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Check on the status of the world's first Martian settlement simulation, taking place on Devon Island's Haughton Crater, in the Canadian high arctic. Researchers are there, in one of the most inhospitable regions of the earth, to learn how to live and work on another planet. The prototype habitat is a key element in current human Mars mission planning. The crew has set up Webcams throughout their environment, and the pictures refresh every few minutes. World Wide Web: http://arctic.marssociety.org

NASA is displaying images of the eruption of Mt. Aetna in Sicily, along with many other geographical observations at its Earth Observatory site. Satellite and spectroradiometer images from Terra, launched in December 1999, take pictures of the Earth at nine angles simultaneously, using nine separate cameras pointed forward, downward and backward along its flight path. The images of the earth's surface and atmosphere are part of the latest research into hurricanes, volcanoes and ocean temperatures. A current animation explores the link between ocean warmth and vegetation growth on land across a span of a dozen years. Primarily set up for scientific research, the site's images are nevertheless fascinating and beautiful, showing Earth as a living entity, constantly changing. World Wide Web: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov

Space buffs should like A Space Library Web site, a NASA/JPL/Caltech "spyglass on the cosmos." The site offers "a mixture of space-related images and programs, which will help you visualize the Solar System and NASA space missions using computer graphics." Interesting options include surface maps of the planets and satellites, a solar system simulator where you can specify a planet and the view to be simulated, and artwork of the solar system reportedly composed for JPL/NASA missions. Lots of color on this site. World Wide Web: http://samadhi.jpl.nasa.gov

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