Destination Mars: New Explorations of the Red Planet Kindle Edition

by Rod Pyle (Author), Robert Manning (Foreword)

43 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-1616145897

ISBN-10: 1616145897

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In the next decade, NASA, by itself and in collaboration with the European Space Agency, is planning a minimum of four separate missions to Mars. Clearly, exciting times are ahead for Mars exploration. This is an insider’s look into the amazing projects now being developed here and abroad to visit the legendary red planet. Drawing on his contacts at NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the author provides stunning insights into the history of Mars exploration and the difficulties and dangers of traveling there.

After an entertaining survey of the human fascination with Mars over the centuries, the author offers an introduction to the geography, geology, and water processes of the planet. He then briefly describes the many successful missions by NASA and others to that distant world. But failure and frustration also get their due. As the author makes clear, going to Mars is not, and never will be, easy. Later in the book, he describes in detail what each upcoming mission will involve.

In the second half of the book, he offers the reader a glimpse inside the world of Earth-based "Mars analogs," places on Earth where scientists are conducting research in hostile environments that are eerily "Martian." Finally, he constructs a probable scenario of a crewed expedition to Mars, so that readers can see how earlier robotic missions and human Earth simulations will fit together.

All this is punctuated by numerous firsthand interviews with some of the finest Mars explorers of our day, including Stephen Squyres (Mars Exploration Rover), Bruce Murray (former director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory), and Peter Smith (chief of the Mars Phoenix Lander and the upcoming OSIRIS-REx missions). These stellar individuals give us an insider’s view of the difficulties and rewards of roaming the red planet.

The author’s infectious enthusiasm and firsthand knowledge of the international space industry combine to make a uniquely appealing and accessible book about Mars.

From the Trade Paperback edition.

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Product details

File Size: 17541 KB
Print Length: 351 pages
Publisher: Prometheus Books (April 24, 2012)
Publication Date: April 24, 2012
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B00C4B2JPW
Text-to-Speech: Enabled

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Not Enabled

Word Wise: Enabled
Lending: Not Enabled
Screen Reader: Supported

Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,229,745 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #272 in Books > Science & Math > Astronomy & Space Science > Mars
- #627 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Science > Astronomy & Space Science > Aeronautics & Astronautics
- #798 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Science > Astronomy & Space Science > Astrophysics & Space Science

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Good, but informal style can be jarring

May 20, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This is a breezy summary of Mars exploration. Good points - interviews with some key scientists and engineers, and the overall sweep of the story which nicely captures some of the Mariner 4 and 9 stuff which often gets forgotten. Disappointments - some technical errors (not uncommon when a work of this scope is written by a journalist, too much secondary source material repeated without being understood : e.g. Viking seismometer retention was a fusible wire, not a pyro as stated; Mariner 4 petals used solar radiation pressure, not the solar wind; HiRISE has a mirror, not a lens, etc. etc.) and a literary style which is, charitably, rather informal. The endless cliches and informal analogies may help pitch the book to the popular market, but become annoying (and in fact may render the book near-incomprehensible to readers outside the USA). If you can grit your teeth through the style and dont mind the odd inaccuracy, it's a fun read.

Comment

Spiritualastronomer

Fascinating and highly informative!

May 11, 2012

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Ever since I saw Mars, "up close and personal" in August 2003, when the Earth and Mars were closer to each other than they had been since 1924, I've been fascinated by the "Red Planet." However, as a non-scientist, I had found very few books that were not only informative but fairly easy and fun to read. Rod Pyle's book, "Destination Mars," hooked me from the very first page, and I read it avidly in three days. The section of beautiful colored pictures in the center of the book alone was worth the price of the book.

According to Pyle, "Exploring Mars is a bit like doing brain surgery through a mile-long soda straw. At an average distance of fifty million miles from Earth, with a one-way radio message time of twelve to twenty minutes, roving the dry, treacherous surface requires the utmost in planning and careful execution. One false move can end a mission in seconds, and there are rarely many options to correct a mistake. That is why the people who dare seek the truth about Mars are so remarkable. This is the story of human striving, from early times through tomorrow, to discover what makes Mars tick."

Pyle's well-researched book begins with a short history of our beliefs about various forms of life on Mars, including artificially-built canals, intelligent Martians, and the wide variety of science fiction writings by authors such as Edgar Rice Burroughs and H.G. Wells. From there, he delves into the many missions to Mars, beginning with Mariner 4 in the 1960s, and ends with a fascinating but fairly plausible scenario about a human-crewed mission to Mars in 2029. He intersperses each of those highly informative and well-titled chapters with information about the men and women responsible for those missions and their human striving to discover what makes the planet tick. According to the author, the whole theme of the Mars exploration program is to "follow the water and to understand the possibility of life on Mars."

To a non-scientific but inquisitive person like myself, Destination Mars is a highly readable and excellent book. Buy it and read it. You won't be sorry.

Comment

Norma Jean Fritz

You never know what you don't know!

May 19, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

A fascinating read about the exploration of Mars by not just the efforts of the USA. A lot more exploration took place than what I knew about -- probably not everyone is as ignorant of the details as me. Information on the Atacama Desert and its likeness to Mars was fascinating.

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A good history of mars exploration to date

March 3, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

A good history of mars exploration to date. Includes commentaries by many of those involved. Not a great deal on where we go from here.

Comment

Great book on Mars exploration

October 2, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This is one of the best books on the Mars explorer projects. Full of facts and inside information only someone who was there could know. This book is worth the money.

Comment

January 8, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Gift for my husband, an ex-JPL employee and close follower of the space program. Much appreciated.

Comment

Sanjay Aggarwal

May 12, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I got this for my nephew who is into space exploration. I also read it and found it to be very well written, informative and extremely interesting. I highly recommend it.

Comment

Rod Pyle loves all things Mars, and it shows

August 9, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Wonderful, fun, informative and intelligent book by a fine writer. Recommended to anyone interested in Mars and/or space travel. Fine job by Rod Pyle.

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