Includes online resources and index.

In the last several decades, the United States and a handful of other countries have sent a fleet of orbiters, landers, and rovers to Mars. We've learned much about the Red Planet. No longer a place of pure imagination, Mars is a real place that we can explore. As our knowledge and technology grows, the question naturally arises : can people someday set foot on Mars? Can we live and work there in cities? Is it possible to transform that hostile, alien planet so that it is like our own earth? These questions are no longer flights of fancy. We have the desire and the technology to colonize Mars. The journey will be filled with danger, and there are many problems to be solved. Despite the hard road ahead, scientists around the world today are working to solve these roadblocks. The future is now.,From page 4