Hidden Territory on Mercury Revealed

Hidden Territory on Mercury Revealed

SpaceWarper sent me an alert for the recent information about the MESSENGER spacecraft third flyby of Mercury.

I must admit that I have not been following the mission closely.
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/index.php

My bad, as there are some interesting results and the spacecraft isn't even in orbit yet.
- LRK -

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http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/03nov_hiddenterritory.htm?list1335507
Hidden Territory on Mercury Revealed
11/03/2009

Nov. 3, 2009: The MESSENGER spacecraft's third flyby of the planet Mercury has given scientists, for the first time, an almost complete view of the planet's surface and revealed some dramatic changes in Mercury's comet-like tail.

"The new images remind us that Mercury continues to hold surprises," says Sean Solomon, principal investigator for the mission and director of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution of Washington.

The probe flew by Mercury on Sept. 29th, executing a critical gravity assist maneuver designed to help MESSENGER enter Mercury-orbit in 2011. Despite shutting down temporarily because of a power system switchover during a solar eclipse, the spacecraft's cameras and instruments revealed 6 percent of the planet's surface never before seen at close range, including this picturesque region pocked by impact craters and molded by volcanic activity:
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IRON AND TITANIUM SURFACE

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http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1104/p02s10-usgn.html
NASA's Messenger probe reveals new clues about Mercury

Mercury, the oddest of the rocky planets, has been little understood by scientists. But on a swing by the planet, NASA's Messenger sent back intriguing data about Mercury's surface minerals and volcanic activity.

NASA's Mercury mission spacecraft, Messenger, is revolutionizing humanity's view of the first rock from the sun. And its primary science mission hasn't even started yet.

During its third and final flyby of Mercury, NASA's Messenger has found minerals on the planet's surface that current models say shouldn't be there in such abundance. And it appears that the planet
was volcanically active – explosively so – for far longer than current ideas about its geological history suggest.

The flyby took place Sept. 29. Mission scientists unveiled highlights from the flyby during a press briefing Tuesday afternoon.
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Many images and much information.
- LRK -

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http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/presscon_multi6.html
MESSENGER Teleconference Multimedia Page

Presenter #1
Sean Solomon, MESSENGER Principal Investigator, The Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C.

A MESSENGER color observation of Mercury obtained as the spacecraft approached the planet for its third and final flyby on 29 September 2009. The 1000, 700, and 430 nm filters were combined in red, green, and blue to create this color image (approximately 5 km/pixel resolution), the last that will be acquired until MESSENGER goes into orbit around Mercury in March of 2011. Only 6% of Mercury's surface in this image had not been viewed previously by spacecraft, and most of the measurements made by MESSENGER's other instruments during this flyby were made prior to closest approach. The observations nonetheless revealed fresh surprises.

Presenter #2
Ronald J. Vervack, Jr., MESSENGER Participating Scientist, The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md.

Illustration of the major source and loss processes that generate and maintain Mercury’s exosphere. The panels on the left summarize the three primary sources of exospheric material. Photon-stimulated desorption occurs when solar photons excite surface-bound atoms or molecules, releasing them to the exosphere. Sunlight also heats the surface, causing atoms and molecules to evaporate. These are both low-energy processes, so most of the released material reaches only low altitudes and usually returns to the surface. Ion sputtering occurs when ions from the solar wind or Mercury’s magnetosphere impact the surface, “knocking off” atoms and molecules. Meteoroid vaporization occurs when incoming meteoroids, generally small dust
particles, impact Mercury’s surface at high speeds, causing the surface material to vaporize. Both ion sputtering and meteoroid vaporization are high-energy processes, and the released material can reach high altitudes. All material in the exosphere is accelerated in the anti-sunward direction by radiation pressure; atoms and molecules at sufficiently high altitudes for this force to overcome the gravitational influence of the planet enter Mercury’s neutral tail. Neutral constituents in the tail either escape the Mercury system or are ionized by solar radiation. The ionized material can also escape along open magnetic field lines, but some of the ions are returned to the surface by Mercury’s magnetosphere.
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Presenter #3
David J. Lawrence, MESSENGER Participating Scientist,
The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md.

Schematic view of Mercury’s interior showing its large, iron-rich core, which constitutes at least ~60% of the planet’s mass.
Observations from Earth and by MESSENGER at visible and near-infrared wavelengths have shown that Mercury’s surface has a very low concentration of iron (Fe) in silicate minerals, leading to the common view that Mercury’s surface and crust are generally low in iron. A puzzle for investigations of Mercury’s formation and evolution is how a planet with such a large Fe-rich core could form with such an Fe-poor surface?
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Presenter #4
Brett Denevi, MESSENGER Imaging Team member and Postdoctoral Researcher, Arizona State University, Tempe, Ariz.

Combined image coverage map of Mercury after Mariner 10 and MESSENGER’s first two flybys of Mercury. Although 90% of Mercury’s surface had been imaged after MESSENGER’s second flyby, there was a gap in longitudinal coverage centered at about 60° E.

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[Note: your really want to go to the reference link to see all the images and information I left out. - LRK -]
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/presscon_multi6.html

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Why Mercury - First Rock from the Sun.
- LRK -

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http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/why_mercury/index.html
Mercury: The Key to Terrestrial Planet Evolution

Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are terrestrial (rocky) planets. Among these, Mercury is an extreme: the smallest, the densest (after correcting for self-compression), the one with the oldest surface, the one with the largest daily variations in surface temperature, and the
least explored. Understanding this "end member" among the terrestrial planets is crucial to developing a better understanding of how the planets in our Solar System formed and evolved. To develop this understanding, the MESSENGER mission, spacecraft, and science instruments are focused on answering six key outstanding questions that will allow us to understand Mercury as a planet. For additional, detailed information about the driving science questions of the MESSENGER mission, check out some of the articles given on the MESSENGER publication list.
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/the_mission/publications.html
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Read more about the mission.
- LRK -

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http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/the_mission/index.html
The Mission

To become the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury, MESSENGER must follow a path through the inner solar system, including one flyby of Earth, two flybys of Venus, and three flybys of Mercury. This impressive journey is returning the first new spacecraft data from Mercury since
the Mariner 10 mission over 30 years ago. Here you can find details about that journey, the MESSENGER spacecraft, and the instrument payload.

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Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lrkellogg
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http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/03nov_hiddenterritory.htm?list1335507
Hidden Territory on Mercury Revealed
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The observations also show that calcium and magnesium in the exosphere exhibit different seasonal changes than sodium--a difference that researchers do not yet fully understand. After MESSENGER enters Mercury orbit in 2011, it can make a continuous study of seasonal changes in all exospheric constituents. That will provide key information on the relative importance of the processes that generate, sustain, and modify Mercury's atmosphere.

Approximately 98 percent of Mercury's surface now has been imaged by NASA spacecraft. After MESSENGER goes into orbit, it will see the polar regions, which are the only remaining unobserved areas of the planet.

More images and data from the 3rd flyby.
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/presscon_multi6.html

Editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA

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http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/index.php -- home page

The MESSENGER project is the seventh in NASA's Discovery Program of low-cost, scientifically focused missions. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory of Laurel, Md., designed, built and operates the spacecraft and manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Science instruments were built by the Applied Physics Laboratory; Goddard; the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor; and the University of Colorado in Boulder. GenCorp Aerojet of Sacramento, Calif., and Composite Optics Inc. of San Diego provided the propulsion system and composite structure.

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http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/links.html
MESSENGER - Related links

The MESSENGER Program

NASA
NASA MESSENGER Site
NASA Science Mission Directorate
NASA Discovery Program
The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory – Space Department
Carnegie Institution of Washington
Carnegie Institution of Washington – Department of Terrestrial Magnetism
GenCorp Aerojet
Composite Optics Inc.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
University of Colorado - Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
University of Michigan – Solar and Heliospheric Research Group
MESSENGER Education and Outreach Resources
Kennedy Space Center MESSENGER Site
MESSENGER Acronyms and Abbreviations

Mercury Information

“Welcome to the Planets” – Mercury Images
Mercury Links and Resources – National Space Science Data Center
“Mercury Unveiled” – An article by G. Jeffrey Taylor, University of Hawaii
“Mercury Messenger” Newsletter – Lunar and Planetary Institute
Mercury Profile – The Nine Planets

Planetary Exploration Information

Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group
Venus Exploration Analysis Group
Outer Planets Assessment Group
Solar System Exploration Strategy, National Academies
Reports of the NASA Advisory Council Science Subcommittees
BepiColombo Mission - ESA page
BepiColombo Mission - JAXA page
Venus Express Mission

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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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NASA and X Prize Announce Winners of Lunar Lander Challenge

Well the Lunar Lander Challenge has been met. I hope you got to see some of the action.
- LRK -
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http://space.xprize.org/lunar-lander-challenge
2009 Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander X PRIZE Challenge
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It is official, see the NASA announcement.
- LRK -

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http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2009/nov/HQ_09-258-Lunar_Lander.html
Nov. 02, 2009

Sonja Alexander
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1761
sonja.r.alexander@nasa.gov
RELEASE: 09-258

NASA AND X PRIZE ANNOUNCE WINNERS OF LUNAR LANDER CHALLENGE

WASHINGTON -- NASA will award $1.65 million in prize money Thursday to a pair of innovative aerospace companies that successfully simulated landing a spacecraft on the moon and lifting off again.

NASA's Centennial Challenges program will give a $1 million first prize to Masten Space Systems of Mojave, Calif., and a $500,000 second prize to Armadillo Aerospace of Rockwall, Tex., for their Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge flights. The competition was managed by the X PRIZE Foundation. The Northrop Grumman Corporation is a commercial sponsor that provided operating funds for the contest to the X PRIZE Foundation.

An awards ceremony for the winning teams will be held at noon on Nov. 5 in room 2325 of the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington.
Journalists should contact Sonja Alexander at 202-358-1761 for more information about the ceremony.

The Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge involves building and flying a rocket-powered vehicle that simulates the flight of a vehicle on the moon. The lander must take off vertically then travel horizontally, flying a mission profile designed to demonstrate both power and control before landing accurately at another spot. The same vehicle then must take off again, travel horizontally back to its original takeoff point and land successfully, all within a two-hour-and-15-minute time period.

The challenge requires exacting control and navigation, as well as precise control of engine thrust, all done automatically. The rocket's engine must be started twice in a short time with no ground servicing other than refueling. This represents the technical challenges involved in operating a reusable vehicle that could land on the moon.

The prize purse is divided into first and second prizes for Level 1 and Level 2. Level 1 requires a flight duration of at least 90 seconds on each flight and Level 2 requires a duration of at least 180
seconds. One of the landings for a Level 2 attempt must be made on a simulated lunar terrain with rocks and craters.

Masten Space Systems met the Level 2 requirements by achieving accurate landings and captured the first place prize during flights of their "Xoie" (pronounced "Zoey") vehicle Oct. 30 at the Mojave Air and Space Port. Masten also claimed a $150,000 prize as part of the Level 1 competition.

Armadillo Aerospace was the first team to qualify for the Level 2 prize with successful flights of its Scorpius rocket Sept. 12 in Caddo Mills, Tex. Armadillo placed second in the Level 2 competition, earning a $500,000 prize.

The average landing accuracy determined which teams would receive first and second place prizes. The Masten team achieved an average accuracy of 7.5 inches while Armadillo Aerospace's average accuracy was 34 inches.

The events of the past two months have brought the four-year Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge to a conclusion. All $2 million in prize money has been awarded.

"The Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge has had its intended impact, with impressive performances by multiple teams representing a new generation of aerospace entrepreneurs" said Andrew Petro, NASA's Centennial Challenge program manager at NASA Headquarters in
Washington. "These companies have demonstrated reusable vehicles with rapid turnaround and a surprising degree of precision in flight, and they have done all this at a much lower cost than many thought possible."

Four teams had been in pursuit of the 2009 Lunar Lander Challenge prizes during the competition that opened in July. The BonNova team dropped out of the competition last week. Unreasonable Rocket, a father-and-son team from Solana Beach, Calif., conducted flight
attempts during the final days of the competition but did not complete any qualifying flights.

In the Level 1 competition, Armadillo Aerospace previously claimed the first place prize of $350,000 in 2008. Masten Space Systems qualified for the remaining second place prize on Oct. 7, 2009, with an average landing accuracy of 6.3 inches. Because there were no other qualifying Level 1 flights this year, the Masten team will receive the second place prize of $150,000.

NASA's Centennial Challenges program's goals are to drive progress in aerospace technology that is of value to NASA's missions; encourage participation of independent teams, individual inventors, student groups and private companies of all sizes in aerospace research and development; and find innovative solutions to technical challenges through competition and cooperation.

The Northop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge is one of six Centennial Challenges managed by NASA's Innovative Partnership Program. The competition was managed for NASA at no cost to the taxpayer by the X PRIZE Foundation under a Space Act Agreement. NASA provided all of the prize funds.

For more information on Centennial Challenges, visit:http://www.nasa.gov/offices/ipp/innovation_incubator/cc_home.html

For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov

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http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=29542
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2009 Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge
http://space.xprize.org/lunar-lander-challenge

One more time in case you missed it.
- LRK -

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http://www.youtube.com/user/xprize#p/a/0/lcys-t2thk8
Masten qualifies for Level2 of Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge
From: xprize | October 31, 2009 | 216 views
On Oct 30, 2009, Team Masten qualified for Level 2 of the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge. Hear what Dave Masten, Team Leader and CEO of Masten Space Systems felt like after successfully putting Xoieon the trailer at the end of Flight #2. Find out more at:
www.thelaunchpad.xprize.org
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcys-t2thk8&feature=channel


If you are still with me and think rocket science is easy, just read some of the Masten Space Systems story here.

- LRK 0

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http://masten-space.com/blog/
Masten Space Systems Qualifies for $1 Million Prize admin on 10/30/2009 at 2:01 pm — General —Masten Space Systems Qualifies for $1 Million Prize FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Mojave, California – October 30, 2009 – Masten Space Systems successfully qualified for first place in Level Two of the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge Wednesday. Flying a brand new vehicle named XA-0.1E (nicknamed Xoie), Masten demonstrated their ability to
build, debug and fly a vehicle on a very short timeline.
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750-3 Engine Module Development Update jongoff on 10/10/2009 at 4:49 am — General —
(This is a combination of Joel’s ARocket post and some more details from me — Jon)

750-3 Engine Development
At the time of my last detailed update, back in June, we had just flown our 60 second hover on our first aluminum chamber (the -2AS). A while after the flight, we disassembled the engine, and noticed that a critical weld joint had cracked and was leaking a little. The chamber also showed some sign of thermal warping. It hadn’t buckled, but it looked like it was getting hotter than we wanted. Shortly thereafter, the brazed aluminum chamber (the -2AB) also showed similar problems after an even smaller number of firings. We had never had an engine actually buckle in flight, and weren’t sure if it would damage other hardware, so we decided it was time to revisit our cooling design.
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The end result was that we were able to come up with a cooling channel geometry that looked substantially better than our old geometry, but with only 40% the original pressure drop. When we measured the pressure drop, that part of the calculation was within a few psi of what the model predicted, though the thermal stuff is harder to model.
In addition to the change in cooling channel geometry, I had also thinned out the wall substantially, rolling all those changes into two aluminum 750-3 chambers.

Unfortunately we ran into a buckling issues on these two engines. The first aluminum one failed due to some debris (a shard from an igniter o-ring) blocking the IPA injector ring in one section, leading to mixture ratio excursions and hot spots. The second one failed between firings, which led us to make some changes to make our shutdown sequence more thermally benign.

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Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lrkellogg
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http://www.nasa.gov/offices/ipp/innovation_incubator/cc_home.html
Innovative Partnership Program

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http://spacefellowship.com/2009/09/13/armadillo-aerospace-claim-level-2-ngllc-prize/
Armadillo Aerospace Claim Level 2 NGLLC Prize
Published By Rob GoldsmithOn: 13 September 2009 9:02 AM CEST

Armadillo Aerospace have officially completed the 2009 Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge Level 2, on a rainy day at Caddo Mills, Texas. Reports came in from various locations during the day and spectators posted videos and images using social networking tools such
as Twitter. The Space Fellowship earlier reporting that the team were getting ready to fly.

Level 2 requires the rocket to fly for 180 seconds before landing precisely on a simulated lunar surface constructed with craters and boulders. The minimum flight times are calculated so that the Level 2 mission closely simulates the power needed to perform a real descent from lunar orbit down to the surface of the Moon. First place is a prize of $1 million while second is $500,000.

Earlier on in the day John Carmack (Team Leader) had made jokes about the wet weather, saying “at least we don’t have to worry about grassfires today” As the rain eased away a window was expected to appear in which the team would attempt to win the prize. The team had a pre-flight meeting and got ready, Peter Diamandis posting “Team Armadillo on the move… rolling out to launchpad!“. The vehicle for level 2 is called Scorpious or the Super MOD.

The team completed the first flight, John Carmack on the radio saying “good nominal flight, one down, one to go“. The vehicle was refuelled and flight preparations were again underway. At 6.22pm EDT there was a problem with the igniter, however, eight minutes later it was reported
that the problem was a software glitch and that the second leg had been flown successfully.

To complete the prize the team now needed to prep the vehicle and return to the finish line, they did it. Soon afterwards judges announced that Armadillo Aerospace had officially been confirmed as completing both flights within the rules.

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http://masten-space.com/blog/
Masten Space Systems Qualifies for $1 Million Prize
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
admin on 10/30/2009 at 2:01 pm

Mojave, California – October 30, 2009 – Masten Space Systems successfully qualified for first place in Level Two of the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge Wednesday. Flying a brand new vehicle named XA-0.1E (nicknamed Xoie), Masten demonstrated their ability to
build, debug and fly a vehicle on a very short timeline.
“To come from not flying at all last year to qualifying for level one AND level two of the LLC this year shows how far our technology has progressed,” Masten Space Systems CEO David Masten said. “After a short vacation we will start modifying Xoie for commercial payloads and begin work on Xoie’s successor.”

Xoie is a larger, lightweight version of Masten’s Level One vehicle Xombie and features an aluminum structure, larger tanks and a more powerful engine. Originally designed for only 750 pounds of thrust, Xoie’s engine produces over 1000 pounds of thrust. “Our engines go to 11! Now we go build the 2500 pound version,” stated MSS propulsion engineer Jonathan Goff. A visibly exhausted but happy Ian Garcia, guidance engineer, said, “We wrote our flight control system from scratch and it just does what I tell it to do! Making it work for supersonic flight is going to be a fun challenge.”

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http://thelaunchpad.xprize.org/2009/10/masten-qualifies-for-150000-level-1.html
The Launch Pad

NGLLC 09: Masten Qualifies for $150,000 Level 1 Prize Purse 10/07/2009 12:51:00 PM
Masten Space Systems successfully flew their Xombie vehicle today, completing two flights and meeting the Level 1 requirements of the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge.

Masten had a previous attempt on September 16, 2009, but did not complete the second flight due to engine damage. Masten went back to their workshop and solved the engine problem, tested it over the last several weeks and today flew an aluminum engine, making this the first
known flight of such an engine on a reusable launch vehicle (Armadillo Aerospace also flew a aluminum engine for their September 12, 2009 flight, although also utilized a graphite liner).

Amidst chants of "Fly Xombie, fly!", the first flight lasted about 93 seconds and the vehicle landed ~20 cm from the center of the pad; almost a perfect repeat of their first NGLLC flight. The second flight lasted 91 seconds and the vehicle landed 11 cm from the center of the pad -- an impressive feat indeed (all numbers preliminary until judges declare them official).

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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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EXPEDITION WEEK: Mars: Making the New Earth - Thursday, November 19 at 9PM ET/PT

Corrie Oberdin - Social Media & Digital PR Consultant, sent me a note about some upcoming shows on the National Geographic Channel. One of them has to do with making the environment on Mars more habitable should we ever get around to going there.

While I was at NASA Ames I attended one of the work shops that talked about terraforming Mars. It might be interesting to see what Dr. Chris McKay has to say about the subject.

- LRK -

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http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/expedition-week/4588/Overview

The notion of bringing Mars to life -- transforming a cold, dry, uninhabitable desert into a living planet -- called terraforming, has been around for almost a century. Initially just a science fiction concept, it has become a subject of serious scientific investigation.

NASA astrobiologist Dr. Chris McKay has spent 30 years researching extreme environments to understand the potential of such planetary engineering. On the surface, the red planet's freeze-dried world of rocks, ice and dust looks like an unlikely place to plant a garden. But rocks and minerals found by the Mars rovers show it must once have had warmer, habitable living conditions. Now, using photorealistic CGI visualizations, we'll make a science fiction dream of Mars -- a world of trees, rivers and blue skies -- a plausible future, bringing it to life after three and a half billion years in a deep freeze.
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http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/expedition-week/4588/Videos/07257_00#tab-Videos/07257_00
Video "Preview: Mars: Making the New Earth" - An 18,500 foot volcano in Mexico is a living laboratory for NASA scientist Chris McKay as he investigates how to transform Mars from a cold, dead planet into a living world like planet Earth.
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A bit about Dr. McKay.
- LRK -

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http://spacescience.arc.nasa.gov/people/mckay/
Principal Scientific Interests and Brief Background:

Dr. Christopher P. McKay, Planetary Scientist with the Space Science Division of NASA Ames. Chris received his Ph.D. in AstroGeophysics from the University of Colorado in 1982 and has been a research scientist with the NASA Ames Research Center since that time. His current research focuses on the evolution of the solar system and the origin of life. He is also actively involved in planning for future Mars missions including human exploration. Chris been involved in research in Mars-like environments on Earth, traveling to the Antarctic dry valleys, Siberia, the Canadian Arctic, and the Atacama desert to study life in these Mars-like environments. His was a co-I on the Titan Huygen's probe in 2005, the Mars Phoenix lander misson for 2007, and the Mars Science Lander mission for 2009.
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Dr. McKay on YouTube.
Hmmm, I remember him with a beard, clean shaved here.
- LRK -

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Tiny URL for some YouTube clips found with Google search for Dr. Chris McKay NASA Ames
http://tinyurl.com/yc654sc
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Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lrkellogg
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraforming_of_Mars

The terraforming of Mars is the hypothetical process by which the climate, surface, and known properties of Mars would be deliberately changed with the goal of making it habitable by humans and other terrestrial life, thus providing the possibility of safe and sustainable colonization of large areas of the planet.

Based on experiences with Earth, the environment of a planet can be altered deliberately; however, the feasibility of creating an unconstrained planetary biosphere is undetermined. Several of the methods described below may fall within humanity's current technological capabilities, but at present the economic resources required to execute such methods are far beyond that which any government or society is willing to allocate.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_trilogy

The Mars trilogy is a series of award-winning science fiction novels by Kim Stanley Robinson that chronicle the settlement and terraforming of the planet Mars through the intensely personal and detailed viewpoints of a wide variety of characters spanning almost two centuries. Ultimately, more utopian than dystopian, the story focuses on egalitarian, sociological, and scientific advances made on Mars, while Earth suffers from overpopulation and ecological disaster.

The three novels are Red Mars (1992), Green Mars (1993), and Blue Mars (1996). An additional collection of short stories and background information was published as The Martians (1999). The main trilogy won a number of prestigious awards.

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http://www.astrobiology.com/terraforming.html
The Astrobiology Web: Your Online Guide to the Living Universe TM Terraforming
[Some links broken but enough to give you some information. - LRK -]

http://www.astrobiology.com/
http://www.astrobiology.net/
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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