Exoplanets in Our Backyard: What Can We Learn from the Terrestrial Planetary Bodies? -- James Head

The terrestrial planetary bodies, the Earth, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars, provide geologic records that hold clues to the origin and evolution of primary and secondary planetary atmospheres on exoplanets. What stochastic and evolutionary events shaped the nature of primary atmospheres, and what can we learn from the preserved geological record about the nature of secondary atmospheres and planetary climate evolution? How can this information help further define the interpretive parameter space for understanding the nature of exoplanetary atmospheres?  Lessons learned from each terrestrial planetary body, outstanding questions, and potential results from upcoming missions are reviewed for their relevance to understanding both terrestrial-planet-like exoplanets, and for how exoplanetary observations can assist in the current and future understanding of the inner Solar System.