MARS A FUTURE HOME FOR HUMANITY

         A personal view by Ralph Buttigieg

         What sort of future will we leave our children?

         Gloomy newspaper headlines tell us of famines, mass refugees,
         a warming Earth, etc. Earth is getting crowded.

         When  faced  with  such possibilities past generations had an
         option ours don't. They could pack their bags  and  immigrate
         to countries like America and Australia.  The New World.  And
         start  afresh. Now , no matter what direction you travel, you
         need a passport.

         We need another New World.  A place to give  us  hope  and  a
         future. I believe that place is Mars.

         Next  to Earth Mars is the most "user friendly" planet in our
         Solar System.  It once had a thick atmosphere, liquid  water,
         and  maybe  life.  Now its cold and arid. But recent research
         strongly suggest that the Red planet can be terraformed (made
         more Earthlike) and it can be done within a life time.

         Such  a  project  is  not  science fiction, but based on hard
         engineering and science.  Nor  will  it  send  our  societies
         bankrupt, it is affordable.

         In the following chapters Robert Zubrin, senior engineer  for
         Martian  Marietta  Astronautics,  and  Chris McKay, planetary
         scientist at NASA Ames research center, will show you how.