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Projects: Space InformationThe Planetary ReportVolume XXVIII, Number 3, May/June 2008
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Credit: ESA/ DLR / FU Berlin (G. Neukum) |
Olympus Mons, Mars' highest volcano, towers 26 kilometers (about 16 miles) above the surrounding planes. This false-color image covers an area of about 600,000 square kilometers (about 230,000 square miles). The colors represent a range of elevations, from a low (blue) of 5 kilometers (3 miles) below the surface to a high (white) of 22 kilometers (14 miles). The High Resolution Camera on the European Space Agency's Mars Express captured the images in this mosaic over a span of 18 orbits.
From The Editor
Humans like to mark the passage of time with special dates to help us remember who we were and how far we have come. This issue of The Planetary Report falls between two 50-year anniversaries -- the launch of Explorer 1 in January 1958 and the founding of NASA in October 1958. Both events were triggered, of course, by Sputnik's 1957 launch.
In those 50 years, we have visited every major planet in our star system, flown through their retinues of moons, and seen them transform from tiny, dim images in telescopes to worlds we have come to know as individuals, each one astonishingly distinct.
We saw these worlds for the first time, and the first-time experience never can be repeated. The planets are now familiar faces, neighbors in our small corner of the Milky Way. These first 50 years of the Space Age opened the solar system to our exploring species, and the generations that lived through these years know that they have been extraordinarily privileged.
As we mark these anniversaries, I can't help but wonder what the coming generations will see for the first time. Will they drill beneath Europa's icy crust to explore the ocean that lies beneath? Will they sail across the hydrocarbon lakes of Titan? Will they leave footprints in the rusty sands of Mars?
My questions are inadequate to address the potential wonders they will see
50 years from these anniversaries. I envy them.
—Charlene M. Anderson
Features
NASA at 50: A Personal View
by James D. Burke
We Make It Happen! LIFE Flying to Phobos and Back!
by Bruce Betts
Alien Volcanoes—A Solar System Tour
by Michael Carrol and Rosaly M. C. Lopes
Departments
Members' Dialogue
World Watch
Questions and Answers
Society News
Planetary Sales
The Planetary Report is available only to Members of The Planetary Society. If you'd like to read these and other exciting features, JOIN THE PLANETARY SOCIETY TODAY!
MEMBERS: Download this and other back issues of The Planetary Report in PDF format from the For Members section of the website.
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