"How We'll Live on Mars" by Stephen L. Petranek

 

Publisher: TED Books
Copyright: 2015
ISBN: 9781476784762

This book is extremely informative and provided the source material for the docu-drama "Mars" which gives a fictional review of what might be encountered by astronauts going to the Red planet, interspersed with an examination of the current rather sad state of the space program.

Mr. Petranek begins with a basic overview of the space program from its impetus to approximately the 1980s. He deals a fair bit of time with Werner von Braun’s proposal “Das Marsprojekt” for missions to Mars that he began promoting in 1948 (I’ll be looking for a copy of this book as it sounds fascinating). After this he goes on to outline a very logical and in my opinion workable method of how we might actually make it there, and  why we should go.

A portion of the main narrative revolves around the work of Elon Musk and his Space Exploration Corporation aka SpaceX, but Mr. Petranek also looks into the various big questions such as will a small group of people be able to get along with each other, is anybody willing to pay for the project, the safety of the project, effects of prolonged exposure to micro-gravity, medical issues that might come about, and lastly the radiation the astronauts will be exposed to.

He then goes on to look at the economics of the project, the factors that will have to be taken into account if astronauts actually want to live on Mars, terra-forming, and other topics.

The only thing in this book that I found detracted from the overall plan is that it was written in 2015, and in the 6 years since then a number of major advances have been made, so it is hoped that the author will consider writing an updated second edition.

"Deception Point" by Dan Brown

 

Publisher: Pocket Books

Copyright: 2001

ISBN: 9781416524809

I reviewed Mr. Brown’s book Digital Fortress a couple of weeks ago, and he is back with another great story that will keep you turning the pages. This time he takes on the entire political structure of the US Government, and it’s relationship with NASA and a number of other factors. It is an election year, and the president is  vying for a second term in office. His opponent is a ruthless senator who will stop at nothing to ensure he is elected instead, no matter what it costs.

The story revolves around the locating of a meteorite that was determined to have fell to the Earth in the early 1700s, and has been buried in the Arctic ice ever since. A team of civilian personnel are sent to investigate the meteorite, and discover some absolutely startling information. What this information is I’m not going to tell you, but if it is true then the whole world will be changed.

Once again the lead character in this novel (as in Digital Fortress) is female, which definitely adds (in my humble opinion) to the overall story as these types of novels have been dominated from the beginning by males. In many cases these males were also portrayed as essentially being super-humans, with a few minor flaws which makes them almost laughable in many cases.

Another great story, looking forward to the next book.

"First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong" by James R. Hansen

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Copyright: 2005, (3rd Edition 2018)

ISBN: 978-1-9821-0316-3

I found First Man to be an extremely informative and engrossing biography of the astronaut and Apollo 11 commander Neil A. Armstrong. I can vividly remember sitting on the floor of our basement family room listening to a black & white television in July 1969 when the Moon Landing was broadcast on CBC (the only station we could get). I was fascinated then, and still am today. Hopefully someday humans will return to the Moon, and possibly venue further into space.

The book essentially details Armstrong's life from birth in 1930 to his death in 2012, and gives a very detailed examination of his career in the United States Navy, and has a test pilot prior to becoming an astronaut, his accomplishments in the Gemini, and the Apollo programs, and his life after returning to Earth.

Commander Armstrong was an extremely private individual, but one who was forced into the public eye due to the accomplishments of the crew of Apollo 11. It was quite evident throughout the book that he did not like all the public exposure, but he did his best to survive it. Unfortunately this did cause a great deal of stress in his life, and to his family.

The accomplishments of Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin, and Neil Armstrong will go down in history as one of the greatest feats of engineering, courage, and dedication the world has ever seen. But without the 400,000 plus people at NASA and various other agencies and companies the accomplishments of these three men would not have been possible.

Prior to reading the book I did watch the movie, and found it to be equally as interesting, even though the director did take some liberties.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in reading a well written and researched biography.