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Martian Summer
Spend a summer exploring the Martian Arctic
There's never been a better time to be an armchair astronaut. Forget this planet. The economy is terrible, global warming is inevitable, and there are at least eight major wars happening right now. That's why Kessler left home and moved to Mars. Well, not all the way to Mars. The closest spot on Earth you can get without a rocket. In the summer of 2008, he lived his space dream, spending three months in mission control with 130 top scientists and engineers as they explored Mars. This story is a human drama about modern-day Magellans battling NASA politics, temperamental robots, and the bizarre world of daily life in mission control. Kessler was the first outsider ever granted unfettered access to such an event, giving us a true Mission-to-Mars exclusive.
The Phoenix Mars mission was the first man-made probe ever sent to the Martian arctic. They wanted to find out how climate change can turn a warm, wet planet ( Earth) into a cold, barren desert ( Mars). Some might call it a trivial pursuit, but it's probably the most impressive feat we humans can achieve, and it took the culmination of nearly the entirety of human knowledge to do it.
Along the way, Phoenix discovered a giant frozen ocean trapped beneath the north pole of Mars, exotic food for aliens and liquid water. This is not science fiction. It's fact. Not bad for a summer holiday. 16 pages of color photographs.
There's never been a better time to be an armchair astronaut. Forget this planet. The economy is terrible, global warming is inevitable, and there are at least eight major wars happening right now. That's why Kessler left home and moved to Mars. Well, not all the way to Mars. The closest spot on Earth you can get without a rocket. In the summer of 2008, he lived his space dream, spending three months in mission control with 130 top scientists and engineers as they explored Mars. This story is a human drama about modern-day Magellans battling NASA politics, temperamental robots, and the bizarre world of daily life in mission control. Kessler was the first outsider ever granted unfettered access to such an event, giving us a true Mission-to-Mars exclusive.
The Phoenix Mars mission was the first man-made probe ever sent to the Martian arctic. They wanted to find out how climate change can turn a warm, wet planet ( Earth) into a cold, barren desert ( Mars). Some might call it a trivial pursuit, but it's probably the most impressive feat we humans can achieve, and it took the culmination of nearly the entirety of human knowledge to do it.
Along the way, Phoenix discovered a giant frozen ocean trapped beneath the north pole of Mars, exotic food for aliens and liquid water. This is not science fiction. It's fact. Not bad for a summer holiday. 16 pages of color photographs.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published March 22, 2011
19 people are currently reading
249 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
March 7, 2011
This review might be biased.
September 20, 2012
This was a great idea that kind of feels like it was wasted.
The topic is fascinating--a writer tags along with the team running the 2008 Phoenix mission to Mars, attending the science sessions, watching the engineers, getting horrible time lag along with everyone else. It's a chance to get inside a world that's usually closed-door, and it's insight into what's probably going on right now with the Curiosity lander team. The scientists and engineers are fascinating, dedicated people trying to do cutting edge science on a budget under some incredibly difficult conditions.
My problem is that the writer's tone is so twee I wanted to strangle the guy. He's smart--he's got a degree in math from Berkeley. But he writes in the persona of a doofus, in what's obviously an attempt to be accessible for non-science folk. Here's the thing--we're not talking about Neil Armstrong here. This is a relatively minor mission in the history of NASA that almost everyone had probably forgotten about by the time the book was published. The only people who would read it are space nerds who are already invested and aren't going to scare off easily. So dumbing things down just comes off as condescending.
And there's a lot that could use more explanation that gets skipped. For example, a lot of fuss is made over possible liquid water that turns out to be perchlorate. Is it liquid? Is it frost? Tempers are lost, NASA gets involved and hijacks the mission parameters, a giant conspiracy theory gets started. The author never bothers to explain what the ramifications are. We know there's ice--Mars has ice caps. Visible ones. So why is NASA so invested in finding ice? If a theory is right and the matter on the lander legs is splashed water and not frost from the air, what does that mean? I have only the shadiest notions, which are entirely from previous knowledge. He never tells us himself. But I do know far too much about the author's own insecurities about possibly getting kicked out.
Documenting the mission in a human way was a fantastic idea. I just kind of wish that this book had done so in a more scientifically compelling way. It feels like a wasted opportunity.
The topic is fascinating--a writer tags along with the team running the 2008 Phoenix mission to Mars, attending the science sessions, watching the engineers, getting horrible time lag along with everyone else. It's a chance to get inside a world that's usually closed-door, and it's insight into what's probably going on right now with the Curiosity lander team. The scientists and engineers are fascinating, dedicated people trying to do cutting edge science on a budget under some incredibly difficult conditions.
My problem is that the writer's tone is so twee I wanted to strangle the guy. He's smart--he's got a degree in math from Berkeley. But he writes in the persona of a doofus, in what's obviously an attempt to be accessible for non-science folk. Here's the thing--we're not talking about Neil Armstrong here. This is a relatively minor mission in the history of NASA that almost everyone had probably forgotten about by the time the book was published. The only people who would read it are space nerds who are already invested and aren't going to scare off easily. So dumbing things down just comes off as condescending.
And there's a lot that could use more explanation that gets skipped. For example, a lot of fuss is made over possible liquid water that turns out to be perchlorate. Is it liquid? Is it frost? Tempers are lost, NASA gets involved and hijacks the mission parameters, a giant conspiracy theory gets started. The author never bothers to explain what the ramifications are. We know there's ice--Mars has ice caps. Visible ones. So why is NASA so invested in finding ice? If a theory is right and the matter on the lander legs is splashed water and not frost from the air, what does that mean? I have only the shadiest notions, which are entirely from previous knowledge. He never tells us himself. But I do know far too much about the author's own insecurities about possibly getting kicked out.
Documenting the mission in a human way was a fantastic idea. I just kind of wish that this book had done so in a more scientifically compelling way. It feels like a wasted opportunity.
September 14, 2014
My three star ranking breaks down this way:
- One star for coming up with the idea of embedding himself in the Mars Phoenix science team for the entirety of the 90 day mission and making it happen.
- One star for sticking it out through more than 90 grueling days of living on Mars time -- sleep deprivation, hardly ever seeing the sun, being treated like an outsider by the real Phoenix science team.
- One star for actually sitting down and writing a 330 page book.
- Minus one star for taking on the job of chronicling an important Mars mission without bothering to educate himself about Mars, spacecraft, rockets, trajectories, chemistry, computers, robotics, geology, or biology. Dude, to write a book like this you need to read 100 books like this. He presents scientific debates about some of Mars Phoenix's findings, and admits that he has no idea what the scientists are talking about. And then doesn't bother to explain it to us. This whole idea of "Oh, I'll go in not knowing anything and bring the reader along on my quest to find things out" resulted in nothing but a wasted opportunity.
- Minus another star for writing like that weird goth poetry chick in seventh grade. The guy is in mission control for the Mars Phoenix mission, so what does he write about? His little feelings. The guy has a chance to interview the head of the Mars Phoenix mission. What does he ask? "Why don't you like me?" Actually, I'm not being fair -- he only writes like a weird goth seventh grader part of the time. The rest of the time he writes like a seventh grader who thinks he has fooled his AOL chatroom into believing he's an adult. I fully expected some of the paragraphs to end with "LOL!"
A previous reviewer said the writing style was too "Wired Magazine". I take exception to that. I used to write for Wired Magazine. No one at Wired has ever written this badly.
One final note: The author got the head of the Mars Phoenix project to blurb the book. The scientist wrote "It is as if I imagined Holden Caulfield writing about the mission". That's very perceptive. And it is not a compliment.
- One star for coming up with the idea of embedding himself in the Mars Phoenix science team for the entirety of the 90 day mission and making it happen.
- One star for sticking it out through more than 90 grueling days of living on Mars time -- sleep deprivation, hardly ever seeing the sun, being treated like an outsider by the real Phoenix science team.
- One star for actually sitting down and writing a 330 page book.
- Minus one star for taking on the job of chronicling an important Mars mission without bothering to educate himself about Mars, spacecraft, rockets, trajectories, chemistry, computers, robotics, geology, or biology. Dude, to write a book like this you need to read 100 books like this. He presents scientific debates about some of Mars Phoenix's findings, and admits that he has no idea what the scientists are talking about. And then doesn't bother to explain it to us. This whole idea of "Oh, I'll go in not knowing anything and bring the reader along on my quest to find things out" resulted in nothing but a wasted opportunity.
- Minus another star for writing like that weird goth poetry chick in seventh grade. The guy is in mission control for the Mars Phoenix mission, so what does he write about? His little feelings. The guy has a chance to interview the head of the Mars Phoenix mission. What does he ask? "Why don't you like me?" Actually, I'm not being fair -- he only writes like a weird goth seventh grader part of the time. The rest of the time he writes like a seventh grader who thinks he has fooled his AOL chatroom into believing he's an adult. I fully expected some of the paragraphs to end with "LOL!"
A previous reviewer said the writing style was too "Wired Magazine". I take exception to that. I used to write for Wired Magazine. No one at Wired has ever written this badly.
One final note: The author got the head of the Mars Phoenix project to blurb the book. The scientist wrote "It is as if I imagined Holden Caulfield writing about the mission". That's very perceptive. And it is not a compliment.
June 10, 2011
Wow. If you have even a teeny bit of curiosity about how the hell your fellow Earthlings are able to get science robots to Mars & then spend months remotely communicating with them, you will love this book. Kessler spends 90 days in Mission Control getting the fly on the wall perspective on the Phoenix Mars mission. From the beginning he admits that he knows as little about science as the rest of us, probably liberal arts majors, which means he'll spend paragraphs breaking down complicated scientific jargon into something a little kid would instantly get & then hysterically laugh at. Hilarious observations & never-waning enthusiasm for discovery make Martian Summer a wonderful book every Earthling should read.
May 11, 2011
Very enjoyable and engrossing non-fiction account of the 2008 Mars Phoenix Lander mission, a lander type spacecraft and the first robotic laboratory send to the polar regions of Mars, which dug into and investigated the Martian soil:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Pho...
Told from the perspective of a non-scientist/space enthusiast with access to the mission control (almost in the "gonzo journalist" school of journalism, but smarter and less egotistical), Kessler does a very good job of explaining how planetary science actually happens, including the effects of the longer Martian day on the work staff (a Martian day is 24.4 hours long, slightly longer than a day on Earth - this plays havoc with the work and sleep schedule of the crew).
Just getting robotic arms to dig into the frozen Martian ground, scoop up some regolith, deposit in the laboratory module, conduct tests, and receive the data is an incredibly complex project, which the Phoenix was able to do over and over again. It requires incredible dedication by engineers, scientists, programmers, and others, all working hard and communicating with each other, facing risks and deciding on priorities.
Official images and data can be found here: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/pho...
The Phoenix lander helped us to develop a better understanding of Mars, to be further developed by the next big science laboratory to go to Mars, the Mars Science Laboratory (Shorthand: "The MSL" for space insiders).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Sci...
Understanding Mars will help us plan further robotic and eventual human missions there. Many questions and mysteries about Mars remain, but it is, in my opinion, the crucial destination in our solar system, the most like Earth, the most hospitable. Creating a sustained human presence on Mars is THE goal of humankind for the next 1,000 years.
http://www.globalspaceexploration.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Pho...
Told from the perspective of a non-scientist/space enthusiast with access to the mission control (almost in the "gonzo journalist" school of journalism, but smarter and less egotistical), Kessler does a very good job of explaining how planetary science actually happens, including the effects of the longer Martian day on the work staff (a Martian day is 24.4 hours long, slightly longer than a day on Earth - this plays havoc with the work and sleep schedule of the crew).
Just getting robotic arms to dig into the frozen Martian ground, scoop up some regolith, deposit in the laboratory module, conduct tests, and receive the data is an incredibly complex project, which the Phoenix was able to do over and over again. It requires incredible dedication by engineers, scientists, programmers, and others, all working hard and communicating with each other, facing risks and deciding on priorities.
Official images and data can be found here: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/pho...
The Phoenix lander helped us to develop a better understanding of Mars, to be further developed by the next big science laboratory to go to Mars, the Mars Science Laboratory (Shorthand: "The MSL" for space insiders).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Sci...
Understanding Mars will help us plan further robotic and eventual human missions there. Many questions and mysteries about Mars remain, but it is, in my opinion, the crucial destination in our solar system, the most like Earth, the most hospitable. Creating a sustained human presence on Mars is THE goal of humankind for the next 1,000 years.
http://www.globalspaceexploration.org/
January 19, 2012
Once I got past my palpable jealousy of the author's opportunity to document a mission like this, I really enjoyed the book!
Reading a few papers and articles that come out of a mission doesn't really communicate just how politically and technically complicated space exploration is. Martian Summer does a great job demonstrating the brittle nature of such a feat, which makes any science gleaned from the mission that much more impressive and inspirational.
Though I would have enjoyed a few more technical interludes — maybe some details from the science talks to explore the actual science in addition to the day-to-day operations — it still was a great peek inside mission control.
The author's account was a touch narcissistic, though I understand that it is as much a personal account of nerd immersion as it is a narrative about mission control. Plus, I can't say I wouldn't do the same.
What I really appreciated was the sense of family that developed to even include the author. We humans really pull together under self-imposed insurmountable stress, sleep deprivation and possible career suicide.
It's rare to find a work of non-fiction with the scientist-as-hero (and robot-as-hero) that puts so much about personal achievement into perspective. Throw in some jokes, some casual drug use and a few pop cultural references and you've got yourself a very enjoyable account of one of the coolest things humans have ever done.
Reading a few papers and articles that come out of a mission doesn't really communicate just how politically and technically complicated space exploration is. Martian Summer does a great job demonstrating the brittle nature of such a feat, which makes any science gleaned from the mission that much more impressive and inspirational.
Though I would have enjoyed a few more technical interludes — maybe some details from the science talks to explore the actual science in addition to the day-to-day operations — it still was a great peek inside mission control.
The author's account was a touch narcissistic, though I understand that it is as much a personal account of nerd immersion as it is a narrative about mission control. Plus, I can't say I wouldn't do the same.
What I really appreciated was the sense of family that developed to even include the author. We humans really pull together under self-imposed insurmountable stress, sleep deprivation and possible career suicide.
It's rare to find a work of non-fiction with the scientist-as-hero (and robot-as-hero) that puts so much about personal achievement into perspective. Throw in some jokes, some casual drug use and a few pop cultural references and you've got yourself a very enjoyable account of one of the coolest things humans have ever done.
November 15, 2014
Kessler is the co-producer of a Discovery Channel feature on the quest for life on Mars. He was chosen to chronicle the 2008 Phoenix Lander’s ninety days around the red plant’s North Pole, with daily access to the earth-side scientist running the experiments. The mission was to search for evidence of water and organic chemistry, two pre-requisites for determining whether life exists on Mars. The Mission head Peter Smith thought a popular account of the discoveries and the scientist behind them would help inspire a new generation to enter space science.
The author provides some fascinating glimpses of the real work of a space mission. Keeler covers the problems with the robot arm and the onboard analytical equipment and how it was solved and the discovery of liquid water on the surface of Mars. Unfortunately only someone who is already a space fan would find the book interesting. The less than stellar treatment of the story leaves much to be desired if the goal was to attract young people into a space career. I did not care for the flippant style the book was written in, I felt the topic much too serious for that attitude to be acceptable. For those who are space science fans this is an interesting story. Adam Schneemann did a good job narrating the book.
The author provides some fascinating glimpses of the real work of a space mission. Keeler covers the problems with the robot arm and the onboard analytical equipment and how it was solved and the discovery of liquid water on the surface of Mars. Unfortunately only someone who is already a space fan would find the book interesting. The less than stellar treatment of the story leaves much to be desired if the goal was to attract young people into a space career. I did not care for the flippant style the book was written in, I felt the topic much too serious for that attitude to be acceptable. For those who are space science fans this is an interesting story. Adam Schneemann did a good job narrating the book.
August 30, 2011
Journalist and self-professed space fanboy Kessler embeds himself in the Phoenix Mars Mission for three months, detailing his trials and tribulations as he observes scientists at work.
The stuff Kessler writes about himself is dull, and I would have preferred more of a fly on the wall approach. However, the scientists he writes about are much more interesting. These are smart but flawed people, doing the best they can to solve difficult problems in short periods of time. In many ways, they're just like any set of office workers trying to survive a bureaucracy and beat a deadline -- except that what they're doing is the epic exploration of another planet.
Despite its flaws, this book does what it set out to do: show what the Mars scientists are up to, and why this work is exciting. This is a good book for anyone who loves science or has to deal with overcomplicated technology.
The stuff Kessler writes about himself is dull, and I would have preferred more of a fly on the wall approach. However, the scientists he writes about are much more interesting. These are smart but flawed people, doing the best they can to solve difficult problems in short periods of time. In many ways, they're just like any set of office workers trying to survive a bureaucracy and beat a deadline -- except that what they're doing is the epic exploration of another planet.
Despite its flaws, this book does what it set out to do: show what the Mars scientists are up to, and why this work is exciting. This is a good book for anyone who loves science or has to deal with overcomplicated technology.
December 20, 2011
Once you get past the self-congratulatory "Wired Magazine" method of writing the author chose to pen his book, the contents of this freshman work are quite good. Learned a lot about the business and politics of unmanned spaceflight, and there was enough information about hardware systems to keep me interested to the last page. Overall a very good read, although I might have liked to hear a little more of the actual design and construction and the results of the post-landing research.
December 30, 2014
Very entertaining and easily understood read. I originally picked it up thinking it was of a different Mars Rover team, but it still was very engaging. It's a great entree into the world of space scientists and remote exploration. Shows you how political some scientists can get and how hard it is to corral them. I highly recommend it if you like the space program!
September 7, 2011
Love the author and his one-book bookshop idea. And loved the story, but Kessler isn't the most engaging storyteller I've ever encountered. If you love this topic, read it. If you're on the fence, there are other, better books about Mars exploration (see Andrew Chaikin).
December 30, 2012
The author is too cutesy. I may not finish this one.
March 13, 2019
WHAT A GREAT BOOK!!!
I can vividly remember standing in my back yard to get reception on my transistor radio (those under thirty can Google what these were) as NASA announced that the heat shield might be loose on John Glenn’s Mercury capsule. I remember watching as the pair of astronauts on Gemini IV had trouble with their hatch re-latching after Ed White’s space walk. I can still see the grainy, black and white images of Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon. And any photos or video of the Space Shuttle Columbia or Challenger disasters make me cry.
So, you can see that I am a lifelong fan of exploring outer space. I believe that, even with the significant dangers, human space exploration, scientific research, and the colonizing of the moon, astroids, and/or Mars are important to the insure the future of the human race. My focus has always been on human space flight.
Before reading this book I knew little about the Phoenix mission to Mars. To me, uncrewed space flights just were not that interesting. Then I read Andrew Kessler’s Martian Summer.
Kessler has written a book that brings space exploration, and the people involved in it, to life. He puts a human face, as well as human feelings, drive, dedication, and obsession, into the long and involved history of the Phoenix Mars lander.
This book gives you some of the science involved in getting a lander onto Mars and doing remote experiments. However, Kessler’s primary focus is on the people. He gives you the inside story of what it is like to live on Earth following Martian days (twenty-four hours and forty minutes) and having your body's circadian rhythms turned inside out. He shows you the cooperation and disagreements of scientists making new discoveries. He shows you how carefully each step is planned and the thousands of hours that go into making a successful mission. He gives the reader a taste for how the politics of NASA and JPL have held back exploration and what a poor job they have done telling the exciting and worthwhile story of outer space exploration to the American public.
Kessler gives the reader the full humorous, painful, exciting, stressful, and exhilarating story of what it is like working on a mission to another planet. Reading this book you will feel like you have lived the full ninety days in mission control, suffering and discovering along with the dozens of scientists you will meet along the way. The stories he tells bring joy, anger, frustration, excitement, and understanding as you ride along on a mission to Mars.
I highly recommend this book to everyone interested in space exploration. More importantly, I recommend it to those readers who do not have this interest or knowledge. You will come away with information and insight and you might just see that rocket scientists are people, just like you and me.
I can vividly remember standing in my back yard to get reception on my transistor radio (those under thirty can Google what these were) as NASA announced that the heat shield might be loose on John Glenn’s Mercury capsule. I remember watching as the pair of astronauts on Gemini IV had trouble with their hatch re-latching after Ed White’s space walk. I can still see the grainy, black and white images of Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon. And any photos or video of the Space Shuttle Columbia or Challenger disasters make me cry.
So, you can see that I am a lifelong fan of exploring outer space. I believe that, even with the significant dangers, human space exploration, scientific research, and the colonizing of the moon, astroids, and/or Mars are important to the insure the future of the human race. My focus has always been on human space flight.
Before reading this book I knew little about the Phoenix mission to Mars. To me, uncrewed space flights just were not that interesting. Then I read Andrew Kessler’s Martian Summer.
Kessler has written a book that brings space exploration, and the people involved in it, to life. He puts a human face, as well as human feelings, drive, dedication, and obsession, into the long and involved history of the Phoenix Mars lander.
This book gives you some of the science involved in getting a lander onto Mars and doing remote experiments. However, Kessler’s primary focus is on the people. He gives you the inside story of what it is like to live on Earth following Martian days (twenty-four hours and forty minutes) and having your body's circadian rhythms turned inside out. He shows you the cooperation and disagreements of scientists making new discoveries. He shows you how carefully each step is planned and the thousands of hours that go into making a successful mission. He gives the reader a taste for how the politics of NASA and JPL have held back exploration and what a poor job they have done telling the exciting and worthwhile story of outer space exploration to the American public.
Kessler gives the reader the full humorous, painful, exciting, stressful, and exhilarating story of what it is like working on a mission to another planet. Reading this book you will feel like you have lived the full ninety days in mission control, suffering and discovering along with the dozens of scientists you will meet along the way. The stories he tells bring joy, anger, frustration, excitement, and understanding as you ride along on a mission to Mars.
I highly recommend this book to everyone interested in space exploration. More importantly, I recommend it to those readers who do not have this interest or knowledge. You will come away with information and insight and you might just see that rocket scientists are people, just like you and me.
May 11, 2022
This is an excellent book about the pressures and personalities of the Phoenix Mars Mission. A need to read about the state of NASA today. NASA seems to be discouraging actual science and discovery with their attitude of declaring the mission a success when there were still objectives to be achieved and things to be discovered. They seemed to hijack the mission at one point to achieve their own goal and divert the overall goal of the mission. They also refused to fund it further and keep scientists and technicians on when there were discoveries still to be made and Phoenix still capable of doing work.
June 12, 2018
I've always enjoyed the whole behind the scenes type things, and this book was no exception. It's always fascinating to see how things happen, and this book has plenty of details on how the mars spacefraft did its thing. The martian days, the uploading missions, downloading results, working out problems, trying to solve glitches, troubleshooting problems, and so on. There's plenty here to keep anyone busy for a while. If you like technical aspects of technology, then this is the book for you. Thoroughly enjoyed this one.
November 26, 2017
As far as learning about the Phoenix Lander on Mars, it was pretty good. I would have liked more details on the hardware and especially the data processing, but I'm a software engineer and not the target audience.
But the authors writing style was irritating. It was told in first person.
Parts of this, like telling what it felt like to live on Mars time, were relevant and interesting.
But I don't care if he feels like he is part of the team or has bonded with the team leaders.
But the authors writing style was irritating. It was told in first person.
Parts of this, like telling what it felt like to live on Mars time, were relevant and interesting.
But I don't care if he feels like he is part of the team or has bonded with the team leaders.
July 19, 2018
An insider's view of the Mars Phoenix mission. It's harder to write about than it sounds as the majority of day to day activities aren't actually that interesting as so much of it is really repetitive. The author tries to give it a humorous take and it mostly works but not 100% of the time. A decent read for someone with passing interest in space missions or the science that goes with it but not for everyone
May 17, 2019
Phoenix landed over 10 years ago and this book captures a different perspective on what happens during a mission. Curiosity still on Mars and InSight on the surface of Mars its an exciting time for mars exploration. I was drawn to this book because I went to high school with one of the JPL scientists that participated in the mission. It’s great to see a personal perspective on the people involved and witness that scientists are just as human as the ordinary people.
March 27, 2018
I really enjoyed this book. The author did a good job of making the complexities of space science real. Kessler did a good job of describing the personal characteristics of the scientists in general as well as the difficulty in balancing the sometimes conflicting demands for resources. The acronyms did become annoying.
November 17, 2018
Probably one of my favorite books now. I can’t say that I have a deep knowledge of space-related literature under my belt, but this is like Hunter S Thompson collaborated with Adam Gopnik ... and they went to a space camp that had really, really patient counselors
So: funny? Yes. Insightful? Yes. Opportunity to actually learn something about the topic AND people? Yes+
So: funny? Yes. Insightful? Yes. Opportunity to actually learn something about the topic AND people? Yes+
April 10, 2019
The subtitle should have been: how much fun we can have at taxpayer's expense.
Really. They get good wages and good pension plans too. And the scheme is as with the Catholic church: when you will be dead, you will see the heavens, so pay us!
Really. They get good wages and good pension plans too. And the scheme is as with the Catholic church: when you will be dead, you will see the heavens, so pay us!
February 5, 2020
Need more space exploration missions! Cause we need more books like this and “The Martian” only a real life Martian.
Good work on how this mission went. Hope someone will do something similar on other missions. Think exploration like this is cool.
Good work on how this mission went. Hope someone will do something similar on other missions. Think exploration like this is cool.
June 18, 2018
Very interesting subject matter, but poorly written, and focuses too much on the author rather than what's going on. Disappointing.
September 30, 2018
Worth reading for the insights into what goes on to support a robot on a far au planet.
March 21, 2021
This is about how rough it is to be on a Mars mission.
September 22, 2018
Working on a martian project is no joke and is not easy. But most of us will never know the hardships of the people behind all the hard work. We just listen to the news on TV. When they report a launch or discover something significant worth reporting or which television thinks is worth reporting.
I bet the author had a tough time writing this and making it interesting. I can tell you that it wasn't an easy read for someone who is a lazy reader. But it was engaging in a way, the author wrote it like a journal. It felt like I was reading a well edited blog. And with every sol, it got more interesting. It wasn't like I was expecting a breakthrough in the next page, but I was looking forward to how it all ends. The budget, the technical challenges and the captain of the program and his life. I feel like I know them personally now. Lovely book for those who love science and is fascinated by interplanetary missions. Thank you Andy Kessler.
I bet the author had a tough time writing this and making it interesting. I can tell you that it wasn't an easy read for someone who is a lazy reader. But it was engaging in a way, the author wrote it like a journal. It felt like I was reading a well edited blog. And with every sol, it got more interesting. It wasn't like I was expecting a breakthrough in the next page, but I was looking forward to how it all ends. The budget, the technical challenges and the captain of the program and his life. I feel like I know them personally now. Lovely book for those who love science and is fascinated by interplanetary missions. Thank you Andy Kessler.
September 25, 2014
This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 2.5 of 5
What a fantastic concept! Convince NASA/JPL to allow an average joe to sit in on the Phoenix Mars Mission; hanging out with all the brilliant minds (it is, after all, rocket science) and living on 'Mars time' just to be able to go home and write a book about it. Kudos to NASA/JPL for agreeing to it and for letting the visitor in on as many meetings as he apparently did attend. Shame on NASA/JPL for apparently not vetting author Andrew Kessler and making sure he would be able to write coherently and appropriately on the subject.
Kessler tries to be 'personable' with his writing, assuming his lack of science and technical knowledge will make what he has to say more approachable to the average reader. Unfortunately, his style, or 'voice,' comes across as juvenile and forced and frankly, out of place.
A secret decoder ring. The author is sitting in a room with some of the brightest minds on the planet, who are about to reach out to a different planet, and all he can do is remind the reader how out of his league he is by 'hoping for a secret decoder ring.' I know he's just trying to be cute, or funny, but he's not. The information he's sharing is great. His secret hopes and wishes? Not so much.
Kessler has an opportunity many of us would like to have ... a backstage glimpse at NASA on a major project. When he relates the actual information as to what's happening and how the scientists at NASA deal with obstacles, then this is a remarkable book. When a glitch on the lander stops the progress of taking soil samples, we get to see these scientists as people, problem-solving and arguing. How they come to the decisions that they do, is what many of us want to know. It is this that keeps the reader interested. But when Kessler's 'fan boy' sensibilities kick in, he lacks a personal filter and he comes across as the teenage, excited fan.
Dara Sabahi, the chief engineer on the Phoenix project tells Kessler, "Documenting the mission will be very important for the future. ... I'm counting on this documentation. ... The more people can read about the mission process, the more we can learn about improving the process." Yet as the mission moved on, Kessler began to be excluded from some of the important meetings. I took this as a sign that the powers-that-be at NASA/JPL began to recognize that they weren't going to get the 'documentation' that they were hoping for.
I was hoping for an inside look at how NASA works. What I got was a long college essay on how someone spent their summer. I give this two and a half stars for the glimpses of the NASA machinations that we did get.
Looking for a good book? Martian Summer offers a behind-the-scenes look at the trials, successes, and struggles of a true NASA interplanetary mission but the book gets bogged down with the inexperienced writer's ability to let go of his 'fan boy' obsession and just share the story.
What a fantastic concept! Convince NASA/JPL to allow an average joe to sit in on the Phoenix Mars Mission; hanging out with all the brilliant minds (it is, after all, rocket science) and living on 'Mars time' just to be able to go home and write a book about it. Kudos to NASA/JPL for agreeing to it and for letting the visitor in on as many meetings as he apparently did attend. Shame on NASA/JPL for apparently not vetting author Andrew Kessler and making sure he would be able to write coherently and appropriately on the subject.
Kessler tries to be 'personable' with his writing, assuming his lack of science and technical knowledge will make what he has to say more approachable to the average reader. Unfortunately, his style, or 'voice,' comes across as juvenile and forced and frankly, out of place.
"The RAC (Robotic Arm Camera) is attached to the RA just above the scoop. The instrument provides close-up, full-frontal color images of the Martian surface close to the ground, under the lander, or anywhere the RA can go. Its got all kinds of filters and scientific attachments to capture and makes sense of extreme close-ups of dirt or whatever else Phoenix can dig up. I for one am hoping for a secret decoder ring."
A secret decoder ring. The author is sitting in a room with some of the brightest minds on the planet, who are about to reach out to a different planet, and all he can do is remind the reader how out of his league he is by 'hoping for a secret decoder ring.' I know he's just trying to be cute, or funny, but he's not. The information he's sharing is great. His secret hopes and wishes? Not so much.
Kessler has an opportunity many of us would like to have ... a backstage glimpse at NASA on a major project. When he relates the actual information as to what's happening and how the scientists at NASA deal with obstacles, then this is a remarkable book. When a glitch on the lander stops the progress of taking soil samples, we get to see these scientists as people, problem-solving and arguing. How they come to the decisions that they do, is what many of us want to know. It is this that keeps the reader interested. But when Kessler's 'fan boy' sensibilities kick in, he lacks a personal filter and he comes across as the teenage, excited fan.
Dara Sabahi, the chief engineer on the Phoenix project tells Kessler, "Documenting the mission will be very important for the future. ... I'm counting on this documentation. ... The more people can read about the mission process, the more we can learn about improving the process." Yet as the mission moved on, Kessler began to be excluded from some of the important meetings. I took this as a sign that the powers-that-be at NASA/JPL began to recognize that they weren't going to get the 'documentation' that they were hoping for.
I was hoping for an inside look at how NASA works. What I got was a long college essay on how someone spent their summer. I give this two and a half stars for the glimpses of the NASA machinations that we did get.
Looking for a good book? Martian Summer offers a behind-the-scenes look at the trials, successes, and struggles of a true NASA interplanetary mission but the book gets bogged down with the inexperienced writer's ability to let go of his 'fan boy' obsession and just share the story.
August 1, 2011
For me, there is a sentimental connection to the Phoenix Mars Mission. Along with many others, my name is preserved in a special data disc mounted on the outside of the lander. Phoenix now rests silent on the surface of the red planet. The disc awaits recovery by future Martian explorers.
Martian Summer focuses as much on human drama as it does on science. Many personal stories lie behind the mission, which rocketed a robotic lander all the way to Mars’s polar landscape. To his credit, author Andrew Kessler constantly shines the spotlight on several mission MVPs. Still it’s fair to say the heart of this book is Kessler’s personal quest to access the protected environment of mission control. Consider this profound moment:
“I ended up squished in the back of some half-crazed Hollywood producer’s Mustang with a pile of scientists on my lap.”
Okay, so trying to embed yourself in a space mission can sometimes be a comedy of errors. It’s no exaggeration to say I laughed out loud many times while reading Martian Summer. It is loaded with entertaining gems like the one above. Kessler, who begins the book as an outsider, rightly compares the culture of mission control to the hit sitcom The Office. So if you enjoy that sitcom, there is a good chance you’d enjoy following a NASA mission.
It helps immensely that Kessler is a gifted writer. To keep the intricate story readable, he makes some great choices. He keeps the prose light whenever possible (which is often). He provides needed context without letting the narrative grind to a halt--even as the mission itself progresses in fits and starts. Plus, Kessler always stays close to one or two human subplots. Though a few technical passages went over my head, I never felt lost while reading Martian Summer.
The joy of lively prose notwithstanding, there was a point in this book when I grew disheartened. Not coincidentally, so did Kessler and mission personnel. There were incessant technical glitches, losses of vital image data and distracting intrusions by politically-minded higher-ups. Personally, I started wondering if space exploration is just too challenging for humans. But as I kept reading, I remembered the following line Kessler wrote earlier in the book:
“If I can find the beauty in moving bits across space, there’s hope for me.”
Here on Earth we enjoy, even depend on, an information superhighway. As this book shows, the data route between Earth and Mars is more of a hazardous byway. Yet through cooperation and persistence, the Phoenix mission team traversed the void many times over one summer. Discovery resulted when the data came home safely. And via Martian Summer, a similar gap has been bridged between elite scientists and lay enthusiasts.
Martian Summer focuses as much on human drama as it does on science. Many personal stories lie behind the mission, which rocketed a robotic lander all the way to Mars’s polar landscape. To his credit, author Andrew Kessler constantly shines the spotlight on several mission MVPs. Still it’s fair to say the heart of this book is Kessler’s personal quest to access the protected environment of mission control. Consider this profound moment:
“I ended up squished in the back of some half-crazed Hollywood producer’s Mustang with a pile of scientists on my lap.”
Okay, so trying to embed yourself in a space mission can sometimes be a comedy of errors. It’s no exaggeration to say I laughed out loud many times while reading Martian Summer. It is loaded with entertaining gems like the one above. Kessler, who begins the book as an outsider, rightly compares the culture of mission control to the hit sitcom The Office. So if you enjoy that sitcom, there is a good chance you’d enjoy following a NASA mission.
It helps immensely that Kessler is a gifted writer. To keep the intricate story readable, he makes some great choices. He keeps the prose light whenever possible (which is often). He provides needed context without letting the narrative grind to a halt--even as the mission itself progresses in fits and starts. Plus, Kessler always stays close to one or two human subplots. Though a few technical passages went over my head, I never felt lost while reading Martian Summer.
The joy of lively prose notwithstanding, there was a point in this book when I grew disheartened. Not coincidentally, so did Kessler and mission personnel. There were incessant technical glitches, losses of vital image data and distracting intrusions by politically-minded higher-ups. Personally, I started wondering if space exploration is just too challenging for humans. But as I kept reading, I remembered the following line Kessler wrote earlier in the book:
“If I can find the beauty in moving bits across space, there’s hope for me.”
Here on Earth we enjoy, even depend on, an information superhighway. As this book shows, the data route between Earth and Mars is more of a hazardous byway. Yet through cooperation and persistence, the Phoenix mission team traversed the void many times over one summer. Discovery resulted when the data came home safely. And via Martian Summer, a similar gap has been bridged between elite scientists and lay enthusiasts.
December 22, 2011
Andrew Kessler is a writer who gets to spend the summer of 2008 at mission control for the Phoenix Mars mission, an unmanned mission to evaluate the existence of water on Mars. It took me a couple of tries to get into this book before I understood the author's sense of humor and his intention to get regular people (as opposed to space nerds) interested in space exploration.
While there is some technical jargon, the author makes a huge effort to make it understandable color and detail against the larger picture of incredibly smart people working insanely long hours doing impossibly detailed work with ridiculously limited resources while continuously jet lagged.
While some reviews here objected to the author injecting his personality and humorous observations into the story, I found it charming and delightful. The author serves as an entertaining guide to a nearly impenetrable process. In revealing his own insecurities and odd experiences, he gives a feeling of what the scientists and engineers participating in the mission may also be experiencing. He boldly sticks with the team while they live on Martian Time (24 hr and 38 min day) and attempt to communicate with the outside world which is on local Tuscan time, Nasa time, or the news cycle, all of which affect the team. This book showed me how despite interference from NASA, intellectual disagreements, lack of sleep, and equipment failures the team keeps going because of surreally complicated project management processes, intense passion, a quirky sense of humor, and a lot of ice cream.
2012 #7
While there is some technical jargon, the author makes a huge effort to make it understandable color and detail against the larger picture of incredibly smart people working insanely long hours doing impossibly detailed work with ridiculously limited resources while continuously jet lagged.
While some reviews here objected to the author injecting his personality and humorous observations into the story, I found it charming and delightful. The author serves as an entertaining guide to a nearly impenetrable process. In revealing his own insecurities and odd experiences, he gives a feeling of what the scientists and engineers participating in the mission may also be experiencing. He boldly sticks with the team while they live on Martian Time (24 hr and 38 min day) and attempt to communicate with the outside world which is on local Tuscan time, Nasa time, or the news cycle, all of which affect the team. This book showed me how despite interference from NASA, intellectual disagreements, lack of sleep, and equipment failures the team keeps going because of surreally complicated project management processes, intense passion, a quirky sense of humor, and a lot of ice cream.
2012 #7
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