"There are many reasons to update a textbook, the most important of which is that it gets out of date and at its core it should be research-led. Astrochemistry and Astrobiology have advanced significantly as fields driven by some truly remarkable planetary exploration science and astronomy. The Cassini-Huygens mission to the Saturnian moon Titan, hinted at in the first edition, sent data with extraordinary detail that I could not resist an extended review of this hydrocarbon world. Similarly, the Mars rovers have now ...
Read More
"There are many reasons to update a textbook, the most important of which is that it gets out of date and at its core it should be research-led. Astrochemistry and Astrobiology have advanced significantly as fields driven by some truly remarkable planetary exploration science and astronomy. The Cassini-Huygens mission to the Saturnian moon Titan, hinted at in the first edition, sent data with extraordinary detail that I could not resist an extended review of this hydrocarbon world. Similarly, the Mars rovers have now explored 31.81 miles on the Martian surface (Spirit 4.80 miles and Opportunity 27.04 miles) at a sedate 12 miles per hour digging up some interesting finds and consequences. We have also flown by Pluto for the first time with the closest approach on July 14th 2015 - changing Pluto from a 4 pixel-world on the Hubble Space Telescope to a mysterious non-planet. Visits to asteroids, revisiting Mercury, the discovery of the Higgs boson, landing on a comet, the increased energy of the Large Hadron Collider, dark matter, Martian meteorites - a massively impressive list that is a tribute to human endeavour and raw curiosity. It's important to track down these stories and I have now referenced them throughout the book; not exhaustive of course"--
Read Less
