The Apollo 11 astronaut invites young people to evaluate Mars as a potential planet for human colonization, and describes what Mars residents might experience while traveling to and living on the Red Planet.

From writer Stacy McAnulty and illustrator Stevie Lewis, Mars! Earthlings Welcome is a light-hearted nonfiction picture book about the red planet—told from the perspective of Mars himself... Meet Mars! The red planet. Planet Marvelous. Favorite sibling of Earth (or so he claims). Sometimes they're close (just 34.5 million miles apart). Sometimes they need space (250 million miles apart)! Earth and Mars have a lot in common—clouds, mountains, polar icecaps. And while Earth has Earthlings, Mars makes a persuasive case for why people should make the journey to spend time with him. His day is 7 minutes longer! He is home to the largest volcano in the whole solar system. He's, well, marvelous. With characteristic humor and charm, Stacy McAnulty channels the voice of Mars in this next celestial "autobiography" in the Our Universe series. Rich with kid-friendly facts and beautifully brought to life by Stevie Lewis, this is an equally charming and irresistible picture book.

Welcome to Mars is a captivating look at the culture of postwar America and its dream of limitless technological and human development. Utilizing declassified government archives, newspaper records, ad campaigns, and B-movies of the period, Hollings weaves an intricate web of Cold War politics, UFO scares, psychedelic research, and 1950s pop culture. From the atom bomb and suburban planning to the space race and little-green-men movies, Welcome to Mars shows the startling connections between science fact and science fiction, a feedback loop in which real technological advances and government experimentation gave rise to science fiction fantasy, which then fed new innovation and research. Table of Contents Introduction: Scenes From A History As Yet Unwritten Chapter 1--1947: Rebuilding Lemuria Chapter 2--1948: Flying Saucers Over America Chapter 3--1949: Behaviour Modification Chapter 4--1950: Cheapness And Splendour Chapter 5--1951: Absolute Elsewhere Chapter 6--1952: Red Planet Chapter 7--1953: Other Tongues, Other Flesh Chapter 8--1954: Meet The Monsters Chapter 9--1955: Popular Mechanics Chapter 10--1956: 'Greetings, My Friend!' Chapter 11--1957: Contact With Space Chapter 12--1958: Mass Hysteria Chapter 13--1959: Teenagers From Outer Space Conclusion: Thinking the Unthinkable Bibliography Index List of Illustrations

As we look back to the beginnings of the space race, 2009 is also the year for looking forward to humankind?s next step toward the stars. In the spirit of books that once imagined colonies on the moon, Patrick O?Brien has created a unique look at your first trip to Mars. Using the most upto- date designs and theories of what it will take to establish a base on Mars, you are off on an incredible journey, over 35 million miles to the red planet. Filled with details, and vividly brought to life, this is an adventure that you are never going to forget.

The next frontier in space exploration is Mars, the red planet--and human habitation of Mars isn't much farther off. Now the National Geographic Channel goes years fast-forward with "Mars," a six-part series documenting and dramatizing the next 25 years as humans land on and learn to live on Mars. This companion book to the series explores the science behind the mission and the challenges awaiting those brave individuals. Filled with vivid photographs taken on Earth, in space, and on Mars; arresting maps; and commentary from the world's top planetary scientists, this fascinating book will take you millions of miles away--and decades into the future--to our next home in the solar system.

Mars has long offered the prospect of another living world near Earth. Although NASA's first spacecraft dashed visions of little green men tending canals, recent voyages have painted a picture of an intriguing planet that may have once resembled Earth, with warmth, water, and possibly life. Mars may answer the great question "Are we alone?"; for if Mars, like Earth, gave rise to life, then trillions of other worlds throughout the universe have surely done the same. Harvard-trained astronomer Ken Croswell set the standard for elegance and eloquence with his stunning photographic triumph, Magnificent Universe. Now, with insightful prose and astonishing images, he presents the red planet's full glory in Magnificent Mars, showing volcanoes taller than Mount Everest, spiral-shaped polar caps of ice, and a canyon system that could stretch from Ohio to California. Here is a concise synthesis of the latest research on Mars, accompanied with the very best full-color images, expertly reprocessed to look even better than NASA's own versions, from the Hubble Space Telescope, Viking, Pathfinder, Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey, and other spacecraft. Highlights include a foldout panorama of the Martian surface; a never-before-published, rainbow-colored topographic map; and a sequence showing a full rotation of Mars, courtesy of the Hubble Space Telescope. Many of these images have never appeared in a book before. Few have ever looked so good. In lyrical prose, Dr. Croswell weaves these stupendous images into a virtual tour of Mars by organizing them around the four elements -- Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. From the northern plains of Vastitas Borealis to the towering Olympus Mons and other volcanoes of the Tharsis bulge, we explore the red planet's geology, topography, and surface. From the frigid climate to the massive dust storms that can engulf the entire globe, we examine the thin Martian atmosphere and the clues it preserves to the planet's wetter past. And, from the flood channels that spill into Chryse Planitia to the vast potential lakebed of ancient Hellas, we see stunning images of ancient rivers and floods, triggering speculation that a warm, wet Mars may have given rise to life that survives to this day. The tour concludes with a voyage to the planet's two potato-shaped moons, Phobos and Deimos, complete with rainbow-colored topographic maps. Unique color-coded tables on Mars, its atmosphere, its life history, its moons, and NASA missions to the planets appear in a useful reference section, along with a glossary and suggestions for further reading. With its large format, superb images, and compelling text, Magnificent Mars is the next best thing to standing on the red planet itself. In future years NASA will launch numerous missions to Mars, and Magnificent Mars is the definitive guide to what these spacecraft will see. Indeed, the first human explorers to Mars may want to take a copy of Magnificent Mars aboard their spaceship.

Welcome to Mars! Through the eyes of Curiosity, Opportunity, and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft, this book will introduce you to the geology of Mars and the groundbreaking achievements in the exploration of the Red Planet. Through the use of 3D glasses, you will have the opportunity to explore impact craters, volcanoes, ancient rivers and other geological features on Mars. Although most of us will never have the opportunity to visit Mars, I hope this book will serve as your personal journey to the Red Planet.