Missions to Mars

by Larry Crumpler

From a long-term planning lead for the Mars Exploration Rover Project comes this vivid insider account of some of NASA’s most vital and exciting missions to the Red Planet, illustrated with full-color photographs—a wondrous chronicle of unprecedented scientific discovery and the search for evidence of life on Mars. 

“There are probably just a few of moments in human history when a small group of humans stood on the margins of a vast new world, and it is no stretch of the romantic imagination that the arrival of two rovers on the surface of another planet was surely one of them.” Human exploration of Mars is the most ambitious and exciting scientific goal of the twenty-first century. Few people know as much about this fascinating planet as Dr. Larry Crumpler. As one of the long-term planning leads for the Mars Exploration Rover Project, he helped control the daily communications between NASA and the rovers roaming the planet to gather scientific data. Thanks to the Rover Project, we now know that the dry, red dust of the planet’s surface hides a wet, possibly living history, and that conditions were present for the evolution of complex, organic life.  In this magnificent compendium, Dr. Crumpler recounts the history of the Red Planet, from the earliest days when ancient astronomers turned their eyes to the heavens to the breakthrough discoveries being unearthed by modern technology today, including some of the first images from the latest rover, Perseverance. Paired with stunning, full-color photographs taken by rovers and NASA satellites images, this magnificent “biography” of the red planet allows us to understand and experience it as never before.  When the Spirit and Opportunity Rovers landed on Mars in January 2004, scientists expected them to function for 90 days. But those three months turned into fifteen years. With data gathered by the rovers, Dr. Crumpler and his fellow team members were able to reconstruct the planet’s stunning geological past, when it was once inundated with water, and perhaps could have supported microbial life. Dr Crumpler also reveals the joys and demands of life as a scientist taking part in these historic missions. Exploring fundamental questions about this remarkable planet that have intrigued us earthlings for years, Missions to Mars illuminates Mars’ significance in the solar system—and the human imagination.

Genres: Space, Nonfiction, Astronomy, Science

336 pages, Hardcover

Published November 9, 2021

Reviews

[Richard Archambault · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic. Exactly what I was looking for, after reading Discovering Mars: A History of Observation and Exploration of the Red Planet. While that book was super in-depth, especially about pre-space-age Martian investigations, this one was almost entirely about the space age and the various spacecraft that have gone to Mars. A perfect complement to the other book, and I'm glad I read them in the order I did. 2 fantastic things about this book:

1. Colour! So many colour images! The other book had some plates, but way too many greyscale images, but with captions that referred to colour in those images. Frustrating! I was starved for colour after that, and this book had it!

2. Very recent! It even included a section on Perseverance, which landed only 13 months ago on Mars! That section must have been added on really quickly right before sending it to the printers, but I'm so glad it was included.

Wonderful, wonderful popular-science book for folks who are interested in Mars. Highly recommend reading both books, in the order I read them, if you want to get really in-depth on it. My only hope now: that a human lands on Mars before I pass on! I would so love to see that.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an exceptional read/listen. Just fascinating information and wonderful to learn. My only complaint (and this applies only to the audiobook/narrator not the book author) is that I have never heard anyone pronounce "JPL" with such exquisite care and cautious precision each and every time. It almost threw me. It is pronounced "jaypeel."

[Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book from an insider. It appeals to the scientifically curious non-expert reader with broad interests in planetary scientist or field geology. The text has enough science/geology to be interesting without being overwhelming. Larry has been working on rover mission science teams for many years so he truly knows what he is talking about. The illustrations are breathtaking. The writing is clear, informative and presented in an informal style. A winner.

[Rossdavidh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Humans have been interested in Mars (the planet, not the "star" or Olympian god) for a long time, but in recent decades that interest has been, on the whole, increasing. That is not to say, however, that it has not seen its ups and downs. The author, Larry S. Crumpler, and his wife Jayne, know this better than most. One or both of them have been involved in essentially all American missions to study Mars, since the 70's Viking spacecraft, and well up into the 21st century with its several Martian rovers. In the middle of that period, in the late 20th century, there was a substantial flagging in American efforts to do anything in space which could not be done with the Space Shuttle. Now, as the idea of being able to send humans to Mars becomes ever closer to the realm of plans rather than daydreams, interest is stealthily but unmistakably increasing again. This book is a splendid guide through what has been learned so far, and how we have learned it.

Of course, the very fact that so much Mars exploration is happening right now, means that all print media on the subject is incomplete as soon as it is made. How much water did Mars have, and how recently? When did its era of volcanic activity stop (or has it)? What's the deal with the methane levels going up and down, is that life? If you want the absolute latest story on what is known about Mars, no book is going to work.

However, there are a couple other things that the book gives you, that no YouTube channel does. First, it's exceedingly well made, the hardcover version anyway, with loads of full-color maps and photographs and so on. Second, it tells the story of how we came to know all of this. I could never do this kind of work. When I worked in the semiconductor industry, where it would sometimes take a couple months after conducting an experiment before the silicon wafers would get to the end of the line and be turned into finished chips and I could get my data, it felt like walking through honey (viscous, tiring, slow). Waiting years for your mission to go from design to budgetary approval to build to launch to actually on Mars, is far beyond my patience. But, I am glad that others are willing and able to do it. Reading the book, is way quicker, and you can skip straight to the good part: what did we learn?

If, of course, you are not into Mars, let's face it, you probably aren't going to care for this book. Myself, I found it fascinating.

[Cade · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mars is interesting, so there was some stuff to like here. I don't care about the autobiographical portions, but there actually wasn't much of that after the first part of the book. Overall, I am more interested in the engineering of the rovers than the science they produce, so I much prefer Roving Mars: Spirit, Opportunity, and the Exploration of the Red Planet and Mars Rover Curiosity: An Inside Account from Curiosity's Chief Engineer. The other reason those other books are substantially better than this one is that those others make you feel like you are experiencing everything vicariously which is exciting and interesting. The way this author writes, that sense of being shoulder to shoulder with the scientists and engineers on the mission is entirely lacking.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are a geologist, or if you really love rocks, then you will love this book. I happen to be of the latter category but even so, sometimes there was just a lot of rock talk. I read over some sections without fully understanding and that's ok. The point is, there are rocks on mars and we get to look at them and read their story. It's actually pretty exciting! From that standpoint, this book is exactly what I was looking for.

The rovers did come to life for me. I cried when they "died". Of course, it probably helps that I was already near tears from various life events when I read that section. Sometimes it's good to have a cry and it surprises me when a non-fiction book gets me there so the author scores points for that as well.

This book could have benefited from the more liberal use of commas. Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading a short section every day with my tea and found myself looking forward to those quiet moments. Take this book in small chunks and you will be much happier. I took 2.5 months to read it. If this author decides to write another book, I will pick it up.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

Be ready for a lot of rocks if you pick this up.

A geologist's examination of Mars through the history of its exploration, this book also becomes a primer on geology. Or maybe a graduate level course. I really don't know since I've not gone past general high school Earth Science. Crumpler attempts to interweave the science and technology of Mars exploration in an accessible way, which he mostly accomplished. Technical language abounds, but he attempts to explain it in down-to-earth ways (see what I did there?).

I've never been obsessed with the Red Planet or space exploration, so I'm probably not the primary audience. There were enough broad considerations, though, to make it worth getting through. He makes Mars playful by connecting it with a trickster tradition, tying in literary quotes throughout. The part I was looking most forward to was the possibilities of people traveling to Mars, and he gets to this toward the end. It is reasonably satisfying to a lay audience, but there are a lot of technical details that I glossed over entirely.

[Logan Orr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an excellent resource to learn about all the robotic missions sent to the red planet along with the back end going ons that are required to dream up, develop, and implement these missions

The geologic information is quite dense but that should be expected from a book that deals with missions that primarily involve investigating the history of mars. This is in no way a critique of the book, the geologic information that has been pulled from these missions is fascinating but it’s just something to be aware of in case a reader is more interested in the technical aspects of the rovers/orbiters/landers and their development and less of the scientific outcomes of those missions

[Rebecca]

Apparently I am not as interested in Mars as I thought. I am afraid I got bored with this and didn’t finish. It might have been more interesting if it were more about Mars and less about the author’s experiences as a scientist and geologist; It was more biography than about Mars, though I will admit I did not get very far.

[Brian Grouhel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting book full of facts and science for the many Mars missions! While focusing on the Opportunity and Spirit as well as Perseverance and Curiosity rovers the author gives insight to the very latest Mars missions and thought of what might be yet to come. Following these four rovers around the Red Planet was fascinating reading. Almost like reading The Martian Chronicles again!

[Paul Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the semi-biographical/historical treatment the book takes. We get to learn and grow and discover with scientists of the past and present. The pictures were awesome! It was exciting to learn that Mars retained more of its ancient geology--going back BILLIONS of years--than Earth.

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

The text doesn't really flow well and I found myself having to reread passages a lot cause my brain would unfocus. The facts and history of Mars missions is all very interesting so my main gripe is the prose. The images were all fantastic though.

[Nadia Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! Learning about space and other planets is just a hobby for me, so sometimes I get intimidated reading books like this, but it was really easy for me a hobbyist to understand. The pictures were beautiful as well.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3

[Brennie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and well written. I bit boring at first, but once he got into the descriptions of mars, I was all ears.

[Kendra McIntyre · Rating 3 out of 5]

Missions to Mars are an interesting thought. Will we ever make it there ourselves, and will we need to be there because Earth no longer provides what we need? This was a good history of all the work NASA has done to discover as much as they can about the red planet. It got a little science-wordy for me, but it was still interesting. #greatspaceread number 5!