The Real Mars

Fülszöveg

Our long journey to the fourth rock from the Sun
Mars looms larger on our horizon than any other world. It is the only planet whose solid surface can be clearly seen from Earth and has been the object of countless theories, fantasies and scientific suppositions ever since the telescope was invented in the seventeenth century.Those fabulous creatures the Martians were famously described in detail by the scientist Percival Lowell and the writer H.G. Wells. Alas, the Martians, together with their canals and cities, vanished into the sands of Mars as soon as the first real images of the planet arrived, revealing a cratered, battered dead world much like our Moon.
In 2004 a small armada of space probes journeyed to Mars to photograph, drill, prod and poke, to make the planet give up some of its secrets. Where in the past we saw canals, there is now talk of 'gullies'and excited debate as to whether liquid water has ever flowed on the planet. NASA talks of 'following the water'and... Tovább

Fülszöveg

Our long journey to the fourth rock from the Sun
Mars looms larger on our horizon than any other world. It is the only planet whose solid surface can be clearly seen from Earth and has been the object of countless theories, fantasies and scientific suppositions ever since the telescope was invented in the seventeenth century.Those fabulous creatures the Martians were famously described in detail by the scientist Percival Lowell and the writer H.G. Wells. Alas, the Martians, together with their canals and cities, vanished into the sands of Mars as soon as the first real images of the planet arrived, revealing a cratered, battered dead world much like our Moon.
In 2004 a small armada of space probes journeyed to Mars to photograph, drill, prod and poke, to make the planet give up some of its secrets. Where in the past we saw canals, there is now talk of 'gullies'and excited debate as to whether liquid water has ever flowed on the planet. NASA talks of 'following the water'and we know that where there is water, there can be life.
But with all our wonderful technologies and robots, are we any closer to understanding the real Mars? The arguments between the'warm, wet Mars'camp and those who maintain that the planet has always been cold and dry are as intense as any of the past disagreements over canals and little green men. And a small but determined group maintains, despite all evidence to the contrary, that there is evidence of intelligence on the Martian surface. With more than a century of concerted, coordinated observation and exploration, Mars still has more secrets up its sleeve than we can imagine.
Here is the definitive guide to the past, present and future of a planet that has held the popular imagination like no other. Splendidly illustrated throughout. The Real Mars contains more than 100 spectacular surface and orbital images from Spirit, Opportunity, Mars Express, the Hubble Space Telescope and Earth-based observations, as well as those historic illustrations depicting Mars in fiction and mythology, movie images, book covers and drawings that adorned the pulp sci-fi stories of the 1930s.That imaginary Mars, seeming so exotic, is unquestionably eclipsed by the thrill of the real Red Planet. Vissza