Space Tourism

by Peter McMahon, Andy Mora (Illustrator)

The final frontier is no longer the exclusive domain of professional astronauts. More and more, ordinary tourists are venturing into the great beyond. Written in a clear, kid-friendly style and accentuated with fun, detailed illustrations, Space Tourism gives readers an exciting overview of this burgeoning industry. To add context, there are simple explanations of the science behind space travel (such as a super description of how rockets work) and even direct quotes from space-tourism experts, who share realworld experiences and introduce easy experiments and activities (such as building a "gravity simulator" with cardboard and string). Kids will love learning about the latest innovations and will find their imaginations ignited by future possibilities -- such as an Earth-space elevator (not as far-fetched as it sounds) and a space station replete with grassy valleys, streams and trees.

40 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2011

About the author

Peter McMahon is an award-winning science journalist who has worked for CTV.ca, Discovery Channel.ca, written for The Toronto Star, the kids publication YES Mag, CAA online magazine, and written science features for such magazines as Canadian Geographic and Today’s Parent.

In February of 2010, he covered health science stories at the Vancouver Winter Games for CTVolympics.ca

While serving as senior online producer for Discovery Channel, Peter hosted, edited, and produced the first TV-quality LIVE science specials on the Internet.

An avid “wilderness astronomer” , Peter was the first to propose that Jasper National Park become a dark sky preserve, and worked with Parks Canada to have it designated the world’s largest astronomy park, as of March 2011.

He has spoken on science communication and astronomy at countless universities, science centres, conferences, and national parks, as well as delivering science communication workshops at Durham College, Science North/Laurentian University’s Science Communication program, and The Banff Centre.

Peter’s second installment in the Machines of the Future science experiment book series – Space Tourism – published by Kids Can Press, is due to hit bookshelves in fall 2011.