This book addresses and reviews many of the still little understood questions related to the processes underlying planetary magnetic fields and their interaction with the solar wind. With focus on research carried out within the German Priority Program ”PlanetMag”, it also provides an overview of the most recent research in the field. Magnetic fields play an important role in making a planet habitable by protecting the environment from the solar wind. Without the geomagnetic field, for example, life on Earth as we know it would not be possible. And results from recent space missions to Mars and Venus strongly indicate that planetary magnetic fields play a vital role in preventing atmospheric erosion by the solar wind. However, very little is known about the underlying interaction between the solar wind and a planet’s magnetic field. The book takes a synergistic interdisciplinary approach that combines newly developed tools for data acquisition and analysis, computer simulations of planetary interiors and dynamos, models of solar wind interaction, measurement of ancient terrestrial rocks and meteorites, and laboratory investigations.

Utilizes a travel guide format to bring together recent scientific discoveries about Mars, describing such features as its dry riverbeds, huge volcano, possible ancient sea floor, and impact craters.

This book gives a new insight of Mars by adopting an original outline based on history rather than on subtopic (atmosphere, surface, interior). It focuses on the past and present evolution of Mars and also incorporates all the recent results from the space missions of Mars Express, Spirit and Opportunity. This book goes to the heart of current planetological research, and illustrates it with many beautiful images. The authors describe the magnificent scenery on Mars. The authors introduce a new world and reveal the workings of the planet Mars, and they describe current research to prepare for future missions to Mars.

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

"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.

The planet Mars has been a subject of wonder for millennia, as attested by its place in mythology, by later speculation about its canals, and by the scientific and public excitement over the Viking mission. Although the scientific literature about the planet is voluminous, no comprehensive treatment of the results of modern spacecraft exploration has yet been made available. This volume fills that gap by providing a summary of what is presently known about Mars and identifying many puzzles such as polar cap variance, occurrence of dust storms, and the possible location of water. The introductory chapter cites questions, controversies, and milestones in the study of Mars, and also includes an annotated book list, basic data about the planet, and a guide to Martian seasons. A chapter on telescopic observation credits the contributions made by many amateurs that have advanced our knowledge of variations observed on Mars. A chapter on spacecraft exploration, by an American and a Russian author who have participated in all Mars missions, includes a revelation of an additional Soviet attempt. Twenty-nine technical articles cover geophysics; bedrock geology; surface; atmosphere; exosphere and magnetic field; and climate history. Two chapters address the search for life on Mars; three concluding chapters consider the Martian satellites. An indispensable reference for scientists, Mars will also serve as a complete sourcebook for serious amateur astronomers.

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.

Since the beginning of human history Mars has been an alluring dream; the stuff of legends, gods, and mystery. The planet most like ours, it has still been thought impossible to reach, let alone explore and inhabit. Now with the advent of a revolutionary new plan, all this has changed. Leading space exploration authority Robert Zubrin has crafted a daring new blueprint, Mars Direct, presented here with illustrations, photographs, and engaging anecdotes. The Case for Mars is not a vision for the far future or one that will cost us impossible billions. It explains step-by-step how we can use present-day technology to send humans to Mars within ten years; actually produce fuel and oxygen on the planet's surface with Martian natural resources; how we can build bases and settlements; and how we can one day "terraform" Mars; a process that can alter the atmosphere of planets and pave the way for sustainable life.

TERRAFORMING MARS This book provides a thorough scientific review of how Mars might eventually be colonized, industrialized, and transformed into a world better suited to human habitation. The idea of terraforming Mars has, in recent times, become a topic of intense scientific interest and great public debate. Stimulated in part by the contemporary imperative to begin geoengineering Earth, as a means to combat global climate change, the terraforming of Mars will work to make its presently hostile environment more suitable to life—especially human life. Geoengineering and terraforming, at their core, have the same goal—that is to enhance (or revive) the ability of a specific environment to support human life, society, and industry. The chapters in this text, written by experts in their respective fields, are accordingly in resonance with the important, and ongoing discussions concerning the human stewardship of global climate systems. In this sense, the text is both timely and relevant and will cover issues relating to topics that will only grow in their relevance in future decades. The notion of terraforming Mars is not a new one, as such, and it has long played as the background narrative in many science fiction novels. This book, however, deals exclusively with what is physically possible, and what might conceivably be put into actual practice within the next several human generations. Audience Researchers in planetary science, astronomy, astrobiology, space engineering, architecture, ethics, as well as members of the space industry.

This volume reviews all aspects of Mars atmospheric science from the surface to space, and from now and into the past.