Download or read book Water on Mars written by Michael H. Carr and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1996 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using imagery and research gleaned from the Viking space mission, this study traces the search for water on the planet Mars. It explores the morphology of the planet's surface, and the chemistry and mineralogy of both near-surface rocks and meteorites orig

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 Life on Mars written by David A. Weintraub and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-11-03 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The search for life on Mars—and the moral issues confronting us as we prepare to send humans there Does life exist on Mars? The question has captivated humans for centuries, but today it has taken on new urgency. As space agencies gear up to send the first manned missions to the Red Planet, we have a responsibility to think deeply about what kinds of life may already dwell there—and whether we have the right to invite ourselves in. Telling the complete story of our ongoing quest to answer one of the most tantalizing questions in astronomy, David Weintraub grapples with the profound moral and ethical questions confronting us as we prepare to introduce an unpredictable new life form—ourselves—into the Martian biosphere. Now with an afterword that discusses the most recent discoveries, Life on Mars explains what we need to know before we go.

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 Mars and the Search for Life written by Elaine Scott and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2008 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines the theories about life on Mars, providing both historical and current information about our exploration of the Red Planet.

Download or read book Lakes on Mars written by Nathalie A. Cabrol and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2010-09-15 with total page 411 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On Earth, lakes provide favorable environments for the development of life and its preservation as fossils. They are extremely sensitive to climate fluctuations and to conditions within their watersheds. As such, lakes are unique markers of the impact of environmental changes. Past and current missions have now demonstrated that water once flowed at the surface of Mars early in its history. Evidence of ancient ponding has been uncovered at scales ranging from a few kilometers to possibly that of the Arctic ocean. Whether life existed on Mars is still unknown; upcoming missions may find critical evidence to address this question in ancient lakebeds as clues about Mars' climate evolution and its habitability potential are still preserved in their sedimentary record. Lakes on Mars is the first review on this subject. It is written by leading planetary scientists who have dedicated their careers to searching and exploring the questions of water, lakes, and oceans on Mars through their involvement in planetary exploration, and the analysis of orbital and ground data beginning with Viking up to the most recent missions. In thirteen chapters, Lakes on Mars critically discusses new data and explores the role that water played in the evolution of the surface of Mars, the past hydrological provinces of the planet, the possibility of heated lake habitats through enhanced geothermal flux associated with volcanic activity and impact cratering. The book also explores alternate hypotheses to explain the geological record. Topographic, morphologic, stratigraphic, and mineralogic evidence are presented that suggest successions of ancient lake environments in Valles Marineris and Hellas. The existence of large lakes and/or small oceans in Elysium and the Northern Plains is supported both by the global distribution of deltaic deposits and by equipotential surfaces that may reflect their past margins. Whether those environments were conducive to life has yet to be demonstrated but from comparison with our planet, their sedimentary deposits may provide the best opportunity to find its record, if any. The final chapters explore the impact of climate variability on declining lake habitats in one of the closest terrestrial analogs to Mars at the Noachian/Hesperian transition, identify the geologic, morphologic and mineralogic signatures of ancient lakes to be searched for on Mars, and present the case for landing the Mars Science Laboratory mission in such an environment. - First review on the subject by worldwide leading authorities in the field - New studies with most recent data, new images, figures, and maps - Most recent results from research in terrestrial analogs

Download or read book The Hidden Truth written by Joseph P. Skipper and published by . This book was released on 2010-02-01 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Earth and Mars written by Stephen E. Strom and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2015-10-22 with total page 181 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Earth and Mars relates in images and words the life story of two planets: both born in the dusty disk surrounding the young sun; each shaped by volcanic activity, wind, and water; but only one home to life"--Provided by publisher.

Download or read book Life on Mars written by Tracy K. Smith and published by Graywolf Press. This book was released on 2017-01-10 with total page 79 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize * Poet Laureate of the United States * * A New York Times Notable Book of 2011 and New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice * * A New Yorker, Library Journal and Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year * New poetry by the award-winning poet Tracy K. Smith, whose "lyric brilliance and political impulses never falter" (Publishers Weekly, starred review) You lie there kicking like a baby, waiting for God himself To lift you past the rungs of your crib. What Would your life say if it could talk? —from "No Fly Zone" With allusions to David Bowie and interplanetary travel, Life on Mars imagines a soundtrack for the universe to accompany the discoveries, failures, and oddities of human existence. In these brilliant new poems, Tracy K. Smith envisions a sci-fi future sucked clean of any real dangers, contemplates the dark matter that keeps people both close and distant, and revisits the kitschy concepts like "love" and "illness" now relegated to the Museum of Obsolescence. These poems reveal the realities of life lived here, on the ground, where a daughter is imprisoned in the basement by her own father, where celebrities and pop stars walk among us, and where the poet herself loses her father, one of the engineers who worked on the Hubble Space Telescope. With this remarkable third collection, Smith establishes herself among the best poets of her generation.

Download or read book How We ll Live on Mars written by Stephen Petranek and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2015-07-07 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Award-winning journalist Stephen Petranek says humans will live on Mars by 2027. Now he makes the case that living on Mars is not just plausible, but inevitable. It sounds like science fiction, but Stephen Petranek considers it fact: Within twenty years, humans will live on Mars. We’ll need to. In this sweeping, provocative book that mixes business, science, and human reporting, Petranek makes the case that living on Mars is an essential back-up plan for humanity and explains in fascinating detail just how it will happen. The race is on. Private companies, driven by iconoclastic entrepreneurs, such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Paul Allen, and Sir Richard Branson; Dutch reality show and space mission Mars One; NASA; and the Chinese government are among the many groups competing to plant the first stake on Mars and open the door for human habitation. Why go to Mars? Life on Mars has potential life-saving possibilities for everyone on earth. Depleting water supplies, overwhelming climate change, and a host of other disasters—from terrorist attacks to meteor strikes—all loom large. We must become a space-faring species to survive. We have the technology not only to get humans to Mars, but to convert Mars into another habitable planet. It will likely take 300 years to “terraform” Mars, as the jargon goes, but we can turn it into a veritable second Garden of Eden. And we can live there, in specially designed habitations, within the next twenty years. In this exciting chronicle, Petranek introduces the circus of lively characters all engaged in a dramatic effort to be the first to settle the Red Planet. How We’ll Live on Mars brings firsthand reporting, interviews with key participants, and extensive research to bear on the question of how we can expect to see life on Mars within the next twenty years.

Download or read book Water on Mars and Life written by Tetsuya Tokano and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2004-09-14 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Growing evidence, based on observations from orbiters, landers and telescopes, indicates that Mars may still have numerous hidden water reservoirs. "Water on Mars and Life" surveys recent advances made in research into water on Mars together with its astrobiological implications. Addresses not only scientists working in the field but also nonspecialists and students in search of a high-level but accessible introduction to this exciting field of research.

Download or read book Mars A Warmer Wetter Planet written by Jeffrey S. Kargel and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2004-07-23 with total page 644 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mars is the Solar System's other wild, wet, water world. Long believed to have become cold, dead, and dry aeons ago, we now having striking new proof, not only that Mars was a relatively warm and wet place in geologically recent times, but that even today there are vast reserves of water frozen beneath the planet's surface. This compelling new evidence may well boost the chances of a manned mission to Mars sooner, rather than later. The discovery is also forcing a complete rethink about the mechanisms of global planetary change. What does the drastic turn of events on Mars mean for Earth's climate system? Could life have thrived on Mars very recently, and might it survive today in short-term hibernation? Will humans soon be capable of living off the natural resources that Martian hydrogeology has naturally offered us? Will humans one day be capable of setting off the same chain of events that nature has repeatedly triggered to set off warm, wet episodes on Mars? How could Mars be terraformed into a New World? (And should we even contemplate doing so?) This book offers a visually beautiful, scientifically detailed and accurate presentation of the evidence that has forced this new revolution in Mars science. From the reviews:"Long believed to have been cold, dead and dry for eons, there is now striking new proof that not only was Mars a relatively warm and wet place in geologically recent times, but that even today there are vast reserves of water frozen beneath the planet's surface. In this absorbing, beautifully illustrated book, Kargel describes the still-unfolding revolution in our knowledge about the Red Planet and how future concepts of Mars will continue to be molded by new revelations of four billion years of geology". (LUNAR AND PLANETARY INFORMATION BULLETIN)nbsp; From the reviews:" This exhaustive, effusive, and enthusiastic book conveys the excitement of frontline scientific research about as well as can be done. Kargel describes himself as a member of the "Tucson Mafia," a group of scientists in full rebellion against the "Mars Establishment" and its belief in a cold, dry Mars. His ideas are presented in meticulous detail, supported by hundreds of superb pictures, many taken by the author himself. Some--perhaps most--of his ideas are controversial and may ultimately prove to be wrong, as he himself often points out, but we have to applaud the (sometimes career-risking) courage with which he has pursued them. In spite of the large amount of rather technical information, the reader is swept along by the author's enthusiasm in conveying it and ability to integrate it into a coherent vision. The reader also learns about the process of science: the thrill of having a new idea and discussing it with others at conferences and cafes (and bars), the drudgery often involved in pursuing the idea, the perils of the formal review process for publications and grant applications, and the roles played by personality conflicts and power politics. Summing Up: Enthusiastically recommended. All levels. "nbsp;(T. Barker, CHOICE, March 2005)

Download or read book Mars as the Abode of Life written by Percival Lowell and published by . This book was released on 1910 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Dynamic Mars written by Richard Soare and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2018-08-07 with total page 468 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dynamic Mars: Recent and Current Landscape Evolution of the Red Planet presents the latest observations, interpretations, and explanations of geological change at the surface or near-surface of this terrestrial body. These changes raise questions about a decades-old paradigm, formed largely in the aftermath of very coarse Mariner-mission imagery in the 1960s, suggesting that much of the interesting geological activity on Mars occurred deep in its past, eons ago. The book includes discussions of (1) Mars' ever-changing atmosphere and the impact of this on the planet's surface and near-surface; (2) the possible involvement of water in relatively new, if not contemporary, gully-like flows and slope streaks (i.e. recurring slope lineae); and (3) the identification of a broad suite of agents and processes (i.e. glacial, periglacial, aeolian, meteorological, volcanic, and meteoric) that are actively revising surface and near-surface landscapes, landforms, and features on a local, regional, and hemispheric scale.Highly illustrated and punctuated by data from the most recent Mars missions, Dynamic Mars is a valuable resource for all levels of research in the geological history of Mars, as well as of the three other terrestrial planets. - Utilizes observational and model-based data as well as geological context to frame the understanding of the dynamic surface and near-surface of Mars - Presents a broad spectrum of highly regarded experts and themes to discuss and evaluate the geological history of late and current Mars - Includes extensive and detailed imagery to clearly illustrate these themes, discussions, and evaluations

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 Mars Up Close written by Marc Kaufman and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2014 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "National Geographic and science journalist Marc Kaufman combine inside stories, fascinating facts, and eye-popping pictures, some never before seen, of the red planet and NASA's groundbreaking Curiosity mission. Renowned author Kaufman spent two years embedded with the engineers and scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, cheering on the rover's spine-tingling landing, learning the backstory of anticipated findings, and witnessing the inescapable frustrations that come from operating a $2.5-billion multitasking robot on a planet 35 million miles from Earth. With images never published before, and computer-enhanced with colors that make you want to spend your next vacation on Mars, this is the only book that explains everything, detail by detail and moment by moment, about the most ambitious space expedition the human race has ever undertaken."--Provided by publisher.

Download or read book Is Mars Habitable A Critical Examination of Professor Percival Lowell s Book Mars and its Canals with an Alternative Explanation written by Alfred Russel Wallace and published by Library of Alexandria. This book was released on 1907-01-01 with total page 103 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Few persons except astronomers fully realise that of all the planets of the Solar system the only one whose solid surface has been seen with certainty is Mars; and, very fortunately, that is also the only one which is sufficiently near to us for the physical features of the surface to be determined with any accuracy, even if we could see it in the other planets. Of Venus we probably see only the upper surface of its cloudy atmosphere. As regards Jupiter and Saturn this is still more certain, since their low density will only permit of a comparatively small proportion of their huge bulk being solid. Their belts are but the cloud-strata of their upper atmosphere, perhaps thousands of miles above their solid surfaces, and a somewhat similar condition seems to prevail in the far more remote planets Uranus and Neptune. It has thus happened, that, although as telescopic objects of interest and beauty, the marvellous rings of Saturn, the belts and ever-changing aspects of the satellites of Jupiter, and the moon-like phases of Venus, together with its extreme brilliancy, still remain unsurpassed, yet the greater amount of details of these features when examined with the powerful instruments of the nineteenth century have neither added much to our knowledge of the planets themselves or led to any sensational theories calculated to attract the popular imagination. But in the case of Mars the progress of discovery has had a very different result. The most obvious peculiarity of this planet—its polar snow-caps—were seen about 250 years ago, but they were first proved to increase and decrease alternately, in the summer and winter of each hemisphere, by Sir William Herschell in the latter part of the eighteenth century. This fact gave the impulse to that idea of similarity in the conditions of Mars and the earth, which the recognition of many large dusky patches and streaks as water, and the more ruddy and brighter portions as land, further increased. Added to this, a day only about half an hour longer than our own, and a succession of seasons of the same character as ours but of nearly double the length owing to its much longer year, seemed to leave little wanting to render this planet a true earth on a smaller scale. It was therefore very natural to suppose that it must be inhabited, and that we should some day obtain evidence of the fact.