Mars has been the subject of more speculation than any other planet in the Solar System. There is also a wealth of information on the web regarding all aspects of this planet. Rather than regurgitate what may have been better expressed elsewhere, this web page will point the way to the best of these resources.

A second focus of the web page will be Mars visions involving terraforming. A permanent human presence requires some sort of terraforming of the planet. Some question the ethics of significant human alterations of the Mars environment.

An overview of what we know about the red planet can be found at Hamilton's Views of the Solar System. A NASA perspective on Mars has planetary facts and figures and a gallery of images of the planet. The ESA has a great portfolio of Martian images and videos. Marsnews.com provides current news articles respecting Mars.

Google Mars is the best place to start looking for maps of the Martian surface. It is comprehensive and provides an intuitive way to find various planetary features and information regarding their origin. The Mars Global Surveyor wide angle map of Mars is a good place to quickly zero in on a black and white view of a Martian location. Another good source for Mars maps is the USGS. The Europeans have created the first hiking maps of Mars.

Exploratory missions to Mars have been launched primarily by American's NASA and Europe's ESA. A joint Russian/Chinese mission to Phobos, one of the two moons of Mars, is planned on the Phobos-Grunt in late 2011 or early 2012. ESA and NASA in 2009 authorized the ExoMars Programme including two Mars exploration missions in 2016 and 2018.

In 2009, ESA's Mars Express orbiter caught on camera together the two Martian moons, Phobos and Deimos. This video conveys an exploratory flight experience through the Valles Marineris pictured in the image below.

Updated presentations of Martian scientific findings are provided by NASA's JPL. Other science findings (including maps and images) may be found at MOLA and Marsoweb, both NASA sites, and this ESA Mars Express scientific findings site.

Advocates of the human exploration of Mars include the Mars Society, MarsDrive, the Mars Foundation, Red Colony and the Mars Institute. A forum for Mars enthusiasts is provided by the Mars Society. The Association of Mars Explorers is limited to persons who have led or taken part in scientific exploration on Mars or in Martian analog environments.

Marsbugs focuses on astrobiology and current space news, with a number of interesting links related to Mars.

ExploreMarsNow simulates an initial human mission to Mars and its return. Maintenance of the site appears to have ended a few years ago. Hopefully this is not an indicator of the prospect for eventual human settlement of the red planet.

Terraforming Mars

Image from Modified Mars mentioned below

Going beyond a possible manned mission to Mars in the next 25 years, what future can we expect on the red planet in 2200? Will man have altered the planet to create an environment more conducive to human survival, perhaps even enabling people to flourish?

One possible location for a human base on Mars is an existing cave on the flank of Mars' Arsia Mons. As can be seen in the image taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the underground space available for human use appears quite large. The Caves of Mars project has evaluated the feasibility of such an approach to initial human habitation of the planet.

Regarding human alteration of the planet, Robert Zubrin and Christopher McKay have set forth the technological requirements for terraforming Mars. Modified Mars, an add-on to Google Mars by Frans Blok, is a detailed and vivid vision of such a future Mars first encountered in the fall of 2009.

Terraforming Proposals

Terraforming of Mars has been imagined or discussed on a number of websites. How Stuff Works proposes three methods to terraform Mars. An International Space University project proposes to establish a self-sustaining system for humanity on Mars by the end of the century, using terraforming techniques in conjunction with assisted life adaptation.

The American Museum of Natural History proposes to "seed" the Martian polar caps with green plants or microbes genetically engineered to extract the liquid water they need from ice. This National Academy of Sciences article proposes keeping Mars warm with new super greenhouse gases.

Red-Green-Blue Phenomenon

One wonders if fiction, whether books or virtual worlds, can herald a future terraformed Mars reality? The Red, Green and Blue Mars trilogy is probably the most extensive literary effort to portray the eventual terraforming of the planet. The trilogy is a tale by Kim Stanley Robinson of the exploration and settlement of Mars--riven by both personal and ideological conflicts--in the early 21st century. The rgbmars site is a presentation of that literary vision in 2219.

Other Visions

Other personal sites have been created to advance the concept of terraforming Mars. Martyn Fogg has created a website containing a compendium of studies regarding terraforming, primarily related to Mars. Mars Reborn is a portrait of a possible Mars one thousand years in the future. Gatien Lafore 's website on terraforming Mars is in French.