Free Republic

A set of seven 'planetary parks' have been proposed for the conservation of the martian environment by two European scientists. Each of the parks contain representative features of the landscape on Mars. The Polar Park would protect the martian ice cap; Olympus Park would make the largest volcano in the solar system, Olympus Mons, safe from commercialism and exploitation. Charles Cockell, a Britich microbiologist, and Gerda Horneck, a German astrobiologist, point out that many parks on Earth were established to protect their natural beauty, not just wildlife. "It is the right of every person to stand and stare across the...