LPI | Resources

Volatiles in the Martian Crust

Justin Filiberto and Susanne P. Schwenzer, editors
Elsevier, 2019, 407 pages

This book is a vital reference for future missions, including the European Space Agency’s ExoMars mission and NASA’s Mars 2020 rover, looking for evidence of life on Mars and the potential for habitability and human exploration of the martian crust. Mars science is rapidly evolving with new data being returned from the planet daily. This book presents chapters written by experts who currently focus on the topic, providing readers with a fresh, up-to-date, and accurate view.

Dynamic Mars: Recent and Current Landscape Evolution of the Red Planet

Richard J. Soare, Susan J. Conway, and Stephen M. Clifford, editors
Elsevier, 2018, 446 pages

Dynamic Mars: Recent and Current Landscape Evolution of the Red Planet presents the latest observations, interpretations, and explanations of geological change at the surface or near-surface of Mars. Highly illustrated and punctuated by data from the most recent Mars missions, this book is a valuable resource for all levels of research in the geological history of Mars, as well as of the three other terrestrial planets.

From Habitability to Life on Mars

Nathalie A. Cabrol and Edmond A. Grin, editors
Elsevier, 2018, 370 pages

From Habitability to Life on Mars explores the current state of knowledge and questions on the past habitability of Mars and the role that rapid environmental changes may have played in the ability of prebiotic chemistry to transition to life.

Mars: The Pristine Beauty of the Red Planet

Alfred S. McEwen, Candice Hansen-Koharcheck, and Ari Espinoza
University of Arizona Press, 2017, 435 pages

The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is the most powerful camera ever sent to another planet. The images it has captured has shown us Mars in astonishing detail. This book features a never-before-published collection of HiRISE images with explanatory captions and is a unique volume produced from an active NASA mission.

Explore Mars in Augmented Reality

Lunar and Planetary Institute, 2017, one poster of a seven-poster series

The Lunar and Planetary Institute has developed a series of seven free posters and a free augmented reality (AR) app that takes you on a journey through space. This interactive tour includes a look at Mars. Escape to the Red Planet and interact with a 3-D model of Mars. Observe the transition from a wet planet early in its history to the dry world we see today, and view locations of past landing sites and the top three targets for the Mars 2020 rover.

Mars: Our Future on the Red Planet

Leonard David
National Geographic, 2016, 287 pages

This book presents the gravity-defying world of outer space with stunning photography, amazing visuals, and strong science. This companion book to the National Geographic Channel series dramatizes the next 25 years as humans land on and learn to live on Mars. This book is filled with vivid photographs taken on Earth, in space, and on Mars, as well as maps and commentary from the world’s top planetary scientists This book will take you millions of miles away — and decades into the future — to our next home in the solar system.

Mars via the Moon: The Next Giant Leap

Erik Seedhouse
Springer, 2016, 170 pages

The time has come for commercial enterprise to lead the way back to the lunar surface. Embarking on such a venture requires little in the way of new technologies. What we do need is a place to test the technologies and deep space experience that will enable us to build a pathway that will lead us to Mars. That place is the Moon and this book explains why.

The Martian

Andy Weir
Crown Publishing, 2014, 369 pages

The Martian tells the story of Mark Watney, a crew member on the third manned mission to Mars. After an epic dust storm threatens the crew’s ascent, they are forced to abort the mission. Watney is unintentionally abandoned and assumed to be dead. Drawing on his ingenuity, engineering skills, and a relentless refusal to quit, he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. (This novel was made into a feature film in 2016, and the DVD of that film is also in the LPI library collection.)

Mars Up Close: Inside the Curiosity Mission

Marc Kaufman
National Geographic, 2014, 301 pages

This book was written in consultation with NASA scientists and explains everything, detail by detail and moment by moment, about the Curiosity mission. Mars Up Close combines inside stories, fascinating facts, up-to-date maps, accessible science, eye-popping pictures, and visions of a future that is not that far away.

This Is Mars

Alfred S. McEwen, Francis Rocard, and Xavier Barral
Aperture, 2013, 269 pages

This Is Mars offers a previously unseen vision of the Red Planet. Located somewhere between art and science, the book brings together for the first time a series of panoramic images recently sent back by the U.S. observation satellite Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). Since its arrival in orbit in 2006, MRO and its HiRISE telescope have been mapping Mars’ surface in a series of exceptionally detailed images that reveal all the beauty of this legendary planet. This book takes the reader on a fantastic voyage — plummeting into the breathtaking depths of the Velles Marineris canyons, floating over the black dunes of Noachis Terra, and soaring to the highest peak in our solar system, the Olympus Mons volcano.

The Martian Surface: Composition, Mineralogy, and Physical Properties

Jim Bell, editor
Cambridge University Press, 2008, 636 pages

New observations from Earth-based telescopes and Mars-based orbiters, landers, and rovers have dramatically advanced our understanding of the past environments on Mars. These include the first global-scale infrared and reflectance spectroscopic maps of the surface, leading to the discovery of key minerals indicative of specific past climate conditions, the discovery of large reservoirs of subsurface water ice, and the detailed in situ roving investigations of three new landing sites. This is a resource for researchers and students in planetary science and related fields.

Mars: An Introduction to Its Interior, Surface and Atmosphere

Nadine G. Barlow
Cambridge University Press, 2008, 264 pages

This textbook covers our understanding of Mars’ formation, geology, atmosphere, surface properties, and potential for life, encompassing the fields of geology, chemistry, atmospheric sciences, geophysics, and astronomy. Each chapter introduces the necessary background information to help the non-specialist understand the topics. This book is essential reading for graduate courses and an important reference for researchers.

Mars 3-D: A Rover’s-Eye View of the Red Planet

Jim Bell
Sterling Publishing, 2008, 148 pages

Thanks to 120 stunning 3-D and color images shot by the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity, we can observe the surface of Mars up close through super-realistic images. These pictures pop off the page in this book, allowing us to see for ourselves the rocks, craters, valleys, and other geologic configurations that define the martian terrain. The text is accessible and reveals the thrill of each discovery, along with the perils and near misses. The book features a fold-out flap with embedded 3-D viewer.

Sky & Telescope Mars Globe

Produced by Sky & Telescope, 2000, one 12-inch-diameter globe

For centuries telescopic observers have strained to see faint and fleeting details on the surface of the Red Planet. This Mars globe from Sky & Telescope portrays the rich assortment of those enigmatic features and showcases the intriguing features discovered by NASA spacecraft. Produced in cooperation with NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey, the globe includes official names for 140 features.

Map of Mars

William and Heintz Corporation, 1968, one-sheet color map

The content of this map, an MEC-1 prototype, was compiled by the Aeronautical Chart and Information Center and based on information from what we knew about Mars in 1962. The map shows albedo markings on Mars and locations of two Mariner IV photographs. Additional images show northern and southern summer markings. This map is notable in that it does not include Valles Marineris because the map was created before that feature was discovered in 1971.