Christopher McKay explained

Christopher McKay
Nationality:American
Education:Physics, Florida Atlantic University Mechanical Engineering, Florida Atlantic UniversityPhD in astrogeophysics, University of Colorado (1982)
Occupation:Planetary Scientist, NASA Ames Research Center
Organization:Planetary SocietyMars Society

Christopher P. McKay (born 1954)[1] is an American planetary scientist at NASA Ames Research Center, studying planetary atmospheres, astrobiology, and terraforming. McKay majored in physics at Florida Atlantic University, where he also studied mechanical engineering, graduating in 1975,[2] [3] and received his PhD in astrogeophysics from the University of Colorado in 1982.[4] [5] [6]

Career

McKay has done research on planetary atmospheres, particularly the atmospheres of Titan[7] [8] and Mars, and on the origin and evolution of life.[9] He is a co-investigator on the Huygens probe, the Mars Phoenix lander, and the Mars Science Laboratory. He also performed field research on extremophiles, in such locations as Death Valley, the Atacama Desert,[10] Axel Heiberg Island, and ice-covered lakes in Antarctica. McKay is the Principal Investigator of the proposed Icebreaker Life astrobiology mission to Mars.[11] In 2015 he received the Nevada Medal.

He was a member of the board of directors of the Planetary Society and also works with the Mars Society, and has written and spoken on space exploration and terraforming.[12] [13] [14] He is also an adviser for the Microbes Mind Forum.[15]

Ethics of terraforming

McKay advocates a moderately biocentric position in the ethics of terraforming, arguing that we must thoroughly explore a planet such as Mars first to discover whether there is any microbial life before taking first steps toward terraforming, and that if indigenous alien life is found in an obscure niche or dormant on Mars, we should remove all Earth life and alter Mars to support the global spread of this alien life on Mars.[16] [17] He has held a series of public debates with Robert Zubrin, who advocates a moderately anthropocentric position on the ethics of terraforming.[18] [19]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 5382 McKay (1991 JR2) . ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/. 2 March 2021 . McKay. Discovered 1991 May 8 by R.H.McNaugth at Siding Spring. Named for Christopher P. McKay (b. 1954), sapce scientist and exobiologist ....
  2. Edward Silverman, "Scientists' Paths To Eminence: What Are The Turning Points?", The Scientist, Vol:6, #2, 20 January 1992.
  3. Web site: Christopher McKay Academic Influence . 2022-07-20 . academicinfluence.com . en.
  4. https://web.archive.org/web/20080916051905/http://quest.nasa.gov/projects/spacewardbound/atacama2006/bios/Chris_McKay.html Chris McKay Planetary Scientist - NASA Quest
  5. Web site: Many Worlds Symposium . 2012-08-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121029003330/http://humbleapproach.templeton.org/Many_Worlds/ . 2012-10-29 . dead .
  6. Web site: Mckay . 2022-07-20 . National Space Grant Foundation . en-US.
  7. e.g. Photochemically Driven Collapse of Titan's Atmosphere, Ralph D. Lorenz, Christopher P. McKay, and Jonathan I. Lunine, Science, Vol. 275 pp. 642–644, 31 Jan. 1997
  8. Web site: Christopher McKay . 2022-07-20 . Science Friday . en-US.
  9. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/276/5311/390 Organic Synthesis in Experimental Impact Shocks
  10. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/306/5700/1289c Microbial Life in the Atacama Desert
  11. The Icebreaker Life Mission to Mars: A Search for Biomolecular Evidence for Life . Astrobiology . April 5, 2013 . Christopher P. McKay . Carol R. Stoker . Brian J. Glass . Arwen I. Davé . Alfonso F. Davila . Jennifer L. Heldmann . Margarita M. Marinova . Alberto G. Fairen . Richard C. Quinn . Kris A. Zacny . Gale Paulsen . Peter H. Smith . Victor Parro . Dale T. Andersen . Michael H. Hecht . Denis Lacelle . Wayne H. Pollard . 21073805 . 13 . 4 . 334–353 . 10.1089/ast.2012.0878 . 23560417. 2013AsBio..13..334M .
  12. Haynes . R. H. . McKay . C. P. . 1992 . The Implantation of Life on Mars: Feasibility and Motivation . Adv. Space Res. . 12 . 4. 133–140 . 10.1016/0273-1177(92)90167-v. 11538133 . 1992AdSpR..12d.133H .
  13. C. P. McKay and M. M. Marinova, "The Physics, Biology and Environmental Ethics of Making Mars Habitable", Astrobiology 1, 89–109 (2001).
  14. Marinova . M. M. . McKay . C. P. . Hashimoto . H. . 2005 . Radiative-Convective Model of Warming Mars using Artificial Super-Greenhouse Gases . J. Geophys. Res. . 110 . E3 . E03002 . 10.1029/2004JE002306 . 2005JGRE..110.3002M. free .
  15. http://microbes-mind.net/advisers.html Microbes Mind Forum – Advisors
  16. C. P. McKay, "Let's Put Martian Life First", The Planetary Report, XXI(4), 4–5 (2001).
  17. Web site: McKay. Chris. Planetary Ecosynthesis on Mars: Restoration Ecology and Environmental Ethics. December 2007. 2017-01-04. https://web.archive.org/web/20200401190045/https://esseacourses.strategies.org/EcosynthesisMcKay2008ReviewAAAS.pdf. 2020-04-01. dead.
  18. C. P. McKay and R. M. Zubrin, "Do Indigenous Martian Bacteria have Precedence over Human Exploration?" in On to Mars: Colonizing a New World (pp. 177–182)
  19. R. M. Zubrin and C. P. McKay, "A World for the Winning: The Exploration and Terraforming of Mars", The Planetary Report, XII(5), 16–19 (1992).

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