This is assignment is meant for you to do independent research for each of the questions to help become better aware of some relatively recent advances in solar system research as it pertains to what we think we know about the terrestrial planets, including our own.

There are lots of web resources available on each of the topics below and its best to consult multiple sources of information in providing your answers.

1. Dawn is the name of a recently launched NASA Mission. Summarize the science goals of Dawn and explain why this mission is fairly unique.
   
   
2. Summarize some of the evidence for the existence of volcanoes on the surface of Venus and explain how new discoveries by the European Space Agency's mission, The Venus Express, suggest that Venus and the Earth may be more similar than previously thought.
   
   
3. In the last few years, scientists have discovered that the martian polar caps have more water ice in them and less frozen carbon dioxide than previously thought. Summarize some of the implications of this result in terms of our view of the geologic history of Mars.
   
   
4. Find out how the population of near-earth asteroids is formed. What is the expected frequency of impacts of these objects on the Earth?
   
   
5. A dramatic new view of the geologic history of the Earth has arisen in the last few years. This view is quite controversial and is known as "Snowball Earth." Summarize what this theory is and what is some of the evidence for and against this hypothesis.