Moon Hunters: NASA's Remarkable Expeditions to the Ends of the Solar Systems [Paperback]

Jeffrey Kluger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 10, 2001

In "Moon Hunters," bestselling author Jeffrey Kluger tells the thrilling story of some of the most remarkable heavenly bodies known -- the solar system's sixty-five moons -- and the extraordinary people who have explored them all. Chronicling lunar exploration from the first attempts by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to explore our own moon to the triumphant conquest of the outer planets, "Moon Hunters" is an adventure story full of drama, danger, and suspense. While taking the reader on a spellbinding journey to the eerie landscapes of the moons themselves, "Moon Hunters" offers a riveting account of the scientists and spacecraft responsible for unlocking the secrets of the cosmos -- and perhaps of life itself.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Earth's moon is a gray, lifeless place, interesting geologically but perhaps a little disappointing to those of us looking for strange, colorful new worlds. But our moon is only one of more than 60 planetary satellites in the solar system, most of which are entirely unexplored. In Moon Hunters (published in hardcover as Journey Beyond Selene), Jeffrey Kluger chronicles these unsung places and the heroes who explore them: the Jet Propulsion Lab's staff of dedicated adventurers, who build and fly sleek, unmanned spacecraft to investigate other moons. "When astronauts finally did reach the moon," Kluger writes, "the lean, fleet ships of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory had already gone elsewhere."

Why explore the satellites of other planets when the planets themselves remain mysterious? Kluger describes astronomers' first realization that in contrast to the lifeless gas giant Jupiter, its moons were a veritable scientific playground:

There were big moons and small moons, patterned moons and plain moons, brightly colored moons and pasty-pale moons.... There were moons that could have atmospheres, water, and even, perhaps, a spark of internal heat. Put them together, and you had moons that could, in theory, harbor life.

Moon Hunters chronicles the history of a little-understood aspect of humanity's quest to discover new worlds. From the early Ranger orbiters through the incredible journeys of Voyager and Galileo, Kluger gives credit where credit is long overdue. They may not be astronauts, but these space jockeys have the right stuff. --Therese Littleton

Review

Carolyn T. Hughes The New York Times Book Review Entertaining...Kluger does a fine job chronicling...the scientists and engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory [who] are in the business of making the seemingly impossible somehow possible. -- Review

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1 Touchsto edition (July 10, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684865599
• ISBN-13: 978-0684865591
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,635,237 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book - The best account of US Unmanned space exporation, April 18, 2007

By 

G. Jablonski (Alpharetta, GA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Moon Hunters: NASA's Remarkable Expeditions to the Ends of the Solar Systems (Paperback)

Don't overlook this book. It is extremely well written and the content held my attention from beginning to end. It is the best account I have ever read regarding the US unmanned space program from the early space race through the Apollo era. The book provides fine accounts of the people and technology involved in the unmanned program, particularly the contributions of the scientists at JPL. I'm awestruck at the technology invented by these scientists and their scientific discoveries. The JPL was often ignored in the shadow of the more popular manned space program. Moreover, I believe the discoveries discussed in "Moon Hunters" contribute more to space science than the manned space program. The book is easy to read and has extremely intersting information about the planets and moons of our Solar System. Perhaps more remarkable is how the JPL scientists were able to navigate unmanned craft in deep space with such great accuracy to "visit" the many moons of the solar system.

4.0 out of 5 stars Easy read of JPL's history, November 6, 2011

By 

Brian Laskey "ammianus" (MA, USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Moon Hunters: NASA's Remarkable Expeditions to the Ends of the Solar Systems (Paperback)

This was a pretty easy read about the history of Jet Propulsion Laboratory, especially the unmanned missions to the different moons in the solar system.

I couldn't put the book down when I started it. I loved the "behind the scenes" view into the workings of the JPL project teams, and how they dealt with failures as much as their successes. That and the way that each new discovery is described it gives a very differnent perspective on events you might have read about in a textbook or seen the standard pictures of a million times. I liked reading about the not so-well known events like the fact that Voyager 1 only went to Titan but was then sent outside the plane of the solar system due to the unique orbital encounter with Titan.

My only problem is that the copy of the book I had ended with the Galileo mission to Jupiter, the Cassini mission was still enroute. Would have liked to read more about the missions to Mars as well as Cassini and any future missions, such as DAWN, Deep Impact, etc..

Maybe time for a sequel?

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book..., November 15, 2007

By 

Bruce Lilley (California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Moon Hunters: NASA's Remarkable Expeditions to the Ends of the Solar Systems (Paperback)

This was an excellent survey of the USA's unmanned missions to explore the solar system. Kluger wisely chose the Ranger program to delve into detail for the first American space program, and his description of the problems of getting a Ranger to the Moon and to fulfill its duty (the first six missions were failures) were a great way to highlight the later successes of the Viking, Mariner and especially, Voyager 1 and 2 missions to the outer planets. He gives an entertaining, if somewhat melodramatic, view of the science and human factors involved in developing space programs. The latter part of the book gives emphasis to the Voyager mission, a good choice to contrast with the early failures of Ranger.

It's not stated directly, but the book ultimately makes a great case for the further use of unmanned missions as the most cost-effective way to do scientific exploration in space, as opposed to the stunts of manned missions to the Moon and Mars. The present success of the Cassini mission to Saturn and the Spirit and Opportunity rovers on Mars is making the case stronger still, that unmanned missions are the way to go if you really want to do science in space.