Author's Final Note and Acknowledgments

AUTHOR’S FINAL NOTE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Despite my complete lack of belief in – and the total absence of any scientific evidence for – astrology, Mars has been a kind of “planet of fate”to me almost all my life. My first memory of the Red Planet takes me way back to the 1960s, the “Golden Age of Apollo,” when my aunt told me that the name “Markus” was derived from the god of war. At the end of the 1970s I prepared a presentation for a physics class at school on Mars. I would have delivered it if I had not caught a bad flu. In the 1980s – as part of my studies in astronomy at the Helsinki University Observatory – I examined the spectral signature of Martian ozone in observations made with the International Ultraviolet Explorer. It was kind of consoling to know that among all the differences between Mars and Earth there are a few similarities, too. At around the same time I covered the Soviet Phobos project with a Finnish input for the Tähdet ja avaruus (“Stars and Space”) magazine of the Ursa Astronomical Association, and made observations of the planet with the instruments of the Ursa Observatory. It was thrilling to see with my own eyes the very same surface features of Mars that the Phobos probes were supposed to be soon studying. In the 1990s I participated in organizing a “Mars Day” in Heureka, the Finnish Science Centre, the program of which con- sisted of short presentations on various aspects of Mars. This gave me – for the first time – a clear insight into the great importance of the Red Planet not only scientifically but also in our culture. And finally, in the beginning of the 2000s, I was looking for – as a managing editor of non-fiction at WSOY, the biggest publishing company in Finland – a book on Mars to be translated and pub- lished in Finnish. I did find several very good books, but I also found that none of them treated the Red Planet comprehensively enough to my taste. Being a stubborn and somewhat arrogant person I decided to start writing one myself. I never would have believed that eventually I would write it in English. John Donne at the beginning of the seventeenth century wrote, “No man is an island” – or, as would be more appropriate in 232 Mars this case, “a planet.”Even though I have typed every single word in this book – as well as in the earlier Finnish edition – with my own fingers, it would not have been born without the strong support and encouragement from a large number of people. First of all I would like to express my deep gratitude to my parents, Kaino and Olavi, who supported my choice of astronomy for a hobby some 30 years ago (goodness me . .) and later for a major subject of my studies. They never questioned my decision but trusted my judgment – perhaps more than I did myself. I thank my wife Helena Sederholm who bravely endured all my miniature lectures on whatever Martian detail happened to be on my mind during the various stages of collecting material for this book and shaping it into an intelligible form. She also read the manuscript and asked some tough questions, the answering of which helped me to – hopefully – clarify what I was trying to say. I am also in great debt to our 4-year-old daughter Tilda Sigrid Meteoora, who made it possible for me to work on “Daddy’s planet” by going to bed without a fuss and sleeping soundly through the night – the time of “day” I did the writing. Of my colleagues in the publishing business I want to say thanks to managing editor Kaarina Miettinen from WSOY, who per- sistently demanded clarifications for things treated with too much complexity or superficiality; non-fiction writer Mattias Tolvanen, whose keen-sightedness helped me avoid a large number of literary pitfalls; and especially graphic designer Martti Ruokonen from WSOY, who created the superb layout for the original Finnish edition and the cover used also in this Springer edition. The illustra- tions made for this book have their origins in the magic pen of graphic designer Mikko Juhola. As a fellow amateur astronomer he managed to find the meaning of my vague instructions and succeeded in bringing to life whole civilizations. The Finnish manuscript was read in its entirety by Professor Juhani Kakkuri and Docent and science journalist Leena Tähtinen. I am grateful for their advice in making the text clearer and scientifically accurate. The chapters on Martian research and its results were read by Dr. Ari-Matti Harri from the Finnish Meteorological Institute, the appendix on Finnish participation by Professor Risto Author’s Final Note and Acknowledgments 233 Pellinen – who also kindly wrote the foreword – likewise from the Finnish Meteorological Institute – and the chapter on space probes by science and aviation journalist Jari Mäkinen. Thanks to them I managed to correct several embarrassing mistakes and misun- derstandings. The English manuscript was read by Dr. Diana Hannikainen from the Metsähovi Radio Observatory who also – as a native English speaker – checked the language, making a number of corrections and giving valuable advice on how to say things in English the way they should be said. Major thanks go to editorial director Harry Blom and editor Maury Solomon at Springer ScienceϩBusiness Media. They made the publication of this book possible across the Atlantic, first with Harry’s strong faith in a book written originally only in Finnish and then with Maury’s patient help in transforming it into a thoroughly updated English edition – actually a completely new book. Kiitos! I have also received assistance on details of varying size from the following persons deserving my sincere gratitude: Ralph Aeschliman (www.ralphaeschliman.com), Filipe Alves (www. paragrama.net/manalokos), Matti Anttila (Space Systems Finland Ltd.), Bruce Bradley (Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering & Tech- nology), Jean-Luc Dauvergne, Louis Friedman (The Planetary Society), Kai Heinonen (Military Museum, Helsinki), Jukka Heiskanen (Sanoma Magazines Finland), Oskari Hellman, Petri Hiltunen, Nick Hoffman, Kimmo Hytti, Kaisa Häkkinen (University of Turku), Markus Jokela (Helsingin Sanomat), Kristian Järnefelt (Hewlett-Packard Finland), Marjo Järvinen, Hannu Karttunen (Tuorla Observatory), Marjatta Koivisto, Johannes Kvist (Oy Suomen Lego Ab), Jukka Lehtinen, Martti Lehtinen (Geological Museum, Finnish Museum of Natural History), Arja Lindblad (WS Bookwell Ltd.), Marcel Maltzeff (WSOY), Matti Martikainen, Alice Martin (WSOY), Terry McNeeley (www. nuclearspace.com), Sini Merikallio (Finnish Meteorological Institute), Franck Montmessin (Service d’Aeronomie du CNRS), Veikko Mäkelä (Ursa Astronomical Association), Heikki Oja (University Almanac Office, Helsinki), Teivas Oksala, Ann Pasquini (Malin Space Science Systems), Leena Peltonen, Timo Polari (www.timopolari.com), Jouko Raitala (University of Oulu), Mario Rossi (www.space-graphics.com), Matti Rossi (Heureka, The Finnish Science Centre), Hannu Salmi 234 Mars (Heureka, The Finnish Science Centre), Matti Salo (Ursa Astronomical Association), Markku Sarimaa (Ursa Astronomical Association), Seppo Sintonen (WSOY), Marjaleena Sorvali (WSOY), Ted Stryk, Pasi Sumanen (WSOY), Paolo Tanga (Unione Astrofili Italiani), Rhys Taylor, Riitta Toiviainen (WSOY), Mikko Tuovinen (Helsingin Sanomat/NYT), Kees Veenenbos (www.space4case.com), Julia Vuori, and Juhani Westman. The writing of this book was supported financially by the Board for Grants and Subsidies to Writers and Translators, the Finnish Association of Non-fiction Writers and the Werner Söderström Corporation Literary Foundation. I am thankful for their trust in my abilities in the field of science writing. The result of my efforts was acknowledged in 2006 with a State Award for Public Information by the Ministry of Education and a citation from the Lauri Jantti Foundation for promotion of Finnish non-fiction. That is something I appreciate very highly. I also want to thank all the anonymous persons participating in the development of the Internet in general and the countless Mars-related websites in particular. Without the benefits of the “triple-w” in searching for information and images the making of this book might not have been impossible, but it would have taken far more time than it did. Equally important are the vast electronic image archives of the various space research organizations, especially those of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, and the European Space Agency, ESA. In addition to all the above-mentioned people there certainly is a large group of individuals who have helped me directly or indirectly in the process of putting all this stuff together. I apologize for not being able – or not thinking of it – to name them all. Nuuksio, Finland, on a wintry Tuesday, the namesake day of Mars, approaching the Christmas opposition of 2007 Markus Hotakainen Author’s Final Note and Acknowledgments 235 Selected references and further reading Antoniadi, Eugène M.: La Planète Mars. Hermann, 1930. Anttila, Matti: Concept Evaluation of Mars Drilling and Sampling Instrument. Helsinki University of Technology, Laboratory of Space Technology, 2005. Asimov, Isaac: Asimov’s Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. Pan Books, 1978. Bakich, Michael E.: The Cambridge Planetary Handbook. Cambridge University Press, 2001. Barbree, Jay, Caidin, Martin, Wright, Susan: Destination Mars. In Art, Myth and Science. Penguin Studio, 1997. Beatty, J. Kelly, Petersen, Carolyn Collins, Chaikin, Andrew (eds.): The New Solar System. Sky Publishing Corporation & Cambridge University Press, 1999. Bell, Jim: Postcards from Mars – The First Photographer on the Red Planet. Dutton, 2006. Bergreen, Laurence: The Quest for Mars – The NASA Scientists and Their Search for Life Beyond Earth. Voyager, 2000. Bone, Neil: Mars Observer’s Guide. Philip’s, 2003. Bonsdorff, Ernst: Tähtitiede. Kansanvalistus-seuran Luonnontieteellinen kirjasto. Kolmas osa. Kansanvalistus-seura, 1899. Boyce, Joseph M.: The Smithsonian Book of Mars. Smithsonian Institution, 2002. Carlsson, Ella: Framåt Mars! Fahrenheit, 2006.

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