The Mars Information Page

last updated 04.08.15.22:14Z

Directory:

• Background
• Why Mars? ...policies and politics
• Current Events
• NASA & ESA
• Issues: water, balloons, ...
• Exobiology
• Books
• More Image Sources
• Projects & Organizations
• Other Simulations
• Recent Science Fiction

• Planet Mars in Popular Culture
  Reviews Literature (incl. Swift, Wells, Burroughs, Bradbury, Heinlein, Robinson, etc.),
  and Radio, Recent Film, Old Movies, and Miscl. (See also: 'Recent Science Fiction' below)
  Also:Planet Mars Chronology in three sections, Ancient and Medieval, Renaissance to the Space Age, and Space Explorattion of Mars - richly interactive.

• Why Mars?
• Is Mars Ours?
  The logistics and ethics of colonizing the red planet.
  David Grinspoon, posted to Slate Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2004, at 4:26 PM-PT

  and

• "Bush to Announce Missions to Mars, Moon"
  Marcia Dunn, Associated Press Aerospace Writer. posted to Space.com: 02:00 pm ET 09 January 2004
• "Our Non-Expeditions to the Moon and Mars"
  Look closely: President Bush's space initiative is more about robots than astronauts.
  Richard A. Muller, Technology for Presidents, February 19, 2004
  [ Note: requires one-time registration with MIT's Technology Review - which is SAFE ]
• "NASA Administrator Shares Appreciation for Presidential Commission"
  Glenn Mahone/Bob Jacobs, Headquarters, Washington,(Phone: 202/358-1898/1600)
  June 16, 2004 (RELEASE : 04-095)
  "The following is a statement from NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe regarding today's report from the President's Commission on Implementation of U.S. Space Exploration Policy."

Current Events

• Mars Exploration Rovers Website - follow the Spirit and the Opportunity

• European Space Agency: Mars Express - follow the Beagle

• The NASA Homepage

• NASA: Center for Mars Exploration
  Mars Concept Maps, Atlas, Calendar, Gallery, Mars Surveyor Landing Sites, Missions, Movies, Science<

• NASA Education Programs

• NASA's Space Settlement Site

• TES Team Monitors the Polar Regions of Mars
  The goal of this page is to present up-to-date information about what the TES instrument observes in the Martian polar regions as well as results of analysis conducted at the USGS Flagstaff Field Center. Pages that are listed as being updated daily commonly show data from a few days ago. This is because there is a lag between data acquisition and downlink to Earth and processing once the data are received.

• USGS: PDS Mars Global Surveyor
  Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) Image Collection

• Mars Exploration Rovers Website

• NASA MarsOWeb:Mars exploration Program Landing Sites
  Hematite West, Gusev Crater, Elysium, and Isidis Planitia East

• MARS EXPLORATION STRATEGIES:
  A REFERENCE PROGRAM AND COMPARISON OF ALTERNATIVE ARCHITECTURES
  David B. Weaver and Michael B. Duke, NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas
  AIAA 93-4212; (1993)

• Mars24 - Time on Mars
  The latest version of Mars24 is 5.1.2, released 2003-12-22.
  Mars24 is a cross-platform Java application and applet which displays a Mars "sunclock", a graphical representation of Mars showing the current sun- and nightsides of Mars, along with a numerical readout of the time in 24-hour format. Other displays include a plot showing the relative orbital positions of Mars and Earth and a diagram showing the solar angle for a given location on Mars.
  

• USGS Flagstaff
  Includes: Astrogeology Research Program
  The Astrogeology Research Program is a team of over 80 research scientists, cartographers, computer scientists, administrative staff, students, contractors, and volunteers working to support the efforts to explore, map, and understand our solar system. Fields of particular interest are mapping, planetary geologic processes, remote sensing and monitoring, and scientific analysis, which leads to answers about our neighboring planets.

• USGS: Browse the Solar System

• Indexes of Maps of the Planets and Satellites 1992

• European Space Agency
  ESA Mars Express

• @MarsToday.com:The Whole Mars Catalogue

• Mars: A Water World?
  Evidence Mounts, But Scientists Remain Tight-Lipped
  Leonard David, Senior Space Writer. posted to Space.com: 01:00 pm ET, 29 February 2004
• "Robot balloons could explore Mars"
  BBC News World Edition; Last Updated: Wednesday, 11 February, 2004, 08:51 GMT

• Exobiology:Life Through Space and Time
  The goal of NASA's Exobiology program is to understand the origin, evolution, and distribution of life in the universe. Research is focused on tracing the pathways taken by the biogenic elements, leading from the origin of the universe through the major epochs in the evolution of living systems and their precursors. These epochs are 1) The cosmic evolution of the biogenic compounds, 2) prebiotic evolution, 3) the early evolution of life, and 4) the evolution of advanced life.
  Links to: NASA, Space Science, and Solar System Exploration.

• Marsbugs: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter
  Dave Thomas and Julian Hiscox founded Marsbugs in the Spring of 1994. Originally called Marsbugs: The Electronic Exobiology Newsletter, this newsletter provides a channel of information for scientists, educators and other persons interested in life sciences as they relate to planetary science and space exploration. This newsletter is not intended to replace peer-reviewed journals, but to supplement them. Marsbugs is a medium in which people can informally present ideas for investigation, questions about space biology, and announcements of upcoming events.
  Astrobiology is still a relatively young field, and new ideas may come out of the most unexpected places. Subjects may include, but are not limited to: exobiology and astrobiology (life on other planets), the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), ecopoeisis and terraformation, Earth from space, planetary biology, primordial evolution, space physiology, biological life support systems, and human habitation of space and other planets. Marsbugs is published on a weekly to quarterly basis as warranted by the number of articles and announcements. Article submissions are welcome, and should be submitted to the editor . Whenever possible, submissions should include a short biographical statement about the author(s) along with the author(s)' correspondence address.
  Additional information on astrobiology and related topics may be found at The Astrobiology Index.

• The SETI Institute
  The mission of the SETI Institute is to explore, understand and explain the origin, nature and prevalence of life in the universe.
  The SETI Institute is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to scientific research, education and public outreach.
  Founded in 1984, the Institute today employs over 100 scientists, educators and support staff. Research at the Institute is anchored by two centers, each directed by a renowned scientist who holds an endowed chair. Dr. Jill Tarter leads the Center for SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Research as Bernard M. Oliver Chair for SETI, while Dr. Christopher Chyba holds the Carl Sagan Chair, and directs the Center for the Study of Life in the Universe.

• SETI@Home
  SETI@home is a scientific experiment that uses Internet-connected computers in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). You can participate by running a free program that downloads and analyzes radio telescope data.

• Eon-4
  The story is basically this. Presented as an actual occurrence, EON-4 details the history of our first contact with an extraterrestrial species and the events that follow. Given enough information by the Sentients, our extraterrestrial friends, to make prolonged space travel by humans possible, the EON-4 project has sent a team of explorers to make face-to-face contact (21K .JPG).
  Eon-4

• Boston, Penelope J., Christopher McKay, and Carol Stoker, , Editors. 1984, 1985, 1989, The Case for Mars - conference prodceedings. San Diego, CA: Published for the American Astronautical Society by Univelt, c1989.
• Bergreen, Laurence, 2001 Voyage to Mars: NASA's Search for Life Beyond Earth New York, NY: Riverhead Books.
• Harrison, A.A., Y.A. Clearwater, C.P. McKay, 1990 From Antarctica to Outer Space: Life in Isolation and Confinement. NY: Springer-Verlag.
• Hartman, Travelers Guide to the Red Planet
• Zubrin, Robert with Richard Wagner 1996 The Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must ; New York, NY: Touchstone/ Simon & Schuster.

• Planetary Photojournal: NASA's Image Access Home Page
• Pictures from the Hubble Telescope
• International Association for the Astronomical Arts
• NOVAGRAPHICS SPACE ART GALLERY

• Mars Homestead Project
  Utilizing concepts and designs from the past several decades, the Mars Homestead Project seeks to develop a unified plan for building the first habitat on Mars utilizing local materials. The ultimate goal of the project is to build a growing, permanent settlement beyond the Earth, thus allowing civilization to spread beyond the limits of our small planet.

• The Mars Institute
  The Mars Institute was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit public benefit corporation on September 18, 2002 in the State of California. The Mars Institute was also incorporated as a federal non-profit corporation in Canada on November, 15, 2002.
  The creation of the Mars Institute was the culmination of a year's discussion between the co-founders, Marc Boucher, Charles Cockell, Pascal Lee, Stephen Braham and others.
  The stated purpose of the Mars Institute is to further the scientific study, exploration, and public understanding of Mars. The Institute:
  * develops, implements and supports high quality peer-reviewed scientific research about the planet Mars, its present nature, and its climatic, geologic and possibly biologic evolution, including through investigations of similarities and differences between the Earth, Mars and other planets;
  * analyzes, develops and implement concepts, technologies and strategies for the exploration of Mars, by robotic systems and humans;
  * informs the public on the results, progress, and benefits to humankind of Mars exploration through the development and implementation of educational and public outreach activities.
  Including: "Romance to Reality: moon & Mars mission plans"

• The Case for Mars, recurrent scholarly conference since 1984(?).

• The Mars Project - An Educational Space Simulation of a Journey to Mars
  Welcome to The Mars Project, An Educational Space Simulation of a Journey to Mars. This project engaged students on four continents in an extended space simulation covering many months. This project sought to overcome some of the limitations inherent in short-term educational space simulations by increasing the duration of the simulation.

• The Project Pioneer / The Mars Millennium Project
  The countdown to a new century provides a unique opportunity to engage America's youth in charting a course for the future. The Mars Millennium Project, an official White House Millennium Council Youth Initiative, challenges students across the nation to design a community yet to be imagined - for the planet Mars.
  The interdisciplinary learning project will engage kindergarten through high-school students in classrooms and youth groups throughout the United States. Working in teams with educators, community leaders and professionals in many fields, hundreds of thousands of young people will weave the arts, sciences, and humanities into an exploration of their own communities.They will then take the best of the past and present, and apply what they have learned to the future. The result; a new community - one that is scientifically sound and offers a high quality of life - and one in which they would be proud to live.
  Guiding the Mars Millennium Project are the U.S. Department of Education
  Imagine creating a village for 100 transplanted earthlings on Mars in the year 2030. This national Mars Millennium Project will inspire debate, in-depth research and the quest for new ideas revolving around the White House Millennium Council's central theme, "Honor the Past - Imagine the Future." Throughout the course of the project, students will pose questions and find solutions to important issues that affect our lives now and for generations to come.

• Malin Space Science Systems
  Featuring: Weekly Weather Report and Forecast for Mars Exploration Rover and Beagle 2 Landing Sites Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) was established in 1990 to design, develop, and operate instruments to fly on unmanned spacecraft. Its initial focus was on the development and operation of the Mars Observer Camera Ground Data System. After the loss of Mars Observer in August 1993, MSSS participated in studies aimed at recovering from the spacecraft loss, and was selected to provide the spare Mars Observer Camera for the re-flight mission, Mars Global Surveyor. At the same time, MSSS was developing a very small, modular camera system for future flight missions. This work culminated with the selection of MSSS to provide cameras for both the Mars Surveyor '98 Orbiter and Lander. MSSS is also developing advanced data processing and archiving techniques, as will be applied to processing of the Clementine HiRes images.

• Explore Mars Now
  Mars Habitat (membership)
  Our goal is to inspire learning about space science & technology through this web-based Mars simulator. Using ultra realism in site content and graphics, we present plausible concepts for near future Mars missions drawing upon the depth of knowledge from experts around the world.
  We invite criticism on all aspects of the design presented on this site. In the future, our goal is to present an open forum for discussion of issues regarding Mars exploration. As part of this effort, we will be presenting alternative designs, technology and science as we receive input from visitors.

• The Mars Society (membership)
  The Purpose of the Mars Society:
  To further the goal of the exploration and settlement of the Red Planet. This will be done by:
  1. Broad public outreach to instill the vision of pioneering Mars.
  2. Support of ever more aggressive government funded Mars exploration programs around the world.
  3. Conducting Mars exploration on a private basis.
  Starting small, with hitchhiker payloads on government funded missions, we intend to use the credibility that such activity will engender to mobilize larger resources that will enable stand-alone private robotic missions and ultimately human exploration.
  Experiences with Mars Analog Suits: Outreach

   

• The Planetary Society (membership)
  The Planetary Society was founded in 1980 by Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray, and Louis Friedman to encourage the exploration of our solar system and the search for extraterrestrial life.
  The Society is a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization, funded by dues and donations from individuals around the world. With more than 100,000 members from over 140 countries, we are the largest space interest group on Earth. Membership is open to all people interested in our mission.
  The Society:
  * Encourages all spacefaring nations to explore other worlds
  * Provides public information and supports educational activities about the exploration of the solar system and the search for extraterrestrial life
  * Supports and funds innovative and novel research and development projects that can seed future projects of planetary exploration
  Includes: Guide to Our Solar System, Guide to Lunar & Planetary Missions, Explore Mars!, Spaceship Propulsion, Planetary and Space-Related Activities. Art Gallery, Galileo Journals

• The National Space Society" (membership)
  The National Space Society's vision is people living and working in thriving communities beyond the Earth. NSS members promote change in social, technical, economic, and political conditions to advance the day when people will live and work in space.
  The National Space Society (NSS) is an independent, international, educational, grassroots nonprofit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to the creation of a spacefaring civilization. The NSS has more than 22,000 members, and 75 chapters in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Germany, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. The NSS, founded in 1974 by Wernher von Braun, is widely acknowledged as the preeminent citizen's voice on space.
  

• Space Foundation Fronties Online
  The Space Frontier Foundation is a media and policy organization composed of space activists, scientists and engineers, media and political professionals, entrepreneurs, and citizens from all backgrounds and all nations. We are transforming space from a government-owned bureaucratic program into a dynamic and inclusive frontier open to people. We are determined to convert the image held by many young people that the future will be worse than the present, and we reject the idea that the world's greatest moments are in its past.
  Our central goal is the large-scale permanent settlement of space. We believe people have the "right stuff' and that everyone will benefit from opening the space frontier. We believe that free markets and free enterprise will become an unstoppable force in the irreversible settlement of this new frontier, and that our world is on the verge of a truly historic breakthrough - cheap access to space.

• Lowell Observatory
  Lowell Observatory is a privately owned astronomical research institution located in Flagstaff, Arizona at an elevation of 7,260 feet. The Observatory was founded in 1894 by Boston mathematician Percival Lowell. Best known for the discovery of Pluto, Lowell Observatory is also where scientists gathered the first evidence of the expanding universe. Today the Observatory's astronomers carry out forefront research in all areas of astronomy.
  View Lowell astronomer John Spencer's virtual tour of Lowell for a look at the Observatory's campus.

• The Mars Society: The Mars Base Simulation
  ... is an application that simulates a mars base and allows the user to explore the surrounding area. It uses an interface similar to real-time strategy games like Age of Empires and Command & Conquer. The map covers only a small area of Mars, but both the map and the base are simulated to great detail.

• Mars Simulation Project
  The Mars Simulation Project is a free software Java project to create a simulation of future human settlement of Mars. The simulation is a multi-agent artificial society set in a detailed virtual world. XML configuration files allow the user to modify the simulation properties. The current version of the project is 2.76, updated 8/4/04.

• Explore Mars Now: Interactive Mars Habitat

• SolSys Archives ('04):
  The Grue Pen; Shanti Nagar

Benford, Gregory, 1999 The Martian Race. New York, NY: Warner Books, Inc.
Benford, Gregory, 200? sequal to The Martian Race. New York, NY: Warner Books,Inc.
Bova, Ben, 1992 Mars.; New York, NY: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.
Bova, Ben, 1999 Return to Mars. New York, NY: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.
Robinson, Kim Stanley, 1993 Red Mars. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.
                                    1994 Green Mars. New York, NY: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.
                                    1996 Blue Mars. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.
                                    1999 The Martians. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.
Sykes, S.C. 1991 Red Genesis. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.

last updated on 04.08.15

This page is maintained by:
Reed D. Riner, Professor,
Department of Anthropology
email: Reed.Riner@NAU.edu