Western planetary cartographer’s Mars atlas recognized as top scholarly work

Renowned Western University planetary cartographer Philip Stooke has received high praise for his Mars atlas by the American Library Association’s Choice Reviews magazine.

Each year, Choice creates a list of publications reflecting the best in scholarly titles, attracting attention from the academic library community. The International Atlas of Mars Exploration – The First Five Decades 1953 to 2003 was named as one of the Outstanding Academic Titles of 2013.

A comprehensive account of all Mars exploration to date, the atlas is the first of its kind and includes a great deal of previously unpublished information. Stooke’s maps are featured throughout the atlas while he annotates the activities of each successive spacecraft to visit Mars. The first volume covers the historic Viking missions, which famously landed on Mars in 1976, and many earlier and later missions.

Stooke, who is cross appointed at Western’s Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Social Science, is currently working on a second volume of the atlas, The International Atlas of Mars Exploration – Spirit to Curiosity: 2004 to 2014, which is set to be released in late 2015. This second volume covers the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, the latter just reaching its 10th anniversary of operations on Mars, and the more recent Phoenix and Curiosity missions. Stooke maintains a constantly updated route map for the Curiosity rover on the online forum www.unmannedspaceflight.com

For more information on The International Atlas of Mars Exploration – The First Five Decades 1953 to 2003, please visit:

https://communications.uwo.ca/media/releases/2012/October/western_planetary_cartographer_launches_mars_atlas.html

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