The Life on Mars? Course
Dartmouth College offers a course in the Winter, 2003 semester to examine some of
the key questions about Mars. The course is part of the Humanitates Vitae program--
a program designed to examine issues where human biology and other disciplines intersect.
The course covers three major questions:
Why explore Mars?
We'll review how Mars has appeared in literature and culture.
We'll also examine U.S. policy toward space flight, how it was developed, and
what lessons about space exploration can be learned from the Apollo missions to
the Moon.
Has there ever been life on Mars?
We'll look at theories about whether life has
existed on Mars and how "life" should be defined. What is "life" and how would we
know if we found it? Was Mars once a planet like Earth?
Could humans survive the trip to Mars?
What are the human challenges of a
long-duration mission to Mars. Can the psychological and physiological challenges
of this trip be met?
