The current approach to the study of the origin of life and to the search for life elsewhere is based on two assumptions. First, life is a purely physical phenomenon closely linked to specific environmental conditions. From this, we hypothesise that when these environmental conditions are met, life will arise and evolve. If these assumptions are valid, the search for life elsewhere should be a matter of mapping what we know about the range of environments in which life can exist, and then simply trying to find these environments elsewhere. Second, life can be clearly distinguished from the non-living world.

For many years, planetary science has been taught as part of the astronomy curriculum, from a very physics-based perspective, and from the framework of a tour of the Solar System – body by body. Over the past decades, however, spacecraft exploration and related laboratory research on extraterrestrial materials have given us a new understanding of planets and how they are shaped by geologic processes.

Encyclopedia of Earth and Space Science is a twovolume reference intended to complement the material typically taught in high school Earth science and astronomy classes, and in introductory college geology, atmospheric sciences, and astrophysics courses. The substance reflects the fundamental concepts and principles that underlie the content standards for Earth and space science identified by the National Committee on science Education standards and Assessment of the National Research Council for grades 9–12.

The Moon held little interest for most scientists after its basic astronomic properties had been determined and before direct exploration appeared likely (Wright and others, 1963; Baldwin, 1978). Speculations about its internal structure, composition, and origin were only broadly constrained by cosmochemical data from meteorites and solar spectra, and by astronomic data about its size, shape, motions, and surficial properties (Urey, 1951, 1952; Kuiper, 1954). Most investigators who were active before the space age began in 1957 believed that significant new advances in lunar knowledge required acquisition of additional data.

The flight of the Mariner 2 spacecraft past Venus in December 1962 marked the start of a new era in the exploration of the solar system. At that time our knowledge of the terrestrial planets other than Earth (Mercury, Venus, and Mars) was largely astronomical in nature.

Книга предназначена учащимся 6-7 классов, интересующихся астрономией. В книге даны краткие сведения о звездах, Луне, Солнце, изложены способы ориентировки по небесным светилам, а также рекомендации по их наблюдениям с учетом знаний учащихся, полученных на уроках природоведения, географии, истории

The giant outer planets—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune (Figure 1.1)—are by far the largest planetary bodies in the solar system and together comprise 99.56% of the planetary mass. Although very far from the Earth, the enormous physical size of Jupiter and Saturn meant that these planets were easily visible to the ancients. However, the other two “giants”, Uranus and Neptune, are significantly smaller and so much farther from the Earth that they were unknown before the advent of telescopes, although Uranus is in fact just visible to the naked eye. Uranus was discovered by accident in 1781 by William Herschel (1738-1822) (later Sir William Herschel). Perturbations in the observed orbit of Uranus led John Couch Adams (1819-1892) and Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier (1811-1877) to independently predict the presence of a further planet, and Neptune was subsequently discovered close to its predicted position by Johann Gottfried Galle (1812-1910) in 1846. The mean observable properties of the outer planets are listed in Table 1.1. <...>

Предоставлены комплексные методы и результаты исследований физических процессов и их взаимодействий в системе ближнего космоса и геосфер в условиях повышенной изменчивости солнечной , циклонической и сейсмической активности. Подводятся итоги длительных наблюдений. Разработаны методы системного анализа. Созданы модели нелинейных и релаксационных колебаний с учетом эредитарных и фрактальных эффектов. Особое внимание уделяется аномальным и катастрофическим явлениям. Обсуждаются различные  аспекты проблемы изменения климата. Отдельные разделы посвящены прогнозам магнитных бурь и электромагнитным, акустическим и ионосферным предвестникам землетрясений. Рассматриваются различные типы возмущений в такой системе

The promise of the Spacefaring Age - the era of human activities in space - is that it will link human expertise to the unlimited resources of space. When that linkage is established, the people of Earth will be supplied with an abundance of energy and material resources from space; the solar system will be explored in depth; human settlements will be established on multiple planets and moons; and voyages to the stars will be undertaken. The present “closed Earth” mindset - of limits to human potential related to the depletion of Earth’s resources and the vital need to preserve Earth’s environment - will be replaced by a much grander “open space’’ vision of broad-scale human advancements based upon access to unlimited resources and the opening of endless frontiers. <...>