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Title: Mars: The Nasa Mission Reports, Vol. 1 (Apogee Books Space Series) by Robert Godwin, United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration ISBN: 1-896522-62-9 Publisher: Apogee Books Pub. Date: June, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.6 (5 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Space history, and a look at what we missed
Comment: It's hard to get more technical, but it's exactly what you need if you want to have a look at the technology that was used to conquer that "final frontier", starting about 40 years ago. It was definitly a time where exploration was risky, and NASA was actually willing to risk it.
Those little probes were so rudimentary compared to what we can do now, and yet, they were state-of-the-art machines that were launched one after another to the planets... with equally deceiving and surprising results. When you think that the Viking data is still being used (and the new results are still controversial), it's hard not to be impressed.
Ironically, this book, which may have been a tribute to NASA creativeness, ends up with the Mars Observer, Mars Polar Lander and Mars Climate Orbiter reports, three probes that failed. The failure is definitly not the problem, because most of the Mars probes failed. But NASA attitude has dramatically changed since the first Mariner. A failure was merely a plausible outcome, but now, it's a catastrophy that invokes a complete Mars programme reeavaluation...
And to kill it completely, this invaluable little book includes the Werner Von Braun infamous roadmap to Mars... envisionned for the 1980's. Another sad hint that NASA failed to its destiny, and will probably never recover.
This book shoudl definitly be read with some other good space history books, that will help put the technical prowess in perspective. I would recommend the following:
- Failure is Not An Option, by Gene Kranz
- Korolev, by James Harford
- Russia In Space, by Brian Harvey
- Moon Hunters, by Jeffrey Kluger
Rating: 4
Summary: Mars Exploration Reference
Comment: "MARS: THE NASA MISSION REPORTS" is an excellent reference. Robert Godwin has produced yet another gem in his now classic series of historical books on NASA's space missions. The present work encapsulates key technical information on NASA's Mars exploration efforts since the beginning of the space program. The book contains an edited selection of official NASA press kits, press releases and mission reports, along with a profusion of illustrations reproduced as they originally appeared. While the focus of the book is on the sequence of Mars robotic missions NASA has flown to date, a final chapter is dedicated to the historic presentation Wernher Von Braun gave to President Nixon's Space Task Group on August 14, 1969 discussing his plans for a "manned" mission to Mars. According to that plan, humans would have landed on Mars by 1982. The book is very well organized and the information it contains has the great advantage of being reliable in that it was obtained from its very source: NASA's archives. The reader can quickly look up anything from the list of contractors who built the Mariner 4 space probe to the power output of the two RTGs (radioisotope thermoelectric generators) on the Viking Landers (2 x 35 watts). The book comes complete with a CD packed with even more information, including full NASA publications on Mars exploration from NASA's "SP" (special publications) series, three NASA videos, and hundreds of NASA Mars mission images. This book is quite simply a "must have" for anyone interested Mars exploration past, present, and future.
Rating: 5
Summary: Unique resource, fantastic video
Comment: For anyone interested in the history of Mars or robotic exporation, this book is a must-have. The originial NASA documentation on thirty years of robotic probes provides critical insights into the history of our attempts to understand the Red Planet. The included CD-ROM is more than worth the price of the whole book, and will be returned to again and again.
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Title: Mars: The Nasa Mission Reports, Vol. 2 (Apogee Books Space Series) by Robert Godwin ISBN: 1894959051 Publisher: Apogee Books Pub. Date: April, 2004 List Price(USD): $28.95 |
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Title: Apollo 11: The NASA Mission Reports, Volume 2 (Apogee Books Space Series) by Robert Godwin ISBN: 1896522491 Publisher: Collectors Guide Publishing, Inc. Pub. Date: 29 July, 1999 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: A Traveler's Guide to Mars: The Mysterious Landscapes of the Red Planet by William K. Hartmann ISBN: 0761126066 Publisher: Workman Publishing Company Pub. Date: August, 2003 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Apollo 11: The NASA Mission Reports, Volume 3 (Apogee Books Space Series) by Robert Godwin, United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration ISBN: 1896522858 Publisher: Apogee Books Pub. Date: March, 2002 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
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Title: Space Shuttle Sts 1-5: The NASA Mission Reports (Apogee Books Space Series) by Robert Godwin ISBN: 1896522696 Publisher: Apogee Books Pub. Date: May, 2001 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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