilate human life. Five prominent biophysicists have warned the United States government that sterilization procedures for returning space probes may be inadequate to guarantee uncontaminated re-entry to the atmosphere. Two years later, a probe satellite falls to the earth and lands in a desolate region of northeastern Arizona. Nearby, in the town of Piedmont, bodies lie heaped and flung across the ground, faces locked in frozen surprise. What could cause such shock and fear? The terror has begun, and there is no telling where it will end.

Download or read book From Habitability to Life on Mars written by Nathalie A. Cabrol and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2018-06-29 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Habitability to Life on Mars explores the current state of knowledge and questions on the past habitability of Mars and the role that rapid environmental changes may have played in the ability of prebiotic chemistry to transition to life. It investigates the role that such changes may have played in the preservation of biosignatures in the geological record and what this means for exploration strategies. Throughout the book, the authors show how the investigation of terrestrial analogs to early Martian habitats under various climates and environmental extremes provide critical clues to understand where, what and how to search for biosignatures on Mars. The authors present an introduction to the newest developments and state-of-the-art remote and in situ detection strategies and technologies that are being currently developed to support the upcoming ExoMars and Mars 2020 missions. They show how the current orbital and ground exploration is guiding the selection for future landing sites. Finally, the book concludes by discussing the critical question of the implications and ethics of finding life on Mars. - Edited by the lead on a NASA project that searches for habitability and life on Mars leading to the Mars 2020 mission - Presents the evidence, questions and answers we have today (including a summary of the current state of knowledge in advance of the ESA ExoMars and NASA Mars 2020 missions) - Includes contributions from authors directly involved in past, current and upcoming Mars missions - Provides key information as to how Mars rovers, such as ExoMars and Mars 2020, will address the search for life on Mars with their instrumentation

Download or read book Safe on Mars written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2002-05-29 with total page 65 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study, commissioned by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), examines the role of robotic exploration missions in assessing the risks to the first human missions to Mars. Only those hazards arising from exposure to environmental, chemical, and biological agents on the planet are assessed. To ensure that it was including all previously identified hazards in its study, the Committee on Precursor Measurements Necessary to Support Human Operations on the Surface of Mars referred to the most recent report from NASA's Mars Exploration Program/ Payload Analysis Group (MEPAG) (Greeley, 2001). The committee concluded that the requirements identified in the present NRC report are indeed the only ones essential for NASA to pursue in order to mitigate potential hazards to the first human missions to Mars.

Download or read book Perseverance and the Mars 2020 Mission written by Manfred "Dutch" von Ehrenfried and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-01-18 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the comprehensive story of NASA’s pioneering Mars 2020 mission, which at this moment continues to break ground on the surface of the Red Planet. The book takes readers through every stage of the Mars mission, describing its major goals and objectives, the cutting-edge technology and instrumentation onboard the Perseverance rover and other spacecraft components, and the members of the scientific team who steered the mission along the way. Mars 2020 is the first to actually take samples of the Red Planet and prepare them for subsequent return to Earth. The chapters therefore delve into how and why Jezero Crater was selected as the optimal landing and sample collecting site to meet the mission objectives. Featuring dozens of high-resolution images of the mission, this book gives readers a deeper understanding of the technology underlying Mars 2020 and why its work is so important for planetary science and space exploration.

Download or read book Curiosity s Mission on Mars written by Ron Miller and published by Twenty-First Century Books. This book was released on 2014-01-01 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Could life have previously flourished on Mars? Will humans be able to travel there one day? Can humans one day colonize the red planet? NASA scientists have been interested in answering questions like these for a long time. In November 2011, NASA sent the rover Curiosity to Earth's nearest planetary neighbor. By gathering information about Mars's climate and geology, the robot is helping scientists uncover the secrets of the planet and its past. Since its launch, Curiosity has made some amazing discoveries. The rover found an ancient streambed where water once flowed for thousands of years, and rock samples proved that the surface soil on Mars still has water! In addition, from drilling into Martian rock, the rover detected the key chemicals necessary for life—sulfur, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and carbon. And Curiosity's measurement of radiation on Mars shows levels similar to that at the International Space Station. These discoveries suggest that some parts of Mars could have been habitable—and may be again in the future. Learn more about the red planet and see what else Curiosity has uncovered!

Download or read book Sample Return Missions written by Andrea Longobardo and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2021-05-14 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sample Return Missions: The Last Frontier of Solar System Exploration examines the discoveries and results obtained from sample return missions of the past, present, and future. It analyses the results in the context of the current state of knowledge and their relation to the formation and evolution of planetary bodies, as well as to the available technologies and techniques. It provides detailed descriptions of experimental procedures applied to returned samples. Beginning with an overview of previous missions, Sample Return Missions then goes on to provide an overview of facilities throughout the world used to analyze the returned samples. Finally, it addresses techniques for collection, transport, and analysis of the samples, with an additional focus on lessons learned and future perspectives. Providing an in-depth examination of a variety of missions, with both scientific and engineering implications, this book is an important resource for the planetary science community, as well as the experimentalist and engineering communities. Presents sample return results obtained so far in relation to remote sensing measurements, methods and techniques for laboratory analysis, and technology Provides an overview of a variety of sample return missions, from Apollo, to Hayabusa-2, to future missions Examines technological and methodological advances in analyzing returned samples, as well as the resources available globally

Download or read book Mars Sample Return written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1997-02-28 with total page 57 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Space Studies Board of the National Research Council (NRC) serves as the primary adviser to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on planetary protection policy, the purpose of which is to preserve conditions for future biological and organic exploration of planets and other solar system objects and to protect Earth and its biosphere from potential extraterrestrial sources of contamination. In October 1995 the NRC received a letter from NASA requesting that the Space Studies Board examine and provide advice on planetary protection issues related to possible sample-return missions to near-Earth solar system bodies.

Download or read book Mars Exploration written by Giuseppe Pezzella and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2020-09-09 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More than 50 years after the Mariner 4 flyby on 15 July 1965, Mars still represents the next frontier of space explorations. Of particular focus nowadays is crewed missions to the red planet. Over three sections, this book explores missions to Mars, in situ operations, and human-rated missions. Chapters address elements of design and possible psychological effects related to human-rated missions. The information contained herein will allow for the development of safe and efficient exploration missions to Mars.

Download or read book The Sirens of Mars written by Sarah Stewart Johnson and published by Crown. This book was released on 2020-07-07 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Sarah Stewart Johnson interweaves her own coming-of-age story as a planetary scientist with a vivid history of the exploration of Mars in this celebration of human curiosity, passion, and perseverance.”—Alan Lightman, author of Einstein’s Dreams WINNER OF THE PHI BETA KAPPA AWARD FOR SCIENCE • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • Times (UK) • Library Journal “Lovely . . . Johnson’s prose swirls with lyrical wonder, as varied and multihued as the apricot deserts, butterscotch skies and blue sunsets of Mars.”—Anthony Doerr, The New York Times Book Review Mars was once similar to Earth, but today there are no rivers, no lakes, no oceans. Coated in red dust, the terrain is bewilderingly empty. And yet multiple spacecraft are circling Mars, sweeping over Terra Sabaea, Syrtis Major, the dunes of Elysium, and Mare Sirenum—on the brink, perhaps, of a staggering find, one that would inspire humankind as much as any discovery in the history of modern science. In this beautifully observed, deeply personal book, Georgetown scientist Sarah Stewart Johnson tells the story of how she and other researchers have scoured Mars for signs of life, transforming the planet from a distant point of light into a world of its own. Johnson’s fascination with Mars began as a child in Kentucky, turning over rocks with her father and looking at planets in the night sky. She now conducts fieldwork in some of Earth’s most hostile environments, such as the Dry Valleys of Antarctica and the salt flats of Western Australia, developing methods for detecting life on other worlds. Here, with poetic precision, she interlaces her own personal journey—as a female scientist and a mother—with tales of other seekers, from Percival Lowell, who was convinced that a utopian society existed on Mars, to Audouin Dollfus, who tried to carry out astronomical observations from a stratospheric balloon. In the process, she shows how the story of Mars is also a story about Earth: This other world has been our mirror, our foil, a telltale reflection of our own anxieties and yearnings. Empathetic and evocative, The Sirens of Mars offers an unlikely natural history of a place where no human has ever set foot, while providing a vivid portrait of our quest to defy our isolation in the cosmos.

Download or read book Automated Mars Surface Sample Return Mission Concepts for Achievement of Essential Scientific Objectives written by William L. Weaver and published by . This book was released on 1975 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Quarantine and Certification of Martian Samples written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2002-05-16 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the highest-priority activities in the planetary sciences identified in published reports of the Space Studies Board's Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration (COMPLEX) and in reports of other advisory groups is the collection and return of extraterrestrial samples to Earth for study in terrestrial laboratories. In response to recommendations made in such studies, NASA has initiated a vigorous program that will, within the next decade, collect samples from a variety of solar system environments. In particular the Mars Exploration Program is expected to launch spacecraft that are designed to collect samples of martian soil, rocks, and atmosphere and return them to Earth, perhaps as early as 2015. International treaty obligations mandate that NASA conduct such a program in a manner that avoids the cross-contamination of both Earth and Mars. The Space Studies Board's 1997 report Mars Sample Return: Issues and Recommendations examined many of the planetary-protection issues concerning the back contamination of Earth and concluded that, although the probability that martian samples will contain dangerous biota is small, it is not zero.1 Steps must be taken to protect Earth against the remote possibility of contamination by life forms that may have evolved on Mars. Similarly, the samples, collected at great expense, must be protected against contamination by terrestrial biota and other matter. Almost certainly, meeting these requirements will entail opening the sample-return container in an appropriate facility on Earth-presumably a BSL-4 laboratory-where testing, biosafety certification, and quarantine of the samples will be carried out before aliquots are released to the scientific community for study in existing laboratory facilities. The nature of the required quarantine facility, and the decisions required for disposition of samples once they are in it, were regarded as issues of sufficient importance and complexity to warrant a study by the Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration (COMPLEX) in isolation from other topics. (Previous studies have been much broader, including also consideration of the mission that collects samples on Mars and brings them to Earth, atmospheric entry, sample recovery, and transport to the quarantine facility.) The charge to COMPLEX stated that the central question to be addressed in this study is the following: What are the criteria that must be satisfied before martian samples can be released from a quarantine facility?

Download or read book Mars Geological Enigmas written by Richard Soare and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2021-05-23 with total page 556 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mars Geological Enigmas: From the Late Noachian Epoch to the Present Day presents outstanding questions on the geology of Mars and divergent viewpoints based on varying interpretations and analyses. The result is a robust and comprehensive discussion that provides opportunities for planetary scientists to develop their own opinions and ways forward. Each theme opens with an introduction that includes background on the topic and lays out questions to be addressed. Alternate perspectives are covered for each topic, including methods, observations, analyses, and in-depth discussion of the conclusions. Chapters within each theme reference each other to facilitate comparison and deeper understanding of divergent opinions. - Offers a transchronological view of the geological history of Mars, addressing thematic questions from a broad temporal perspective - Discusses outstanding questions on Mars from diverging perspectives - Includes key questions and answers, as well as a look ahead to which puzzles remain to be solved

Download or read book Volatiles in the Martian Crust written by Justin Filiberto and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2018-08-30 with total page 427 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Volatiles in the Martian Crust is a vital reference for future missions - including ESA's EXO Mars and NASA's Mars2020 rover - looking for evidence of life on Mars and the potential for habitability and human exploration of the Martian crust. Mars science is a rapidly evolving topic with new data returned from the planet on a daily basis. The book presents chapters written by well-established experts who currently focus on the topic, providing the reader with a fresh, up-to-date and accurate view. Organized into two main sections, the first half of the book focuses on the Martian meteorites and specific volatile elements. The second half of the book explores processes and locations on the crust, including what we have learned about volatile mobility in the Martian crust. Coverage includes data from orbiter and in situ rovers and landers, geochemical and geophysical modeling, and combined data from the SNC meteorites. - Presents information about the nature, relationship, and reactivity of chemical elements and compounds on Mars - Explores the potential habitability of Mars - Provides a comprehensive view of volatiles in the Martian crust from studies of actual samples as well as from the variety of landed missions, including the MER and Curiosity rovers - Delivers a vital reference for ongoing and future missions to Mars while synthesizing large data sets and research on volatiles in the Martian atmosphere - Concludes with an informative summary chapter that looks to future Mars missions and what might be learned

Download or read book Preventing the Forward Contamination of Mars written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2006-03-22 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recent spacecraft and robotic probes to Mars have yielded data that are changing our understanding significantly about the possibility of existing or past life on that planet. Coupled with advances in biology and life-detection techniques, these developments place increasing importance on the need to protect Mars from contamination by Earth-borne organisms. To help with this effort, NASA requested that the NRC examine existing planetary protection measures for Mars and recommend changes and further research to improve such measures. This report discusses policies, requirements, and techniques to protect Mars from organisms originating on Earth that could interfere with scientific investigations. It provides recommendations on cleanliness and biological burden levels of Mars-bound spacecraft, methods to reach those levels, and research to reduce uncertainties in preventing forward contamination of Mars.

Download or read book Out There written by Michael Wall and published by Grand Central Publishing. This book was released on 2018-11-13 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the vein of Randall Munroe's What If? meets Brian Green's Elegant Universe, a senior writer from Space.com leads readers on a wild ride of exploration into the final frontier, investigating what's really "out there." We've all asked ourselves the question. It's impossible to look up at the stars and NOT think about it: Are we alone in the universe? Books, movies and television shows proliferate that attempt to answer this question and explore it. In Out There Space.com senior writer Dr. Michael Wall treats that question as merely the beginning, touching off a wild ride of exploration into the final frontier. He considers, for instance, the myriad of questions that would arise once we do discover life beyond Earth (an eventuality which, top NASA officials told Wall, is only drawing closer). What would the first aliens we meet look like? Would they be little green men or mere microbes? Would they be found on a planet in our own solar system or orbiting a star far, far away? Would they intend to harm us, and if so, how might they do it? And might they already have visited? Out There is arranged in a simple question-and-answer format. The answers are delivered in Dr. Wall's informal but informative style, which mixes in a healthy dose of humor and pop culture to make big ideas easier to swallow. Dr. Wall covers questions far beyond alien life, venturing into astronomy, physics, and the practical realities of what long-term life might be like for we mere humans in outer space, such as the idea of lunar colonies, and even economic implications. Dr. Wall also shares the insights of some of the leading lights in space exploration today, and shows how the next space age might be brighter than ever./DIV

Download or read book Visions into Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013 2022 written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2018-11-30 with total page 155 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In spring 2011 the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine produced a report outlining the next decade in planetary sciences. That report, titled Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013-2022, and popularly referred to as the "decadal survey," has provided high-level prioritization and guidance for NASA's Planetary Science Division. Other considerations, such as budget realities, congressional language in authorization and appropriations bills, administration requirements, and cross-division and cross-directorate requirements (notably in retiring risk or providing needed information for the human program) are also necessary inputs to how NASA develops its planetary science program. In 2016 NASA asked the National Academies to undertake a study assessing NASA's progress at meeting the objectives of the decadal survey. After the study was underway, Congress passed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Transition Authorization Act of 2017 which called for NASA to engage the National Academies in a review of NASA's Mars Exploration Program. NASA and the Academies agreed to incorporate that review into the midterm study. That study has produced this report, which serves as a midterm assessment and provides guidance on achieving the goals in the remaining years covered by the decadal survey as well as preparing for the next decadal survey, currently scheduled to begin in 2020.

Download or read book Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013 2022 written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2012-01-30 with total page 399 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent years, planetary science has seen a tremendous growth in new knowledge. Deposits of water ice exist at the Moon's poles. Discoveries on the surface of Mars point to an early warm wet climate, and perhaps conditions under which life could have emerged. Liquid methane rain falls on Saturn's moon Titan, creating rivers, lakes, and geologic landscapes with uncanny resemblances to Earth's. Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013-2022 surveys the current state of knowledge of the solar system and recommends a suite of planetary science flagship missions for the decade 2013-2022 that could provide a steady stream of important new discoveries about the solar system. Research priorities defined in the report were selected through a rigorous review that included input from five expert panels. NASA's highest priority large mission should be the Mars Astrobiology Explorer Cacher (MAX-C), a mission to Mars that could help determine whether the planet ever supported life and could also help answer questions about its geologic and climatic history. Other projects should include a mission to Jupiter's icy moon Europa and its subsurface ocean, and the Uranus Orbiter and Probe mission to investigate that planet's interior structure, atmosphere, and composition. For medium-size missions, Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013-2022 recommends that NASA select two new missions to be included in its New Frontiers program, which explores the solar system with frequent, mid-size spacecraft missions. If NASA cannot stay within budget for any of these proposed flagship projects, it should focus on smaller, less expensive missions first. Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013-2022 suggests that the National Science Foundation expand its funding for existing laboratories and establish new facilities as needed. It also recommends that the program enlist the participation of international partners. This report is a vital resource for government agencies supporting space science, the planetary science community, and the public.