Explore Worlds
Find Life
Defend Earth
The Planetary Report • September/October 2005
Mars Analogs
On the Cover: Though Chile’s Atacama Desert is more thoroughly etched by past water than is the surface of Mars, it compares strikingly well with images from Mars at a variety of scales. This image of an intermountain drainage basin looks superficially similar to the walls and floor of Mars’ Valles Marineris.
Features
6 Dry Earth, Wet Mars: Troy Hudson describes his experiences with a team of scientists, led of Society Board member Chris McKay, on an expedition to Chile's Atacama Desert to learn about Mars exploration.
12 The Pioneer Anomaly: A Deep Space Mystery: Bill Nye explains this complicated conundrum in terms that everyone can understand.
14 Out of This World Books: Just in time for the holiday season, we have selected seven new space-related books to share with you.
Departments
3 Members' Dialogue Saving Voyager; human spaceflight
4 We Make it Happen! The end of Cosmos 1 and the beginning of a new chapter
18 World Watch The space shuttle returns to flight; NASA budget; ExoMars
19 Society News Upcoming events, including the 25th Anniversary Awards Dinner
20 Q&A Why does Titan have an atmosphere? Why isn't Io icy?
The Planetary Report • September/October 2005
Help advance space science and exploration! Become a member of The Planetary Society and you'll receive the full PDF and print versions of The Planetary Report.