Lonely Planets

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Lonely Planets Page 63

by David Grinspoon


  stabilizing Earth, 144

  239, 249, 279

  Moore, Gordon, 306

  possibly holding water, 167–170,

  Morrison, David, xxxii

  185–186

  Morrison, Philip, 290, 292–294, 302,

  rocks on, xx

  315

  rusting in peace, 178–182

  MSNBC, 184

  terraforming of, xix, xxvii–xxviii

  mutually assured destruction (MAD),

  Mars Exploration Program, 362

  60

  Mars Exploration Rovers, xviii,

  mysteries, 351

  xix–xxi, xxvi

  Mysterious Valley, The, 346

  Mars Express, xxi, xxiii, xxvi

  Mars Global Surveyor (MGS), xxvi,

  Napoléon, 33

  61, 183–188, 360

  NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI),

  Mars Observer, 61

  64–65, 147, 223, 239, 245, 364

  Mars Odyssey, xxvi, 61

  National Academy of Sciences, 222

  Mars Pathfinder, 61, 241

  funding from, 242

  Mars Society, 259

  National Aeronautic and Space

  Martian Chronicles, The, 41

  Administration (NASA)

  “Martian Way, The,” 187n

  Ames Research Center, xxxii, 57,

  Marvin the Martian, 167

  111–112, 174, 223, 237, 309

  Marx, George, 329

  Astrobiology Institute, 64–65, 147,

  Mayor, Michael, 208–211, 213

  223, 239, 245

  McAndrew, James, 421

  Exobiology Division, 223

  McNeill, William, 304

  funding from, 242, 305

  Mercury, 152, 209

  goals statements from, 234

  craters of, 152, 157

  Office of Life Sciences, 223

  messages to extraterrestrial, 325–326

  Office of Planetary Protection,

  Messoline, Judy, 343

  258–259, 261

  metazoa, formation of, 120

  realization of public interest in alien

  meteors, xxiv

  life, xxxii, 242–243

  methane, xxi–xxv, 48, 123, 161

  Solar System Exploration

  Metrodorus, 7

  Subcommittee, 246, 250n

  MGS, see Mars Global Surveyor

  National Enquirer, 323

  “Microcosmic God,” 109, 132

  National Science Foundation, 305

  microwave background, cosmic, 76

  Natural Foundations of Religion, The,

  Miescher, Friedrich, 103n

  225

  Milky Way galaxy, 77, 135, 297, 316,

  natural philosophy, xxxii–xxxiii

  345

  Nature, 190, 209, 290, 292

  Miller, Stanley, 49, 110, 113, 221

  nebular hypothesis, 40

  Miller-Urey experiment, 50, 84,

  “Neoterics,” 109, 132

  110–111

  Neptune, 58–59, 252

  Mitchell, Maria, 35

  New Age believers, 11, 16

  Moon (Earth’s), 96, 157

  New Republic, The, 379, 381

  “astroplankton” on, 51

  New Scientist, 244

  “flaws” of, 14

  “new world,” discovery of, 21

  as inhabited, 23

  New York Times, 43, 154, 212,

  landing on faked, 191

  290–292

  Index

  431

  Newton, Isaac, 254

  Pasteur, Louis, 45–47

  Nightline, 211

  Pegasus, constallation, 208

  nitrogen, 83, 161

  “perfect solids,” 12

  Noah’s Ark, 272

  permafrost, life in, 129

  Nobel Prize winners, 47, 113, 139,

  Pflock, Karl T., 421

  222, 294, 303

  philosophizing, in the absence of

  noosphere, 127, 224, 397–398

  evidence, 8

  Northrop Grumman, 368

  �X174, 324, 327, 330

  Notre Dame, 23, 206

  phosphorus, 83

  NOVA, 378

  physical laws, breaking, 81

  nucleotides, 103–106

  Physics Today, 294, 314n

  Pickering, W. H., 291

  O’Brien, Christopher, 346

  Pioneer Venus, 57, 240

  observational selection, 213–214

  planet finders, 212

  ocean trench, life in, 129

  planetary exploration, biocentric, 248

  Of Learned Ignorance, 15–16

  “planetary protection officer,”

  Office of Life Sciences (NASA), 223

  258–259

  Office of Planetary Protection

  Planetary Report, The, 259

  (NASA), 258–259, 261

  Planetary Simulation Lab, 110

  Oliver, Barnard, 294

  planetary water, 93

  On the Origin of Species, 35

  planetesimals, 82

  On the Revolutions of Heavenly

  planetology, comparative, 56

  Orbs, 9–10

  planets, 51–65

  Oparin, Aleksandr Ivanovich, 48–50

  across the great divide, 64–65

  Operation Blue Fly, 367

  astrobiology, 63–64

  Opportunity, xix, xxvi

  being in space, 51–55

  Oprah, 378

  extragalactic, xxix

  Order of the Dolphin, 294–295, 403

  gas giants, 58–59

  organic carbon, xxiv

  ice moons, 58–59

  organic catalysts, proteins as, 101

  Jupiter-class, 209

  organic matter, 36, 200, 231

  mad science, 59–61

  Origins of Life, 48–49

  uncovering Venus, 55–58

  Orphans of the Sky, 317

  worlds beyond, 61–63

  Oshima, Tairo, 324, 329

  see also exoplanets

  other worlds, question of life on, 6–8

  plasma, 76

  oxidizing environments, 48

  plate techtonics, 93n, 95, 157n,

  oxygen, xxii, 48, 83, 122, 124–125,

  172–173, 275

  138, 161

  Plato, 7

  on Venus, 169

  plenitude, principle of, 7, 366

  ozone, xxii, 124

  pluralism, 30

  plurality of worlds, 19–33, 35

  Packard, Dave, 306

  after the Copernican revolution,

  Paine, Thomas, 33

  19–21

  panspermia, 45–47, 131

  astrotheology, 26–27

  directed, 132, 321

  Fontenelle on other habitable

  Passover, 71

  planets, 21–26

  Passport to the Cosmos: Human

  pluralism goes mainstream, 30–32

  Transformation and Alien

  System of the World, 32–33

  Encounters, 421

  worlds without end, 27–30

  432

  Index

  Pluto, 247–248

  Richman, Jonathan, 289

  atmosphere of, 155

  Rinpoche, Tsoknyi, 384

  Pollack, Jim, 174–1755

  RNA, self-replicating, 115

  Popper, Karl, 115, 255n

  Roswell: Inconvenient Facts and the

  Prime Directive, 320n

  Will to Believe, 421

  prime numbers, 324

  Roswell incident, 265, 306n, 337,

  multiplying together, 325

  339, 367, 370, 421

  Probability One, 143, 147

  Roswell Report: Case Closed, The,

  Project Argus, 307

  421

  Project Blue Boo
k, 339

  Rumi, 115

  Project Mogul, 370

  Rummel, John, xxi, 259

  Project Ozma, 293–294, 302

  Rumsfeld, Donald, 310n

  Project Phoenix, xxvi, 306, 309

  Rushdie, Salman, 34, 135

  proteins, 100, 105–106, 140

  Russell, Bertrand, 254, 374

  as organic catalysts, 101

  Russell, Henry Norris, 43

  Proxmire, William, 305–306, 314n

  pseudoscience, defined, 148

  Saberhagen, Fred, 322n

  Pulitzer Prize, 376, 387

  Sagan, Carl, 52, 54, 109–111, 113,

  Pyrolytic Release experiment, 230,

  193, 225–227, 230, 237–238,

  232

  294, 298, 306, 313, 324, 380,

  406–407, 420

  “quantum zero-point energy power,”

  attacks on, 234

  367

  and the little green men, 233–236

  Quayle, Dan, 59

  “Sagan’s law,” xxxiii

  Queloz, Didier, 208–209, 211, 213

  Sagan, Dorion, 267n

  Quiet Invasion, The, 135

  SAIC, 368

  St. Augustine, 15

  radiation

  Saint-Denis, 23, 206–207

  on Europa, 201

  Salida, Colorado, 340

  infrared, 160–161

  San Luis Valley, Colorado, 340–348,

  on Io, 285

  356, 383–384

  Rare Earth, 143–144, 147, 215, 237

  Sands of Mars, The, 41

  Rare Earth Hypothesis, 34, 145,

  Saturn, see Titan

  390

  saucer sightings, xxvi, 334–357

  rate equation, 402

  inviting, 346–347, 383

  Raytheon, 368

  ubiquity of, 334–336

  Reagan, Ronald, 368

  Schiaparelli, Giovanni, 37–38

  real science, 252–265

  Schweickart, Russell, 410

  natural philosophy, 254–256

  science fiction writers, 151

  out of the neutral zone, 256–262

  Science magazine, 43, 153, 196, 211,

  subjectivity of the search, 262–265

  221, 229

  weird science, 252–254

  Science News, 189

  reducing environments, 48–49

  Scientific Advisory Panel on

  relativity, 313

  Unidentified Flying Objects,

  religious texts, 85

  338–339

  responsibility, 195

  scientific thought about ET life, 67–286

  “reverse engineering,” 270, 367

  astrobiology, 237–251

  ribozymes, 113

  childhood, 115–134

  Index

  433

  Earth birth, 88–96

  Skeptical Enquirer, 148, 350

  exoplanets, 205–220

  Sojourner, xix, 241

  the greatest story ever told, 69–87

  solar power, 137–138

  growing up with Europa, 191–204

  solar system, 165

  life itself, 97–114

  Solar System Exploration

  life on the fringe, 221–236

  Subcommittee (SSES) of NASA,

  the lives of planets, 150–166

  246, 250n, 361

  living worlds, 266–286

  Song of Myself, 69

  Venus and Mars, 167–190

  Southwest Research Institute, xxxiv

  Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence

  special relativity, theory of, 312

  (SETI), xxvi–xxvii, 11, 20, 65,

  spectroscopy, 36

  141, 392, 413–415, 420, 421

  Spirit, xix, xxvi

  optical, 323

  spirits from the vasty deep, 3–18, 416

  pioneers in, 226

  and Kepler’s laws, 10–14

  radio, 323

  and a planet-hopping Jesus, 15–18

  SETI Institute, 200

  question of life on other worlds,

  sounds of silence, 289–309

  6–8

  “Searching for Interstellar

  and revolutions in astronomy, 8–10

  Communications,” 290

  stories about aliens, 3–6

  Second Astrobiology Science

  and the telescope, 14

  Conference, 309

  spiritual machines, age of, 399

  Seinfeld, Jerry, xxix

  spontaneous generation, 45

  selection, observational, 213–214

  spores, drifting between star systems,

  “self-destruction hypothesis,” 319,

  131

  396, 399

  Sputnik, 335

  sentience, 402

  Squyres, Steve, xix–xx

  SETI, see Search for ExtraTerrestrial

  SSES, see Solar System Exploration

  Intelligence

  Subcommittee

  SETI@home, 308, 397

  Stapledon, Olaf, 405

  SETI League, Project Argus, 307

  Star Trek, 29, 119, 265, 320n

  Shakespeare, William, 3

  “Starman,” 310

  Shapley, Harlow, 43, 149

  Stranger in a Strange Land, 41

  Shklovskii, Iosif, 226, 301–303, 305,

  Strategic Defense Initiative, 368

  398, 420

  Streptococcus bacteria, 130

  Shostak, Seth, xxvi–xxvii

  Struve, Otto, 294

  Shuch, Paul, 307

  Sturgeon, Theodore, 109

  Siberian permafrost, life in, 129

  sulfate salts, xx

  significance of Earth life, 135–149

  sulfur, 83

  old and new views of, 139–141

  sulfur dioxide, 161, 276

  preferences, 148–149

  liquid, 284

  rare earth, 143–148

  sulfuric acid, 204

  reading between the lines, 135–138

  Sun, 93, 95

  to whom, 141–143

  Sun-centered worldview, 9, 12

  Simon, Benjamin, 377

  Sun Ra, 205

  sin, 15

  Surveyor 3, 130

  singularities, 85

  suspending disbelief, 365

  Sinton, William, 43

  symbiosis, 119–120

  size criterion, 275, 277

  synthetic fractals, 272

  434

  Index

  Tarter, Jill, 306, 309

  USA Today, 184

  Tau Ceti, 293

  Ute Indians, 343

  techno prophets, 318

  techtonics, see plate techtonics

  Valles Marineris, 184

  Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre, 127, 129,

  Venera, 56, 57, 152

  224, 397, 412

  Venter, Craig, 329n

  telekinesis, 332

  Venus, xviii, 56, 158, 167–190, 247

  teleological reasoning, 21, 36

  atmosphere of, 161

  Tempier, Etienne, 15

  discoveries about, 170–175

  terrestrial environments, extreme, xxix

  Galilei’s discoveries about, 14

  Terrestrial Planet Finder mission, 218

  holding water, 167–170

  Tesla, Nikola, 51, 291

  possibility of life on, xviii, 283

  thermal evolution, 156

  a survivor, 176

  Thompson, Reid, 110–112, 278, 324n

  Venus Revealed: A New Look Below

  Thomson, William, 46

  the Clouds of Our Mysterious

  Time magazine, 233

  Twin Planet, 281, 418

  Tipler, Frank, 314n

  Vernadsky, Vladimir, 123, 223–224,

  Titan, xxvi, 61

  397, 419r />
  possibility of life on, 283

  Very Large Array, 307

  To Utopia and Back, 232

  vesibles, formation of, 116

  Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin, 225, 317, 409

  Viking, 54–55, 181–182, 227–228

  Turing, Alan, 391

  biology package for, 228–233,

  “Turing test,” 391

  267

  2001: A Space Odyssey, 20, 52, 238n,

  Vishniac, Wolf, 227–228

  304, 317, 406

  volcanic vents, xxiv

  2010: Odyssey Two, 191, 197

  life in, 130, 200

  Types I, II, III civilizations, 302–303,

  Von Neumann, John, 318

  313

  Von Neumann machines, 318, 322n,

  361

  U2, 88, 167

  Voyager, 29, 62, 192, 196

  ufology, 338

  Voyager 2, 58, 192

  UFOs

  belief in, 6, 65, 331

  Wallace, Alfred R., 43–44

  “extraterrestrial hypothesis” for,

  War of the Worlds, The, 41, 289n

  355

  Ward, Peter, 143, 147, 215

  literature on, 420

  water, 161, 177, 200, 262

  see also saucer sightings

  liquid, 163, 200

  unconstrained numbers, 299

  planetary, 93

  Universal Natural History and Theory

  polar properties of, 263

  of the Heavens, 27, 29

  Weiler, Ed, 221, 361

  Universe, Life, Mind, 226, 301

  Weinberger, Ronald, 404

  Unknown Intellectual Forces of the

  Welles, Orson, 289

  Universe, The, 225

  Wells, H. G., 41–42, 289n

  Uranus, 58

  “Where the Streets Have No Name,”

  discovery of, 31

  167

  Urban VIII, Pope, 16

  Whewell, William, 34–35

  Urey, Harold, 49, 110, 113, 221

  Whipple, Fred, 52

  U.S. Army Extraterrestrial Retrieval

  Whitman, Walt, 69

  Team, 367

  Wilford, John Noble, 212

  Index

  435

  William of Occam, 107

  X-Files, The, 237, 307n

  Wired, 394

  Xenophanes, 97

  Wizard of Oz, The, 205

  Wolf Trap, 227–228

  Yokoo, Hiromitsu, 324, 329

  Wolff, Christian, 27

  World Wide Web, 397

  Zahnle, Kevin, 190

  Worlds in the Making: The Evolution

  Zettel, Sarah, 135

  of the Universe, 47

  “zoo hypothesis,” 320–322

  Wow! signal, 307

  Zubrin, Bob, 259–260

  Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, 370

  zygotes, 122

  About the Author

  David Grinspoon is principal scientist in the Department of Space

  Studies at the Southwest Research Institute, and adjunct professor of

  Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences at the University of Colorado. His

  previous book, Venus Revealed, was a Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist. An adviser for NASA on space exploration strategy, he lectures

  widely and has appeared on numerous television and radio programs.

  His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Astronomy, Nature, Science, Scientific American, Natural History, and The Sciences.

 

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