▷▷▷▷▷ Check Out Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in Space [UK Edition]

Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in Space [UK Edition] Review

Having read Stiff and Spook, I was already familiar with Roach's humorous approach to science, and the topic of life in zero gravity intrigued me. When I first picked up Packing for Mars, I diligently got my highlighter out to mark informative or amusing passages so I could regale friends with my new found knowledge. The first 4 chapters were engaging and funny. I have to give Roach credit for one of the funniest lines I've ever read: "[Snake-necked turtles] are, like post-war Nazis, native to Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil." There were some very technical chapters toward the middle of the book that left me interested, but not as enthusiastic as I had been at the beginning. I liked the chapters addressing hygiene and its many complications and test subjects confined to bed for long periods of time to determine the body's reaction to inactivity. I don't recommend reading the chapter about the technicalities of going to the bathroom in space while eating. The image of floating fecal matter severely curbed my appetite. Overall, Packing for Mars was a good look into all the little oddities and details that enable humans to survive space. It was written in an approachable and entertaining way that will satisfy anyone's curiosity about space exploration.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from [....] First Reads program.

Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in Space [UK Edition] Overview

Space is devoid of the stuff humans need to live: air, gravity, hot showers, fresh veg, privacy, beer. How much can a person give up? What happens when you can't walk for a year? Is sex any fun in zero gravity? What's it like being cooped up in a metal box with a few people for months at a time? As Mary Roach discovers, it's possible to explore space without ever leaving Earth. From the space shuttle training toilet to a 17,000 mile-per-hour crash test of NASA's space capsule (cadaver stepping in), she takes us on a surreally entertaining trip into the science of living in space.

Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in Space [UK Edition] Specifications

Amazon Best Books of the Month, August 2010: With her wry humor and inextinguishable curiosity, Mary Roach has crafted her own quirky niche in the somewhat staid world of science writing, showing no fear (or shame) in the face of cadavers, ectoplasm, or sex. In Packing for Mars, Roach tackles the strange science of space travel, and the psychology, technology, and politics that go into sending a crew into orbit. Roach is unfailingly inquisitive (Why is it impolite for astronauts to float upside down during conversations? Just how smelly does a spacecraft get after a two week mission?), and she eagerly seeks out the stories that don't make it onto NASA's website--from SPCA-certified space suits for chimps, to the trial-and-error approach to crafting menus during the space program's early years (when the chefs are former livestock veterinarians, taste isn't high on the priority list). Packing for Mars is a book for grownups who still secretly dream of being astronauts, and Roach lives it up on their behalf--weightless in a C-9 aircraft, she just can't resist the opportunity to go "Supermanning" around the cabin. Her zeal for discovery, combined with her love of the absurd, amazing, and stranger-than-fiction, make Packing for Mars an uproarious trip into the world of space travel. --Lynette Mong

Available at Amazon Check Price Now!

Customer Reviews

Where's Mars? - Dutchottie -
Don't get me wrong, Roach has delivered a very entertaining, informative, and witty book about th eweirdness of space travel and research.
I do feel somewhat misguided by the title of the book. Although manny of the 1960's achievements, where Roach's primary focus lies, and the subsequent space station and shuttle missions have set the tone for any further space exploration, going the Mars does involve some unique issues that I feel are not addressed by Roach.
What about the spacecraft? How would it be structured? Would it go for the ISS layout or go for a more homely setup? What about crew entertainment, exercising, duty schedules, tasks, etc? She addresses many interesting issues regarding food, but what would all that mean for a mission to Mars? What about radiation? What would they have to take to spend several months on Mars? Habitats, rovers, equipment, etc.
So all in all i think Roach only started to scratch the surface of what you would pack on a missions to Mars.

Definitly a book to read, for anyone interested in the huge problems you run into when going into space. For a true insight of what a mission to Mars would mean, I would search for an other book that has such a mission as it's focus.

Never read Bonk never read Stiff... got this because of Space. Love it. - R. Smith - Burbank, CA
I read all that I can about the Space industry, from military acronym-full tomes to kids books (I have a kid). When I saw the preorder for Packing For Mars I looked up the author and said to myself, this is prolly gonna not be so great.

I thought it would turn out to be another "NASA KNOWS ALL AND NASA SAYS ONLY GODS CAN FLY or BOEING/LOCKHEED SAY 'ONLY PRINT THAT *WE* CAN DO SPACE'". But, now more than halfway into it I see it as a great book for us regular folk who just want to know what it currently takes (right or wrong on the reasons for what it currently takes taken out of it) and some of how we got to the current mess and mass of rules and regs, all seemingly written by "one of us who just thinks it's cool"

Great it see a book that normally would only be read by geeks making #5 on the NY Times list its first week out (and #1 at all of the airport Hudson News locations, not just at the industry-centric SeaTac and LAX locations).

Buy it, get an entertainingly presented bunch of great research.

For regular folks who dream of Space and who hate being talked down to by those in the biz.

Ground Control to Major Tom: Read This Book - George Angus - Palmer, Alaska
It's hard to know where to begin. The writing style is razor sharp wit at its very finest. The author had me from "Hello".

You don't have to be a space nut to appreciate this gem of a book. Everything you wanted to know (and a lot you didn't know you wanted to know) about space programs and the nitty-gritty of space travel from a human perspective. I think the author must moonlight as a morning radio DJ - pay attention or you will surely miss the humor laced throughout.

It's a pleasant, informative read and entertains right out of the gate. There is no build-up to get to the good stuff, it starts right there in the first paragraph.

*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Aug 23, 2010 07:09:09

Books Entertainment Humor

Monday, August 23, 2010