Word: planetful
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...fact, some of the apparent similarities between earth and Mars are what makes the Red Planet so appealing a place to visit. A study of Mars could reveal critical insights about the meteorology and seismology of the earth; the strata that should be visible in the walls of the great rift valley would reveal the planet's geological history, exposed and waiting to be read. And the question that the Viking landers could not answer might be resolved: If the planet is so like our own, did life ever evolve there? Whether it did or not, Carl Sagan sees...
Despite the vivid images relayed by the Viking landers in the mid-1970s, Mars to most people remains a planet of the imagination, as unlikely a home for humans as it is for diminutive green men. To a surprising number of prominent scientists and politicians, however, it is the next frontier, a new world to be tamed and colonized. Gathering in Washington last week for a celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz space linkup were such luminaries as Astronomer Carl Sagan, former Moonwalker and U.S. Senator Harrison Schmitt, Astronaut Sally Ride, Hawaii Senator Spark Matsunaga and NASA...
...spacemen is that by working together toward a common goal, the two nations might somehow put aside their differences. "It's hard to imagine a more dramatic and fitting symbol on behalf of the human species," said Sagan. "We should embrace not the god of war, but the planet named after...
Once on Mars, crew members could extract the traces of water that still exist in the atmosphere; the water could even be broken into its constituent oxygen (for breathing) and hydrogen (for fuel). Given the planet's abundant supply of carbon dioxide, greenhouse gardening should be possible during subsequent, longer stays...
Even without the rationale of superpower cooperation or scientific benefit, the delegates agreed, human beings will eventually land on Mars, driven by nothing less than good old-fashioned nosiness. "We will never be satisfied with data streams and pictures from some distant planet," said Schmitt. "We want to be there." Concluded James Beggs: "Humans to Mars? Why not?" --By Natalie Angier. Reported by Jay Branegan/Washington