On the Cover: The Sun sets on another exciting and productive day on Table of Mars for the Pathfinder lander and the Sojourner rover, Pathfinder's camera collected th is picture on Sol 24, the Contents November/December 1997 24th Martian day of the mission, The blue and red of the sky are about the same as they would appear to the human eye, but the Sun itself is overexposed-it would appear nearly white or slightly blue, As the spacecraft landed on Features July 4, 1997, thousan ds celebrated at Planetfest '97, a festival of exploration sponsored by the Planetary Society, 4 Planetfest '97 There Tony Spear, Pathfinder project manager, announced There is no way to share completely all the excitement and events that were that the lander had been named the Carl Sagan Memorial Planetfest '97 with those who were unable to attend. But we can give a short report on Station and that it had carried the names of 100,000 a few of the highlights, and invite everyone to come to the next Planetfest. Society members to the Martian surface, Image: JPUNASA 5 A Martian Walkabout Humanity stands once again on the surface of Mars-albeit vicariously, using the eyes and limbs of robots. Pathfinder has taken us there and Sojourner is poking around, reaching out and actually touching some of the rocky denizens of Mars. We will be covering this mission extensively as the science data are analyzed and better understood. Froln We 'll start with a stroll around the landing site to familiarize ourselves with a landscape The that we'll soon come to know better. ECI itor 1 0 Mars Life? One Year Later On August 7, 1996, NASA and Stanford University scientists surprised a news­ jaded world with the announcement that they had found evidence within a Martian mete­ ,have never liked any written piece that orite that pointed to life once existing on that now-forbidding world. Responding to the I opens with a cute anecdote about the public's excited curiosity, some scientists advised caution or even disparaged the hypothesis. author's children. But this time 1 can think of In the year since, many researchers have taken a crack at the evidence within ALH8400 I , no better way to illustrate what Planetfest '97 and the result is-the contention that the rock holds traces of ancient life has been neither was and how it affected people, so: proven nor disproven. Here is the state of research one year later. My two-year-old daughter walked into the The Man Passing By on His Way to the Moon main hall at Planetfest just as the thousands 14 Last summer the Planetary Society lost one of its greatest friends, and the world of guests got word that Pathfinder had landed. lost one of its greatest planetary scientists. Gene Shoemaker was killed in a car crash in The resulting roar of delight rocked the the Australian outback doing what he loved-searching for impact craters. Instead of the Pasadena Center and terrified my daughter. traditional obituary, we have printed something that we feel comes far closer to catching She's far too young to appreciate the techni­ the spirit of the man than any recitation of facts. cal and political achievement, and she imme­ diately started chanting, "1 want to go home. 1 want to go home NOW!" Departnlents But her mother was on staff and her father was a volunteer. She stayed. She 3 Melnbers' Dialogue started to enjoy herself. She joined in the excitement and enthusiasm of the people 16 Basics of Spaceflight who had gathered together to witness a spacecraft landing on another planet. A 18 NelNs &. RevielNs feeling of camaraderie and shared success settled over the thousands filling the con­ 19 World Watch vention center. Such moments happen so rarely it's hard to let go when'the event is 20 Questions and AnslNers over. That's what happened with my daugh­ ter. "I don't want to go home. I want to 22 Society NelNs stay here with my friends!" That was the chant by the end of Planetfest. Planetfests exemplify what this Society does best: sharing the wonder of exploring Contact Us the planets with everyone. My daughter will Mailing Address: The Planetary Society, 65 North Catalina Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91106-2301 , be at the next one; 1 hope you will be too. General Calls: 626-793-5100 Sales Calls Only: 626-793-1675 -Charlene M. Anderson E-mail: tps@mars,planetary.org World Wide Web Home Page: http ://planetary.org The Planetary Report (ISSN 0736-3680) is publ ished bimonthly at the editorial offices of the Planetary Society, 65 North Catalina Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91 106-230 1,626-793-5100. It is available to members of the Planetary Society. Annual dues in the US are $25 (US dollars); in Canada, $35 (Canadian dollars). Dues in other countries are $45 (US dollars). Printed in USA. Third-class postage at Pasadena, California, and at an additional mailing office. Canada Post Agreement Number 87424. Editor, C HARLENE M . ANDERSON Technical Editor, JAMES D . BURKE , Assistant Editor, DO NNA ESCANDON STEVENS Copy Editor. KARL STULL THEAPubl'&_~ PLANE'T: V SOCIETY Production Editor, W ILLI AM MCGOVERN Art Director, BARBARA S. SM ITH Editoriaf Assistant, JEN NIFER VAUGHN o . o-8-e-¢ -e- 0 Viewpoints expressed in columns or editorials are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent positions of the Planetary Society, its 6fficers, or advisors. © 1997 by the Planetary Society. o -------------- Co... founder CARL SAGAN Members' 1934·1996 Board of Directors BRUCE MURRAY Dialogue President Professor of Planetary Science and Geology, Cafifomfa Institute of Technology LAUREL l. WILKENING - Vice President Ct/ancelfor, University of California, Irvine LOUIS D. FRIEDMAN Executive Director NORMAN R. AUGUSTINE Chairman and CEO, Lockheed Martin Corporation Names on Mars You're quite right, a better choice interplay of many observational ANN DRUYAN author and producer After All ofterms would have been ''floating factors, cannot be done with fore­ DONALO J. KUTYNA I was glad to read in the September/ ice." In addition to having a differ­ seeable robotic means. We can tonner Commander, US Space Command JOSEPH RYAN October 1997 Planetary Report ent origin, shelf ice is much thicker start with robots, but we have not Executive Vice President and that my name made it to Mars, than the seasonal pack ice, making adequately explored what will be General Counsel, Marriott Intemational ROALD Z. SAGDEEV after all. I followed the landing it perhaps a better analog to Europa. missed by using only robots. ff}{mer Director, Institute 'for Space Research, RllSsian Academy of SCiences and subsequent findings of the Both types ofice are seen in the Pathfinder, a wonderful mission STEVEN SPIELBERG Sagan Memorial Station and Antarctic image accompanying within its constraints, actually direcllJr and producer KATHRYN D. SULLIVAN Sojourner. But never did I hear the article. The Ross Ice Shelf, like demonstrated clearly some of President and CEO, Ohio's Center of Science and Industry that the list of Planetary Society the pack ice, appears blue in the what is missed when humans are and former astronaut members was also safely on the false-color Galileo image because not present. Several questions NEIL TYSON Director, Hayden Planetarium, Red Planet. It's exactly this kind of the ice particles in the top tens of anguished over for days could American Museum of Natural History personal honor, to be involved in centimeters ofthe surface are larger, have been answered in a few sec­ Advisory Council space exploration, that has earned on average, than those ofthe con­ onds by a field geologist- such JOHN M. LOGSDON Chairman the Society a member for life. tinental snow visible on the horizon. as whether a particular sample Director, Space Polfcy Institute, Thanks for putting me on Mars. The coarse surface grains result had soil on it, or was a volcanic George Washington University DIANE ACKERMAN -CURT PETROVICH, from the relatively warm tempera­ rock or a breccia. It is not merely poet and author BUZZ ALDRIN Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada ture of the floating ice, because it a case of better, faster-responding Apollo 11 astronaut is in contact with liquid water. rovers and optics (unless we get RICHARD BERENDZEN Ice Insights At a recent Flagstaff, Arizona close to an android). I am almost educator and astrophysicist JACQUES BLAMONT I was quite dismayed by "The meeting ofplanetary scientists and offended by statements that robots Chief Scientist, Centre National d'Etudes SpaUa/es, France Color of Europa" (see the specialists in remote sensing of are not only "smaller, cheaper, RAY BRADBURY September/October 1997 issue of terrestrial ice, we were impressed faster" but also better. If only it poet and author DAVID BRIN The Planetary Report) because by the diversity ofmorphologies were that simple! author Paul Geissler discusses the Ross produced by various surface ice Unfortunately, the exchange ARTHUR C. CLARKE author Ice Shelf and then describes it as processes on Earth and by the fact between Horowitz and Shapiro CORNELIS DE JAGER was headlined, in a polarized Professor of Space Research, sea ice. I worked for three austral that many ofthese remain poorly Me Astronomjcallnstitute at Utrecht, summers on the Ross Ice Shelf understood. Because ofthe differ­ way, as "Humans Versus Robots" the Netherlands FRANK DRAKE and it is comprised of glacial ice, ences between Earth and Europa and "Men or Machines." This President, SETI fnst/tute; Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics, not sea ice. The Ross Ice Shelfis and our incomplete knowledge of sets up a conflict, when future University of California, Santa Cruz formed from the convergence of both ofthese worlds, there may be exploration of the planets will STEPHEN JAY GOULD Alexander Agassiz Professor of ZOOlogy, glaciers near sea level, as are all important insights about Europa surely be performed by combina­ Harvard University SHIRLEY M.