Corrie Oberdin - Social Media & Digital PR Consultant, sent me a note about some upcoming shows on the National Geographic Channel. One of them has to do with making the environment on Mars more habitable should we ever get around to going there.
While I was at NASA Ames I attended one of the work shops that talked about terraforming Mars. It might be interesting to see what Dr. Chris McKay has to say about the subject.
- LRK -
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http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/expedition-week/4588/Overview
The notion of bringing Mars to life -- transforming a cold, dry, uninhabitable desert into a living planet -- called terraforming, has been around for almost a century. Initially just a science fiction concept, it has become a subject of serious scientific investigation.
NASA astrobiologist Dr. Chris McKay has spent 30 years researching extreme environments to understand the potential of such planetary engineering. On the surface, the red planet's freeze-dried world of rocks, ice and dust looks like an unlikely place to plant a garden.
But rocks and minerals found by the Mars rovers show it must once have had warmer, habitable living conditions. Now, using photorealistic CGI visualizations, we'll make a science fiction dream of Mars -- a world of trees, rivers and blue skies -- a plausible future, bringing it to life after three and a half billion years in a deep freeze.
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http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/expedition-week/4588/Videos/07257_00#tab-Videos/07257_00
Video "Preview: Mars: Making the New Earth" - An 18,500 foot volcano in Mexico is a living laboratory for NASA scientist Chris McKay as he investigates how to transform Mars from a cold, dead planet into a living world like planet Earth.
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A bit about Dr. McKay.
- LRK -
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http://spacescience.arc.nasa.gov/people/mckay/
Principal Scientific Interests and Brief Background:
Dr. Christopher P. McKay, Planetary Scientist with the Space Science Division of NASA Ames. Chris received his Ph.D. in AstroGeophysics from the University of Colorado in 1982 and has been a research scientist with the NASA Ames Research Center since that time. His current research focuses on the evolution of the solar system and the origin of life. He is also actively involved in planning for future Mars missions including human exploration. Chris been involved in research in Mars-like environments on Earth, traveling to the Antarctic dry valleys, Siberia, the Canadian Arctic, and the Atacama desert to study life in these Mars-like environments. His was a co-I on the Titan Huygen's probe in 2005, the Mars Phoenix lander mission for 2007, and the Mars Science Lander mission for 2009.
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Dr. McKay on YouTube.
Hmmm, I remember him with a beard, clean shaved here.
- LRK -
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Tiny URL for some YouTube clips found with Google search for Dr. Chris McKay NASA Ames
http://tinyurl.com/yc654sc
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Thanks for looking up with me.
Larry Kellogg
Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
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Twitter: http://twitter.com/lrkellogg
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK
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