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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What fuel source might be viable within asteroids?

2. What planet in the solar system obviously suffers from a severe greenhouse gas effect?

3. Mars apparently once had what resource?

4. Sagan worries about how societies of what type would handle the technology that could stop Earth-bound asteroids?

5. What process would be critical to terraforming Mars?

Short Essay Questions

1. How could planetary tides pull a small planet apart?

2. What is the purpose of SETI and how does it operate?

3. How well can an asteroid's path be calculated?

4. What is unusual about the surface of Venus?

5. What resources does Sagan believe that carbon asteroids have that make them suitable for human habitation?

6. What is unusual about the ring systems of the planets in our solar system?

7. Why does Sagan believe that America sent men to the moon?

8. Why does Sagan believe it is unlikely that a manned mission to Mars will be carried out in the near future?

9. What major environmental catastrophes does Sagan warn against in Chapter 14, "Exploring Other Worlds and Protecting One"?

10. How is Venus different from Earth?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Sagan discusses the a manned mission to Mars as a desirable first step in extending the human race out beyond the Earth but identifies many practical problems with any proposed plan.

1) Explain why Sagan believes that a manned mission should be sent to the planet Mars.

2) Discuss some of the proposals for such a mission, what their aims would be, and how they would be carried out technically.

3) Describe the practical difficulties that Sagan outlines and how they could be overcome.

Essay Topic 2

Sagan presents a thought experiment in Chapter 5, "Is There Intelligent Life on Earth?" He suggests that the observations that a visiting alien might make of Earth would not necessarily reveal the presence of intelligent life.

1) Discuss the thought experiment that Sagan proposes in Chapter 5, and describe the obvious characteristics of the Earth from the perspective of this visitor.

2) Describe the types of observations a visitor to Earth would have to make in order to determine the presence of intelligent life on the planet.

3) Explain how this thought experiment demonstrates Sagan's point about "missing" important details in the search for life in the solar system.

Essay Topic 3

Terraforming is the process of modifying and entire planet to make it more hospitable for human life.

1) Describe the processes of terraforming that Sagan outlines for Mars and the moon Titan.

2) Discuss the moral aspects of the effort of terraforming, and summarize Sagan's views on the issue.

3) Describe, according to information and arguments from the book, some of the benefits that the human species as a whole would reap through the wholesale terraforming of another planet.

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