Methane on Mars: Current observations, interpretation, and future plans Preface

Sushil K. Atreya (1) , Olivier Witasse (2) , Vincent F. Chevrier (3) , Francois Forget (4) , Paul R. Mahaffy (5) , P. Buford Price (6) , Christopher R. Webster (7) , Richard W. Zurek (7)

1 AOSS - Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences [Ann Arbor]
2 ESTEC - European Space Research and Technology Centre
3 W.M. Keck Laboratory for Space and Planetary Simulation [Fayetteville]
4 LMD - Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (UMR 8539)
5 GSFC - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
6 Department of Physics [Berkeley]
7 JPL - Jet Propulsion Laboratory

An ESA-ASI organized workshop on the Martian methane brought together nearly one hundred enthusiastic participants to ESRIN, Frascati, Italy from world over – two thirds from Europe, one-fifth from the US, and the rest from other places. The program comprised thirteen hours of oral presentations, two hours of posters, and, most noteworthy, about five hours of discussions, over a three-day period from November 25th through the 27th, 2009. The topics cast a wide net, ranging from earth-based and space observations to their implications for potential geology and biology, from models and supporting laboratory measurements to future exploration of Mars. This is a synopsis of the main themes covered at the Workshop, many of which are discussed in detail in peerreviewed papers in this special issue.

Domaines: Planétologie

Sushil K. Atreya, Olivier Witasse, Vincent F. Chevrier, Francois Forget, Paul R. Mahaffy, et al.. Methane on Mars: Current observations, interpretation, and future plans Preface. Planetary and Space Science, 2011, 59 (2-3), pp.133-136. ⟨10.1016/j.pss.2010.10.008⟩. ⟨hal-01132274⟩