Packing for Mars - Mary Roach

Packing for Mars

By Mary Roach

  • Release Date: 2011-04-04
  • Genre: Physics
4.5 Score: 4.5 (From 432 Ratings)

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Book Synopsis

“America’s funniest science writer” (Washington Post) returns to explore the irresistibly strange universe of life without gravity in this New York Times bestseller.
Space is a world devoid of the things we need to live and thrive: air, gravity, hot showers, fresh produce, privacy, beer. Space exploration is in some ways an exploration of what it means to be human. How much can a person give up? How much weirdness can they take? What happens to you when you can’t walk for a year? have sex? smell flowers? What happens if you vomit in your helmet during a space walk? Is it possible for the human body to survive a bailout at 17,000 miles per hour? To answer these questions, space agencies set up all manner of quizzical and startlingly bizarre space simulations. As Mary Roach discovers, it’s possible to preview space without ever leaving Earth. From the space shuttle training toilet to a crash test of NASA’s new space capsule (cadaver filling in for astronaut), Roach takes us on a surreally entertaining trip into the science of life in space and space on Earth.

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Latest Impressions

  • The Raw Underbelly of Living in Space

    5
    By Data Wrangler
    Hilarious Mary Roach goes where no "man" has gone before (well few investigative reporters at least). With eloquent humor she investigates the "ins" and "outs" of eating in space, life without bathing, "space sickness", and all of the the other things seldom discussed by the NASA PR machine. A good read for space enthusiasts and space history buffs. This book should be required reading for wannabe "space tourists".

  • Fun and fascinating

    4
    By StevenNYC
    Full of interesting tidbits, it's a great glimpse in to the human side of space that nobody talks about. The little kid inside of me now has answers to a lot of questions.

  • Wonderful book

    4
    By OrofinoMan
    Almost done with all of mary's books.. Will be sad when that happens.

  • Accessible fun

    5
    By John Crichton
    Mary's book is informative while light-hearted and makes the extreme difficulties associated with manned spaceflight accessible to the layman. A must-read for anyone interested in long-duration spaceflight and definitely anyone who wonders why space travel is so expensive and dangerous.

  • A great read!

    4
    By sneakersqueaker
    This is one small book for man, one giant delight for mankind.

  • Very interesting indeed!

    5
    By ReadSpeed
    This book covers a huge amount I wanted to know.

  • An Interesting Lunchtime Read...

    4
    By JayLando
    I have an interest in space, that is large as... well, space; as such the subject of this book was very appealing to me. If you feel the same then this will not disappoint. In addition, the book will probably gross you out. That said, it all is amusingly written and beyond fascinating. As mentioned before, I read it all during my lunch breaks and it was quite an experience considering how obsessed NASA is with things inside you and how things get in and out of you. This book is well researched and well written with a easy-going style that makes it an easy read. Maybe I will take back the space aficionado and say that anyone would dig this book.

  • Informative and Fun

    4
    By melpost77
    I really enjoyed this book, and learned interesting facts about space agencies and people who fly into space and at what costs. Good read.

  • Author! Author!

    5
    By groupeone
    Fascinating, hilariously funny and wonderfully insightful, Packing for Mars is a rivetingly entertaining book I could not stop reading. I have three words: buy this book. Now. Mary Roach is wonderfully warped, a marvelously witty, funny storyteller. She peels away the glamour of space travel,and shows what a challenge it is, both for the heroic astronauts and for countless people on the ground who make it possible. And she does so in a way that is neither insulting nor condescending, but always entertaining. If I ever gave to travel deep into space, Mary Roach would be a great fellow astronaut. Packing for Mars is A-OK. That's a Roger. Out.

  • Good bad and ugly of nasa

    3
    By GBU Nasa
    Great book, well written; however it seems a little short for the price.

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