This book gives an account of geological aspects of windblown material. Aeolian processes play an important role in modifying the surface of the Earth, and they are also active on Mars. Additionally, they are thought to occur on Venus and possibly Titan as well. The authors desc…
Humanity has long been fascinated by the planet Mars. Was its climate ever conducive to life? What is the atmosphere like today, and why did it change so dramatically over time? Twelve spacecraft have successfully flown to Mars since the Viking mission of the 1970s and early 198…
"Making Time on Mars is a book about people, robots, processes and intuitions working together to make time on Mars. In early 2004, for over ninety days NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers mission set their daily work activities on Earth according to "Mars time" clocks. Two local Mar…
Mars is a small world with a big reputation. This book follows our longstanding love affair with this bewildering world, from the first stargazers, to the imaginings of science-fiction writers and film-makers, to the latest images and discoveries from orbiting spacecraft and rob…
This study investigates the major, minor, and trace element compositions of minerals from a series of meteorites which represent different stages of planetary evolution including two sample from Mars (ALHA 77005 and NWA 7397), one sample from Vesta (NWA 5480), and one ordinary c…
There is a long and focused history of exploration on. Part of the reason for the intensity of interest is that Earth and Mars are thought have had similar Early histories. Discoveries on Mars can provide important implications for Earth including evolution of life, climate dyna…
The geologic interpretations of Mars must begin with the Earth as a reference. The most successful comparisons have focused on understanding geological processes on Earth and then extrapolating them to Mars (Farr et al., 2002). Terrestrial analogue sites are used to emulate, as …
River valleys and deposits record periods of time when Mars’ climate supported liquid water on the planet’s surface. However, the majority of geomorphic studies focus on detailed reconstructions of local or regional hydrology, thereby limiting our global understanding of Mars’ c…
Fossilized microorganisms (microfossils) preserved within Precambrian sedimentary rocks represent a vital source of evidence for early life on Earth, and studies of such microfossils and the organic matter (kerogen) of which they are typically composed have helped guide the mode…
The current discourse surrounding interplanetary exploration is plagued by decidedly colonial visions for the humanization of the solar system. This ideology emerges from, and is reinforced by, the desire to expand capitalist markets, futurist imaginings of interplanetary utopia…
The interior structures of planetary bodies beyond the Earth are broadly unknown. Our observational capacity is largely limited to surface imagery from spacecraft. The work presented in this dissertation uses novel modeling methods of melt migration and melt focusing processes t…
Magnetic fields may have played an important role in shaping the planetary evolution of Mars. Through their ability to guide the flow of charged particles, magnetic fields facilitate both the input of energy and the escape of planetary ions, which at Mars has contributed to the …
History has shown us that space travel is a complicated activity not to be taken lightly. Extended missions such as those that would accompany a manned mission to Mars are guaranteed to have increased complexity and require creative solutions to problems we likely take for grant…
Infrared spectroscopy provides chemical information pertinent to several Mars biological questions. The early histories of Mars and Earth show similarities with having common liquid water and organic material. Life as we know it is composed of carbon-containing building blocks, …
The search for ancient life on Earth is complicated and often controversial due to the fossil record consisting of microbial fossils (microfossils) which are simple in morphology and often not well preserved. The burden of proof for confirming the existence of life outside of ou…
