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elg1105's review against another edition
funny
informative
fast-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Sexism, Vomit, and Medical content
schnaucl's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
4.75
I always find Mary Roach's books to be highly interesting, educational, and funny, and this book was no exception. I'd say the majority of the book was focused more on what it took to get into space and survive trips once there rather than on getting to Mars specifically.
There were lots of fascinating tidbits, mostly focused on NASA but with some information about Russia and Japan as well.
It gives you a good idea of how every little detail needs to be thought through for spaceflight (and also that allowances need to be made for the fact that astronauts are human so it can't be all about efficiency and monetary cost).
I would have been interested to see how this is being impacted by so much of it being turned over to private enterprise, but maybe that's another book.
It was nice to hear that NASA is looking not for the alpha male fighter pilot type and more for the type of person who can be in a confined space with other people for a lengthy period of time.
Roach is definitely an author where I'd pick up a book on any topic she cares to write about because I know she'll make it a fantastic read.
There were lots of fascinating tidbits, mostly focused on NASA but with some information about Russia and Japan as well.
It gives you a good idea of how every little detail needs to be thought through for spaceflight (and also that allowances need to be made for the fact that astronauts are human so it can't be all about efficiency and monetary cost).
I would have been interested to see how this is being impacted by so much of it being turned over to private enterprise, but maybe that's another book.
It was nice to hear that NASA is looking not for the alpha male fighter pilot type and more for the type of person who can be in a confined space with other people for a lengthy period of time.
Roach is definitely an author where I'd pick up a book on any topic she cares to write about because I know she'll make it a fantastic read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Sexism, Sexual content, Blood, and Sexual harassment
bookwyrmknits's review
informative
lighthearted
slow-paced
3.5
I've been curious about Mary Roach's work for a long time, so this one—with its title implying that I would learn what people at NASA (and other orgs) are doing to prepare for manned space travel to Mars—sounded like a great starting point for my interests. While I enjoyed the book, I also found myself greatly disappointed in the direction the content took. Yes, this is a book about our history of spaceflight and what we've learned. No, it is not a book about getting ready for Mars. There's a lot of information here, but there is significantly more about how astronauts use the bathroom and deal with vomit in zero g than it is about what we need to do to "pack for Mars". Yes, of course everything we've learned will come in handy... but the title had me looking for different content than I actually got. I think I would have enjoyed this book more if the title had made it more clear that this was more about the history of spaceflight instead of planning for the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Excrement and Vomit
Moderate: Animal death and Death