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EDITORIAL INFORMATION

The "Mars Underground" was born when the U.S. commitment to planetary exploration was in doubt and, in particular, when NASA had ceased consideration and funding of studies about Mars. To the students and enthusiasts who cared about these subjects, the irony was clear - a succesful landing and exploration by the Viking mission had wetted their appetites to look over the horizon and to consider Mars as the most likely habitable place other than Earth in the solar system. The opportunity to work with professors and researchers on the analysis on the Viking data appeared to be the beginning of greater opportunities for them, but ones that were not to realized if, indeed, the United States was to choose to quit the process of Mars exploration altogether. Thus, they decided to present The Case for Mars.

The Case for Mars II conference, July 10-14, 1984, was sponsored by The Planetary Society as a Mars Institute activity. The conference was held in Boulder, Colorado, hosted by the University of Colorado Space Interest Group, organized by the Boulder Center for Science and Policy, and cosponsored by the National Space Institute y la American Astronautical Society.

(Extracted from the foreword, by Louis Friedman, and from the acknowledgements).

GENERAL TABLE OF CONTENTS

-In Memoriam. Phil Quattrone.

-Acknowledgements.

-Resonance. Helene Knox.

-Foreword. Louis Friedman.

-Contents.

-I. INTRODUCTION.

-A Timeline for Martian Pioneers.
-A Millenium Project: Mars 2000.

-II. NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ASPECTS.

-Political Acceptability of Mars Exploration: Post-1981 Observations.
-The Civilian Space Program: A Washington Perspective.
-The Mars Base: International Cooperation.
-Russians to Mars?
-Antarctica: Lessons for a Mars Exploration Program.

-III. PRECURSOR MISSIONS.

-Design of a Mars Film Mapper Probe.
-Scientific Objectives for a 1996 Mars Sample Return Mission.
-A Mars Sample Return Mission Using a Rover.
-Space Station - The First Step.
-Beyond the Space Station.
-Lunar Base: A Stepping Stone to Mars.
-The PhD Project in Perspective.
-Phobos and Deimos as Resource and Exploration Centers.
-The Case for Phobos.

-IV. SCIENCE.

-Scientific Program for a Mars Base.
-Critical Life Science Issues for a Mars Base.
-Martian Meteorology and Dust Storms.

-V. EARTH-MARS DELIVERY SYSTEMS.

-Mission Strategy and Spacecraft Design for a Mars Base Program.
-Concepts for the Early Realization of a Manned Mission to Mars.
-Analysis of Delivery Capabilities and Costs to Low Mars Orbits Applying Current Technology Launch/Retro Propulsion Systems.
-Rapid Delivery of Small Payloads to Mars.
-Transportation Modes for Manned Mars Missions.
-Tethers for Mars Space Operations.

-VI. MARS SURFACE TECHNOLOGY.

-Advanced Spacesuit Glove Design.
-Dirigible Airships for Martian Surface Exploration.
-Power Requirements for the Conquest of Mars.

-VII. UTILIZING MARTIAN RESOURCES.

-The Impact of Martian Propellant Manufacturing on Early Manned Exploration.
-The H-Atom Resource on Mars.
-The Retrieval, Storage, and Recycling of Water for a Manned Base on Mars.
-Water Supply for a Manned Mars Base.
-Utilizing the Permafrost on Mars.
-Extraction of Water from the Mars Atmosphere: Passive Constriction of Wind Flow.
-Mass-Balance Model for a Controlled Ecological Life Support System.
-A Preliminary Assessment of Martian Natural Resource Potential.

-VIII. HUMAN FACTORS.

-Psychological and Interpersonal Adaptation to Mars Missions.
-Countermeasures for the Effects of Prolonged Weightlessness.
-Psychological Considerations in Long-Duration Space Missions: An Overview.

-APPENDIX.

-Candidate Rover/Returned Sample Landing Sites.
-Mars Geoscience/Climatology Orbiter: The Next Mars Mission.
-Water on Mars: Geological and Geochemical.
-Biomedical Considerations in Long-Duration Space Flights.
-An Orbital Quarantine Facility for Analysis of Returned Samples.
-Economic Analysis of Mars Exploration.
-Who is Going to Pay for It?
-Comparison of Propulsion Systems for Earth to Mars Transit.
-The USAF Getaway Special Centrifuge: A Simulator for Space Station and Planetary Surface Gravity Environments.
-Publications of the American Astronautical Society.
-The Case for Mars I Confenerence.

- INDEX.

-Numerical Index.
-Author Index.

OUR REVIEW

The Case for Mars surely is one of the most important lectures ever given in favor of the exploration and colonization of Mars. Their interest lies in the fact that they appeared at one of the worst possible moments, when the governments had no intention to undertake those tasks, and their job can be regarded as essential in what they did to keep public opinion and a level of activity around this problem. The book we are reviewing now gathers most of the papers presented at the second lecture, and in them we can appreciate the enthusiasm as well as the innovative ideas that their proposers had at the moment. The range of the issues dealt with is highly varied, as we can see in the table of contents, and their authors are people of considerable weight in the aerospatial world (Thomas O. Paine, Harrison H. Smith, Jesco von Puttkamer, among many others) who contribute their great expertise to particular aspects of this question.

What appears to be clear is the fact that, after this lecture and further conferences and meetings, Humanity is technologically ready to begin a new era in the exploration of Mars, with or without a crew, and that increasingly innovative proposals will end up by making this longtime dream come true, even if some people may feel it will never come to pass. In this sense this thick book is a good example of the current technological, economical, social, etc. knowledge, as well as an interesting work that those of us who love planetary exploration will no doubt appreciate.