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Dr. Dave Astronaut #4
Destination: Space
Will humans ever be able to live on other planets? Former NASA astronaut Dr. Dave Williams is the person to ask.
It turns out that Earth is a pretty good place to live. Finding other habitable environments in space is no easy task: temperatures on Mercury are ten times hotter than on Earth; winter on Neptune lasts about forty years, and Uranus is ten billion miles (sixteen billion kilometers) away.
But there is one planet that looks promising: Mars. Even though it takes six months to get there, Mars most closely resembles Earth. So what would it take to make it habitable—and what would life look like there?
As in the other three titles in the Dr. Dave: Astronaut series, this book demystifies space travel. The science is explained in simple terms while the sense of adventure is ever-present. This book belongs in the hands of every child interested in space, and in every classroom where STEM is taught.
It turns out that Earth is a pretty good place to live. Finding other habitable environments in space is no easy task: temperatures on Mercury are ten times hotter than on Earth; winter on Neptune lasts about forty years, and Uranus is ten billion miles (sixteen billion kilometers) away.
But there is one planet that looks promising: Mars. Even though it takes six months to get there, Mars most closely resembles Earth. So what would it take to make it habitable—and what would life look like there?
As in the other three titles in the Dr. Dave: Astronaut series, this book demystifies space travel. The science is explained in simple terms while the sense of adventure is ever-present. This book belongs in the hands of every child interested in space, and in every classroom where STEM is taught.
- GenresNonfiction
52 pages, Paperback
Published October 9, 2018
1 person is currently reading
12 people want to read
About the author
Dave Williams
10 books13 followersThere is more than one author with this name
Dr. Dave Williams was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and moved to Beaconsfield, Quebec on the West Island of Montreal at an early age.
As a child, his favorite book was Tom Sawyer; his younger years were spent fishing, camping, and enjoying the outdoors. He dreamt of becoming an astronaut when he was 7 years old after watching Alan Shepard become the first American to travel in space. His passion for exploration took him underwater when he started scuba diving at age 12. His childhood heroes included Canada’s famous diving physician Dr. Joe MacInnis, Jacques Cousteau, and the astronauts of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs.
After graduating from Beaconsfield High School, he attended McGill University, pursuing a bachelor of science degree in neurobiology, a master of science degree in neurophysiology, followed by a doctorate of medicine and a master of surgery degree from the Faculty of Medicine, McGill University.
He completed a residency in family practice in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, followed by a fellowship in emergency medicine from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, after finishing a residency in emergency medicine at the University of Toronto. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons and the College of Family Physicians of Canada.
He worked at Sunnybrook Health Science Centre in Toronto as well as Grand River Hospital in Kitchener-Waterloo prior to joining the Canadian Space Agency in the second astronaut selection.
In April 1998, Dave Williams participated in his first spaceflight aboard Space Shuttle Columbia. During the 16-day flight, called Neurolab, the seven-person crew served as both experiment subjects and operators for 26 individual life science experiments. These experiments, dedicated to the advancement of neuroscience research, focused on the effects of microgravity on the brain and the nervous system.
After the Neurolab mission, Dave Williams held the position of Director of the Space and Life Sciences Directorate at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. With this appointment, he became the first non-American to hold a senior management position within NASA. He concurrently held a position as the first deputy associate administrator for crew health and safety in the Office of Space Flight at NASA Headquarters.
In October 2001, he became an aquanaut through his participation in the joint NASA-NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) undersea research mission, held in Aquarius, the world's only underwater research laboratory. During this seven-day NEEMO-1 mission, Williams became the first Canadian to have lived and worked in space and in the ocean.
In 2006, Dave Williams was assigned as the crew commander of the NEEMO-9 undersea research mission dedicated to assess new ways to deliver medical care to a remote location, as would be done in a long space flight. A year later, he flew on his second spaceflight STS-118 on the Space Shuttle Endeavour. During the mission, the crew successfully added a truss segment, a new gyroscope, and an external stowage platform to the station. The mission successfully activated a new system that enables docked shuttles to draw electrical power from the station to extend visits to the outpost. Dr. Williams took part in three of the four spacewalks, the highest number of spacewalks performed by a Canadian in a single mission. He spent 17 hours and 47 minutes outside the shuttle, a Canadian record.
After retiring from the space program in 2008, Dr. Williams returned to healthcare. He is currently President and CEO of Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket, Ontario. Recipient of 4 honorary degrees, the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario, he is passionate about sharing his experiences through his speaking activities and is very excited about inspiring the next generation to pursue their drea
Dr. Dave Williams was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and moved to Beaconsfield, Quebec on the West Island of Montreal at an early age.
As a child, his favorite book was Tom Sawyer; his younger years were spent fishing, camping, and enjoying the outdoors. He dreamt of becoming an astronaut when he was 7 years old after watching Alan Shepard become the first American to travel in space. His passion for exploration took him underwater when he started scuba diving at age 12. His childhood heroes included Canada’s famous diving physician Dr. Joe MacInnis, Jacques Cousteau, and the astronauts of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs.
After graduating from Beaconsfield High School, he attended McGill University, pursuing a bachelor of science degree in neurobiology, a master of science degree in neurophysiology, followed by a doctorate of medicine and a master of surgery degree from the Faculty of Medicine, McGill University.
He completed a residency in family practice in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, followed by a fellowship in emergency medicine from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, after finishing a residency in emergency medicine at the University of Toronto. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons and the College of Family Physicians of Canada.
He worked at Sunnybrook Health Science Centre in Toronto as well as Grand River Hospital in Kitchener-Waterloo prior to joining the Canadian Space Agency in the second astronaut selection.
In April 1998, Dave Williams participated in his first spaceflight aboard Space Shuttle Columbia. During the 16-day flight, called Neurolab, the seven-person crew served as both experiment subjects and operators for 26 individual life science experiments. These experiments, dedicated to the advancement of neuroscience research, focused on the effects of microgravity on the brain and the nervous system.
After the Neurolab mission, Dave Williams held the position of Director of the Space and Life Sciences Directorate at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. With this appointment, he became the first non-American to hold a senior management position within NASA. He concurrently held a position as the first deputy associate administrator for crew health and safety in the Office of Space Flight at NASA Headquarters.
In October 2001, he became an aquanaut through his participation in the joint NASA-NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) undersea research mission, held in Aquarius, the world's only underwater research laboratory. During this seven-day NEEMO-1 mission, Williams became the first Canadian to have lived and worked in space and in the ocean.
In 2006, Dave Williams was assigned as the crew commander of the NEEMO-9 undersea research mission dedicated to assess new ways to deliver medical care to a remote location, as would be done in a long space flight. A year later, he flew on his second spaceflight STS-118 on the Space Shuttle Endeavour. During the mission, the crew successfully added a truss segment, a new gyroscope, and an external stowage platform to the station. The mission successfully activated a new system that enables docked shuttles to draw electrical power from the station to extend visits to the outpost. Dr. Williams took part in three of the four spacewalks, the highest number of spacewalks performed by a Canadian in a single mission. He spent 17 hours and 47 minutes outside the shuttle, a Canadian record.
After retiring from the space program in 2008, Dr. Williams returned to healthcare. He is currently President and CEO of Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket, Ontario. Recipient of 4 honorary degrees, the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario, he is passionate about sharing his experiences through his speaking activities and is very excited about inspiring the next generation to pursue their drea
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 31, 2018
3,5/5. The editing/visual organization of this book is just terrible. Look like an old school book from the 80's. That being said, if you go through that, and unfortunately some kids might not, the book contents is interesting, well explain and vulgarize and contain a good amount of information about our planet, others planets, life, space exploration, colonization, etc.
August 12, 2018
Amazing Book.
Me and my son just got another gem for our astronomy collection.
Nice illustrations and perfect description.
Perfect for kids who are interested in Space.
Thank you to the Author and Annick Press for the ARC.
Me and my son just got another gem for our astronomy collection.
Nice illustrations and perfect description.
Perfect for kids who are interested in Space.
Thank you to the Author and Annick Press for the ARC.
July 17, 2019
“Destination: Space” by former NASA astronaut Dr. Dave Williams teaches children about the Final Frontier in this informative accessible guide. Young readers learn that Earth is a pretty good place to live; temperatures on Mercury are ten times hotter than here; winter on Neptune lasts about forty years; Uranus is ten billion miles away; and that Mars, although it takes six months to get to, most closely resembles Earth. This fourth title in the Dr. Dave: Astronaut series sheds light on living on other planets and is a great guide for classrooms. Highly recommended!
Pub Date 09 Oct 2018
Thanks to Annick Press Ltd. and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are fully mine.
#Destination:Space #NetGalley
Pub Date 09 Oct 2018
Thanks to Annick Press Ltd. and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are fully mine.
#Destination:Space #NetGalley
August 20, 2018
This is a reasonable book for the young about mankind creating living habitats on other planets and celestial bodies far, far away, but it's not the greatest one. It's too repetitive, even if that will help with the educational side of things, and too higgledy-piggledy, going through the likely candidates for places either we or other lifeforms might one day be found on, but going through them twice and in a completely random order. A strong visual style also helps the book's success, but it could have been given a much more simple and logical structure.
December 18, 2019
... just a few words about this book for kids:
* colorful
*full of interesting facts about Space (also for adults)
* easy to understand
* overall a really nice book to enjoy
Note 1-2 or B+
* colorful
*full of interesting facts about Space (also for adults)
* easy to understand
* overall a really nice book to enjoy
Note 1-2 or B+
Want to read
April 25, 2021Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.
August 13, 2018
I got this book for free in return for my honest opinion via NetGalley.
I don't need to tell anyone I love science (hell, I am a scientist after all). I love learning new things in the field, especially, when it's in an area I'm not trained. Thus, Destination Space. I've always been interested in space (just not enough to study it), and let's face it, I too have wondered about humans inhabiting other planets. So when this popped up on my NetGalley feed, I couldn't pass it up.
First off, I think a book with this theme is important, with global warming and since out current "leader" (and I use that term loosely) and his administration think global warming is "just a myth," it's great to talk about this topic, especially since we humans are literally killing the earth. Speaking of global warming, I feel this book could've touched on that. It's one of the biggest threats we as the human race are facing. It would've been awesome to go into the causes, effects, etc. I mean, the main reason scientists are even looking into other planets is because it's dying, and who knows what will happen when the target audience is all grown up. However, the book only uses the words "rising sea levels," and chalks it up to writing and movie imagination *Eye Roll* The book also mentions that a deadly disease could strike and cause a planet move (more writing and movie imagination) but as someone who has studied health and biology I have to say moving people from one planet to another due to disease isn't actually ideal as it would sound, you still run into the fact that you could have a carrier who exhibits no symptoms and infects the new population (100% unrelated, but throwing it out there. Yes, I am being a know it all asshole, thank you for noticing).
The layout leaves something to be desired. I admit, I'm an adult, and therefore not the target audience but I tried hard to put myself in the kid's shoes. However, I'd would much rather read a book featuring real chapters with paragraphs. This book has little boxes with little tidbits and ton of pictures. I'm not above using pictures, but this seems excessive, there are more pictures than writing and learning material. I used to read informative books when I was little, and they weren't like this. They were short books, and yes, used pictures, but I learned something from them. I almost think kids wouldn't get a lot of information from this. Nothing seems to flow in the book either, it almost feels like it's being skipped around. They move from one topic to another then back to the first. The information provided are used and talked about over and over again. The author uses the same facts many times over but pairs it with different wording and pictures to make it appear new. Also, the information is highly basic, if you're child is in school, you can bet this is material they've already learned. Finally, the examples used in this book confused the hell out of this twenty-something scientist. I have a Bachelor's in maths and science, and the author lost me when giving examples. I feel younger readers could also experience this.
I hate knocking someone in the science field, so let's talk positives. Again, I think this could've been a great book provided they author didn't talk down so much to the audience and added more relevant information. However, it does give readers some possible job titles and definitions in the space realm. Astrobiologist, astronaut, astronomer, etc.
I don't need to tell anyone I love science (hell, I am a scientist after all). I love learning new things in the field, especially, when it's in an area I'm not trained. Thus, Destination Space. I've always been interested in space (just not enough to study it), and let's face it, I too have wondered about humans inhabiting other planets. So when this popped up on my NetGalley feed, I couldn't pass it up.
First off, I think a book with this theme is important, with global warming and since out current "leader" (and I use that term loosely) and his administration think global warming is "just a myth," it's great to talk about this topic, especially since we humans are literally killing the earth. Speaking of global warming, I feel this book could've touched on that. It's one of the biggest threats we as the human race are facing. It would've been awesome to go into the causes, effects, etc. I mean, the main reason scientists are even looking into other planets is because it's dying, and who knows what will happen when the target audience is all grown up. However, the book only uses the words "rising sea levels," and chalks it up to writing and movie imagination *Eye Roll* The book also mentions that a deadly disease could strike and cause a planet move (more writing and movie imagination) but as someone who has studied health and biology I have to say moving people from one planet to another due to disease isn't actually ideal as it would sound, you still run into the fact that you could have a carrier who exhibits no symptoms and infects the new population (100% unrelated, but throwing it out there. Yes, I am being a know it all asshole, thank you for noticing).
The layout leaves something to be desired. I admit, I'm an adult, and therefore not the target audience but I tried hard to put myself in the kid's shoes. However, I'd would much rather read a book featuring real chapters with paragraphs. This book has little boxes with little tidbits and ton of pictures. I'm not above using pictures, but this seems excessive, there are more pictures than writing and learning material. I used to read informative books when I was little, and they weren't like this. They were short books, and yes, used pictures, but I learned something from them. I almost think kids wouldn't get a lot of information from this. Nothing seems to flow in the book either, it almost feels like it's being skipped around. They move from one topic to another then back to the first. The information provided are used and talked about over and over again. The author uses the same facts many times over but pairs it with different wording and pictures to make it appear new. Also, the information is highly basic, if you're child is in school, you can bet this is material they've already learned. Finally, the examples used in this book confused the hell out of this twenty-something scientist. I have a Bachelor's in maths and science, and the author lost me when giving examples. I feel younger readers could also experience this.
I hate knocking someone in the science field, so let's talk positives. Again, I think this could've been a great book provided they author didn't talk down so much to the audience and added more relevant information. However, it does give readers some possible job titles and definitions in the space realm. Astrobiologist, astronaut, astronomer, etc.
October 7, 2018
Ever look up at the night sky and wonder what it would be like to live on another planet? Former astronaut Dr. Dave Williams takes readers on a tour of our solar system that points out the major drawbacks or good points for each planet and even a few of the moons. He also talks about how we learned what we know about them, and what the biggest tourist attractions would be for each spot. He even discusses what sort of shelters, transportation, and solutions for food are being created and tested. Photos from various missions and NASA projects, artists' renderings of what probes looked like as they reached various planets, and cartoon illustrations support the text. Back matter includes a list for further reading, image credits, and an index.
Dr. Dave makes sure to point out that space ships might not look like what we see in movies (with an image from Star Trek as an example). He points out that messages from Titan to Earth would take over an hour to arrive; "No hi-speed Wi-Fi here!" Equipment like the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module and various designs for surface rovers are shown, with explanations of where and how they have been/are being tested. A photo of astronauts on the ISS watching "The Last Jedi" proves that there will be a chance for relaxation in space now and then.
Whether young readers simply want to learn more facts about outer space and its exploration, or have a desire to someday join those who are venturing out beyond Earth's atmosphere, this introduction to possibilities of living on another planet is informative and fun. A recommended addition to school library collections for elementary grades.
I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley.
Dr. Dave makes sure to point out that space ships might not look like what we see in movies (with an image from Star Trek as an example). He points out that messages from Titan to Earth would take over an hour to arrive; "No hi-speed Wi-Fi here!" Equipment like the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module and various designs for surface rovers are shown, with explanations of where and how they have been/are being tested. A photo of astronauts on the ISS watching "The Last Jedi" proves that there will be a chance for relaxation in space now and then.
Whether young readers simply want to learn more facts about outer space and its exploration, or have a desire to someday join those who are venturing out beyond Earth's atmosphere, this introduction to possibilities of living on another planet is informative and fun. A recommended addition to school library collections for elementary grades.
I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley.
January 13, 2019
'Destination: Space' by Dr. Dave Williams and Loredana Cunti with illustrations by Theo Krynauw is a book for young readers about space and exploring other planets.
In this picture-filled book, the main question that gets posed is "Will humans ever be able to live on other planets?" Then the book explores why we might need to and what viable options look like. Terraforming Mars is discussed as well as more Earth-like options further in space. Many uninhabitable options are discussed along the way.
The book is filled with illustrations and pictures. It's a fun exploration of space, if not very deep. I think it might cause further interest in young readers.
I received a review copy of this ebook from Annick Press Ltd. and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.
In this picture-filled book, the main question that gets posed is "Will humans ever be able to live on other planets?" Then the book explores why we might need to and what viable options look like. Terraforming Mars is discussed as well as more Earth-like options further in space. Many uninhabitable options are discussed along the way.
The book is filled with illustrations and pictures. It's a fun exploration of space, if not very deep. I think it might cause further interest in young readers.
I received a review copy of this ebook from Annick Press Ltd. and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.
September 7, 2019
I read & evaluated this book for the Vancouver Children's Literature Roundtable (VCLR)'s 2019 Information Book Award.
This book was intriguing, but didn't do much for me. I wish there was more narrative at the beginning of each chapter. Exploring the topic of living on other planets was new for me to find in a children's non-fiction book and I'm sure young readers who are really into space would get a kick out of this one. I was a little perplexed by the [lack of?] climate-change discussion though... It didn't seem explicit enough.
This book was intriguing, but didn't do much for me. I wish there was more narrative at the beginning of each chapter. Exploring the topic of living on other planets was new for me to find in a children's non-fiction book and I'm sure young readers who are really into space would get a kick out of this one. I was a little perplexed by the [lack of?] climate-change discussion though... It didn't seem explicit enough.
September 18, 2018
This is a great book for any space lover. It is a detailed book on planets, astronaut information, earth studies and more. In comic type form it gives lots of information. Illustrations and graphics are very well done and will hold interest of older children. I think because of the information it is best for children 8+. This book would also be very good for research on a science space report.
I received this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
I received this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews