MARS: AN INTRODUCTION TO ITS INTERIOR, SURFACE AND ATMOSPHERE

Аннотация

It is an exciting time to be a planetary scientist specializing in Mars research. I have had the privilege of experiencing our changing views of Mars since the beginning of space missions to our neighbor. Mariners 6 and 7 flew by the planet shortly after I became interested in astronomy at age 10. I checked the news every day when Mariner 9 began to reveal the geologic diversity of Mars. The Viking missions started their explorations as I was entering college and the Viking 1 lander ceased operations just as I was starting to utilize the orbiter data in my Ph.D. thesis. Over the subsequent years I grieved the lost missions and cheered the successful ones. I feel extremely fortunate to be able to work in such an exciting field and contribute to our expanding knowledge of the planet and its history