More than thirty years ago Arthur C. Clarke forecast the possibility of satellite communications. Now he advances "virtual reality" into "virtual exploration," and shows how human beings might become the first Martians of science fact, not fiction, by "terraforming" the desert landscape of Mars into our first settlement in space.The technology to reach Mars is in place but the means to make its environment habitable may seem as fantastic as flying machines once did. Reminding us that innovation has always been propelled by our dreams of the future, and arguing always from established science, Clarke considers each element of the puzzle in turn, from getting to Mars in the first place to providing it with a wholly new ecology. Most exciting of all he portrays a terraformed Mars in breathtaking images he has generated on the computer.Taking as his starting point the Martian peak of Olympus, the highest mountain in the solar system, Clarke creates detailed "virtual landscapes" of the Martian surface and "preconstructs" the changes that would occur as water began to flow and vegetation to thrive.A stimulating thought experiment on a grand scale, founded in real scientific possibility, this book challenges us to reimagine our future in the solar system. Read Less