Trailblazing Mars
NASA's Next Giant Leap
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- $24.99
Publisher Description
Travel to and from Mars has long been a staple of science fiction. And yet the hurdles--both technological and financial--have kept human exploration of the red planet from becoming a reality. Trailblazing Mars offers an inside look at the current efforts to fulfill this dream.
Award-winning journalist Pat Duggins examines the extreme new challenges that will be faced by astronauts on the journey there and back. They'll have to grow their own food, find their own water, and solve their own problems and emergencies without hope of rescue or re-supply. Mars travel will be more challenging and hazardous than settling the Old West--but we were not witness to the fate of the Donner Party on CNN.
Can the technological hurdles be cleared? Will the public accept the very real possibility of astronaut death? Should a mission be publicly or privately funded? Is the science worth the cost? These and many other questions are answered in Duggins's exciting new book.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Right from the start Duggins (Final Countdown) engages readers with the social context of space exploration. While the existing knowledge of Mars and the challenges of sending a human being to the red planet are the focus of the book, Duggins also provides an enjoyable, illustrated history of the space program, informing us that "The debate over the human risk and the breathtaking cost of sending astronauts to Mars... goes back even farther than the first launch of Shuttle Columbia in 1981." Readers will relive the program's tragedies, triumphs, and frustrations as Duggins details the particular challenges of life on Mars, drawing comparisons to pioneers of America's westward expansion and the scientists who spent two years in the Biosphere. From engineering fresh water to growing food in a contained, limited environment, a human trip to Mars is a complicated undertaking made more challenging by the length of the journey. With Mars exploration proposed for the 2030s, Duggins's timely and engrossing study will interest explorers and armchair astronauts alike, and remind readers of the excitement of outer space. Photos.
