This book introduces the reader to the wonders of Mars, covering all aspects from our past perceptions of the planet through to the latest knowledge on its history, its surface processes such as impact cratering, volcano formation, and glaciation, and its atmosphere and climate. In addition, a series of ten intriguing open issues are considered in a more advanced way. These include such thought-provoking questions as What turned off the planets magnetic field?, Why are the northern and southern hemispheres so different?, What was the fate of the once abundant water?, and Is there, or was there, life on Mars? Numerous original figures, unavailable elsewhere, reproduce details of images from Viking, CTX, MOC, HiRISE, THEMIS, and HRSC.
The book will appeal especially to general readers interested in planetary sciences, astronomy, astrogeology, and space exploration and to students of Earth Sciences and Natural and Environmental Sciences. The higher-level material on the remaining mysteries of Mars will also be of interest to astrogeologists and other researchers.
Part I: Mars through the millennia.- Mars as a heavenly warrior.- Mars with its odd orbit enters science.- Schiaparelli, Lowell, and the Martians.- Martian engineers or Martian lichens?.- Mars as seen by Mariners and Vikings.- A long interval and the return to Mars.- Technical box: Sending a spacecraft to Mars.- Mars in its orbit.- The big disappointment.- The rocks of the Martian surface.- The final answer.- Part II: history and geography of Mars.- The geography of Mars, shortly.- The interior of Mars.- Mystery No. 1. Why has Mars no magnetic field ?.- Ancient Mars: the Noachian period.- Mystery No. 2: Has Mars ever had a plate tectonics ?.- A tour on Noachian terrains of Mars: Noachis Terra.- The middle period: the Hesperian.- A tour on the Hesperian outflow channels.- The last period: the Amazonian.- Geological fol³3
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