The MESSENGER Mission to Mercury


Book Description

This is the first book to present the science and instruments of NASA’S MESSENGER space mission. The articles, written by the experts in each area of the MESSENGER mission, describe the mission, spacecraft, scientific objectives, and payload. The book is of interest to all potential users of the data returned by the mission, to those studying the nature of Mercury, and by all those interested in the design and implementation of planetary exploration missions.




Mercury


Book Description

Offers an authoritative synthesis of knowledge of the planet Mercury after the MESSENGER mission, for researchers and students in planetary science.




Planet Mercury


Book Description

A new and detailed picture of Mercury is emerging thanks to NASA’s MESSENGER mission that spent four years in orbit about the Sun’s innermost planet. Comprehensively illustrated by close-up images and other data, the author describes Mercury’s landscapes from a geological perspective: from sublimation hollows, to volcanic vents, to lava plains, to giant thrust faults. He considers what its giant core, internal structure and weird composition have to tell us about the formation and evolution of a planet so close to the Sun. This is of special significance in view of the discovery of so many exoplanets in similarly close orbits about their stars. Mercury generates its own magnetic field, like the Earth (but unlike Venus, Mars and the Moon), and the interplay between Mercury’s and the Sun’s magnetic field affects many processes on its surface and in the rich and diverse exosphere of neutral and charged particles surrounding the planet. There is much about Mercury that we still don’t understand. Accessible to the amateur, but also a handy state-of-the-art digest for students and researchers, the book shows how our knowledge of Mercury developed over the past century of ground-based, fly-by and orbital observations, and looks ahead at the mysteries remaining for future missions to explore.




Flight to Mercury


Book Description

Flight to Mercury




Planetary Tectonics


Book Description

This book is an essential reference volume that surveys tectonic landforms on solid bodies throughout the Solar System.




Venus II--geology, Geophysics, Atmosphere, and Solar Wind Environment


Book Description

The final orbit of Venus by the Magellan spacecraft in October 1994 brought to a close an exciting period of Venus reconnaissance and exploration. The scientific studies resulting from data collected by the Magellan, Galileo, and Pioneer missions are unprecedented in their detail for any planet except Earth. Venus II re-evaluates initial assessments of Venus in light of these and other spacecraft missions and ground-based observations conducted over the past 30 years. More than a hundred contributors summarize our current knowledge of the planet, consider points of disagreement in interpretation, and identify priorities for future research. Topics addressed include geology, surface processes, volcanism, tectonism, impact cratering, geodynamics, upper and lower atmospheres, and solar wind environment. The diversity of the coverage reflects the interdisciplinary nature of Venus science and the breadth of knowledge that has contributed to it. A CD-ROM developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory accompanies the book and incorporates text, graphics, video, software, and various digital products from selected contributors to the text. A multimedia interface allows users to navigate the text and the extensive databases included on the disk. Venus II is the most authoritative single volume available on the second planet. Its contents will not only help shape the goals of future Venus missions but will also enhance our understanding of current Mars explorations.




The New Solar System


Book Description

New edition of the leading planetary science textbook packed with the latest images, data, and results from recent planetary missions.




Visual Lunar and Planetary Astronomy


Book Description

With the advent of CCDs and webcams, the focus of amateur astronomy has to some extent shifted from science to art. Visual work in astronomy has a rich history. Today, imaging is now more prominent. However there is still much for the visual amateur astronomer to do, and visual work is still a valid component of amateur astronomy. Paul Abel has been addressing this issue by promoting visual astronomy wherever possible – at talks to astronomical societies, in articles for popular science magazines, and on BBC TV’s The Sky at Night. Visual Lunar and Planetary Astronomy is a comprehensive modern treatment of visual lunar and planetary astronomy, showing that even in the age of space telescopes and interplanetary probes it is still possible to contribute scientifically with no more than a moderately-priced commercially made astronomical telescope. It is believed that imaging and photography is somehow more objective and more accurate than the eye, and this has led to a peculiar “crisis of faith” in the human visual system and its amazing processing power. But by analyzing observations from the past, we can see how accurate visual astronomy really is! Measuring the rotational period of Mars and making accurate lunar charts for American astronauts were all done by eye. The book includes sections on how the human visual system works, how to view an object through an eyepiece, and how to record observations and keep a scientific notebook. The book also looks at how to make an astronomical, rather than an artistic, drawing. Finally, everything here will also be of interest to those imagers who wish to make their images more scientifically applicable by combining the methods and practices of visual astronomy with imaging.




The Caloris Network


Book Description

The year is 2130. The first-ever expedition is sent to Mercury to search for the cause of an unknown source of electromagnetic radiation that can destroy space ships passing by the planet. Thought to be inhospitable and lifeless, the surface of Mercury provides startling surprises for the crew that endanger their lives and challenge their established notions of what it means to be a sentient being. And some of the crew members have their own separate agendas ...The scientific appendix at the end of the book introduces readers to the wondrous world of Mercury and how it has been portrayed in literary fiction up to the present time. The author then uses scientific literature to present a concept of life that is not based on carbon chemistry or the need for water. There is also a discussion of consciousness based on electromagnetic wave theory. References are provided for further reading.Nick Kanas is an Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, where he directed the group therapy training program. For over 20 years he conducted research on group therapy, and for nearly 20 years after that he was the Principal Investigator of NASA-funded research on astronauts and cosmonauts. He is the co-author of Space Psychology and Psychiatry, which won the 2004 International Academy of Astronautics Life Science Book Award, and the author of Humans in Space: The Psychological Hurdles, which won the 2016 International Academy of Astronautics Life Science Book Award. Dr. Kanas has presented talks on space psychology and on celestial mapping at several regional and Worldcon science fiction conventions. A Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (London), he has been an amateur astronomer for over 50 years and is an avid reader of science fiction. He is also the author of two non-fiction books (Star Maps: History, Artistry, and Cartography and Solar System Maps: From Antiquity to the Space Age) and two science fiction novels (The New Martians and The Protos Mandate), all published by Springer.




Exploring Mercury


Book Description

Strom: Mercury How did Mercury get such an enormous iron core? Why is its tectonic framework so different from any other planet or satellite? What is its crystal composition? Why is the crust so depleted in iron when the interior is so rich in that element? What are the polar deposits? Where do the elements in the exosphere come from? Mercury is a planet shrouded in mystery. Only 45 percent of its surface has been seen in any detail, and that was from the Mariner 10 flyby in 1974. Yet what is known only makes the planet more fascinating. New Earth-based observations have shed light on surface and exosphere compositions, and re-evaluations of the Mariner 10 data, using modern image processing techniques, show evidence for volcanic flow fronts, pyroclastics and other volcanic phenomena not seen before. This ground-breaking book not only chronicles what has been discovered, but looks ahead to what has yet to emerge. An accompanying CD contains all the best Mariner 10 images, including the data for each image, photomosaics and maps.