People have long thought about converting Mars from the cold, dry planet it is today to one that would be inhabitable by humans. This notion of “terraforming” Mars has been popular for decades in science fiction and popular media—including, for example, several of the Star Trek movies and television episodes. In some sense, the idea of a terraformed Mars harkens back to the time when Percival Lowell postulated that Mars was inhabited by Martians, using giant canals to transport… Read more
Astronomy and Planetary Science
Think twice before moving to Mars—NAU planetary scientist refutes terraforming in NASA study
By Kerry Bennett
Office of the Vice President for Research
Colonizing Mars as a backup planet for Earth has been a theme in both science fiction and popular science for decades, and NASA plans to send human explorers to the Red Planet within the next 20 years.
But how feasible is it for humans to explore or colonize Mars? With an average daily temperature at… Read more
NAU Planetary Scientist Refutes Terraforming Mars
Christopher Edwards paper in Nature Astronomy was published and resulted in lots of press coverage: “Inventory of CO2 available for Terraforming Mars.” This article and NAU were mentioned in over 120 nationally and internationally recognized news articles. Such as (more…)
View from Mars Hill: Searching for Jupiter’s moons | Local | azdailysun.com
Four score and eight years ago, Clyde Tombaugh brought forth on this continent a new planet (apologies to Abraham Lincoln on many counts, including being off by one year). The planet’s name was Pluto and its discovery culminated the search begun by Percival Lowell for Planet X — a theoretical new member of our solar system. Last week, a team of astronomers including NAU’s Chad Trujillo announced their own startling discovery while carrying out a modern Planet X… Read more
NAU astronomer on team that discovered 12 new moons of Jupiter
By Kerry Bennett
Office of the Vice President for Research
The Carnegie Institution for Science recently announced the discovery of 12 new moons of Jupiter, bringing the total number of moons orbiting the solar system’s largest planet to 79—a finding that has garnered international media coverage, including NBC News, The Washington Post, BBC, the New York Times, CNN and NPR.
The discovery team, led by… Read more
For Moon Day, learn how NAU researchers are advancing our understanding of Earth’s nearest celestial neighbor
By Heidi Toth
NAU Communications
Is there life on the Moon?
On July 20, 1969, there was—in the form of astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walking on the Moon. And while U.S. scientists have not yet found evidence of lunar life, much of the focus of today’s research is how we can put people back on the Moon, this time more permanently, including building a… Read more