Ethical Considerations: The thesis presents the three main threads of thought regarding terraforming – that we should because it is there and man – superior to all other forms of life – wants challenges; that we should not since we are not superior to other forms of life and have no right; and the middle position – that we should be able to terraform Mars only if we clean up our act on Earth first. This is the point of view taken by the author of the thesis.
5 Ways Mars Can Kill You: the essay portion of the thesis is an overview of the research regarding the main obstacles to terraforming Mars and potential solutions.
Storyboard: Depicts the ethical efforts one must achieve before traveling to Mars as well as the process of terraforming – all images in chronological order.
Graphics: A series of Illustrator/Photoshop graphics moves the reader through the problems we have here on Earth that must be solved before terraforming, the process of getting to Mars and the activities involved in making her inhabitable for man.
WIKI: The WIKI showcases thesis material in a more interactive manner. JavaScript animations run throughout the WIKI and the user is able to create posts within the website – which acts as a forum.
Interstellar travel has been one of planet Earth’s grandest achievements in modern history. To send people and entire laboratories beyond Earth’s atmosphere is an unfathomably complex and challenging accomplishment; the logistics and engineering alone took decades to execute, and even now, it remains problematic. The risks involved with space travel are immense: rocket failures such as that in Columbia, hull breaches, or simple miscalculations that may result in numerous deaths and severe casualties. For much of its history, space travel has emphasized practicality, economics, and engineering, leaving little room to design an environment supporting those in orbit. While engineering, finances, and feasibility reign as the highest priorities in space habitation, there is an often overlooked necessity to design environments that better address station inhabitants' mental and behavioral needs.
Assembly theory as a way of defining the biotic/abiotic boundary has been established for molecules, but not yet for crystal structures. This is an assembly algorithm that calculates the complexity of biotic and abiotic minerals in order to constrain the quantitative fundamentals of "life". The calculation utilizes the Hermann-Mauguin space group symmetry and Wyckoff sites of mineral unit cells to calculate the path-building complexity of a crystal structure. 5,644 minerals from the American Mineralogist COD database were run through the algorithm. The five structures with the highest information complexity were a mix of biotic and abiotic minerals, indicating that further calculations on larger datasets would be pertinent. Furthermore, an expansion of the definition of mineral to include biotically synthesized solids would further research efforts aimed at using minerals as possible biomarkers.