Postcards from Mars: The First Photographer on the Red Planet

by Jim Bell

Jim Bell, the scientist and photographer who controlled the image team on the Roving Mars missions, has processed 150 of the best images they generated. These photographs take readers from the launch of the robots to the alien landscape they discovered and the mysteries of the Red Planet they have helped to solve.

Genres: Nonfiction, Space, Science, Photography, Astronomy

208 pages, Hardcover

First published March 30, 2006

About the author

James (Jim) F. Bell III (born July 23, 1965) is a Professor of Astronomy at Arizona State University, specializing in the study of planetary geology, geochemistry and mineralogy using data obtained from telescopes and from various spacecraft missions.
Dr. Bell's active research has involved the NASA Mars Pathfinder, Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR), Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR), 2001 Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, and the Mars Science Laboratory missions. His book Postcards from Mars includes many images taken by the Mars rovers. Dr. Bell is currently an editor of the space science journal Icarus and president of The Planetary Society.
He has served as the lead scientist in charge of the Panoramic camera (Pancam) color imaging system on Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity.

Reviews

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book features photos from the twin Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. They launched about a month apart and landed on Mars in 2004 within a few weeks of each other. They were expected to last 90 days. Spirit lasted until 2010, and Opportunity lasted until 2015. The book was published in 2006, well before the rovers lost contact.

The photos are stunning and crisp and clear. There are several four-page panoramic spreads. These are beautiful.

The text is not so interesting; I had to skim most of it. Because the author was the main photographer for the mission, the book is as much about photography (in excruciating nitty-gritty detail) as it is about Mars or exploration. There is lots of rambling; the content could have been cut in half at least without compromising any information.

The photo captions are in 6-point type. SIX. I am not exaggerating. This is not for lack of space on the page. My eyes were just not up to reading them half the time, and I didn’t feel like getting out the magnifying glass.

You can learn more about the rovers and see all the photos at https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mer/mission...

Book Blog

[Peter Tillman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book, though the photos get a bit repetitive. These are from the first two rovers, and have been overshadowed by the current rover missions. 3.5 stars.

[Jeremiah Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful pictures! Dull text.

I will be honest. I had to stop reading after the 1,237.5 mention of sundials. I say .5 because the last one was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I got through “sun” and abruptly quit reading.

The forward is by Bill Nye the Science Guy. I was initially excited but it was dry too. I think he phoned it in. He is much more entertaining when he is on FOX News insulting the climate naysayers or talking to children about chemistry. (Keep up the great work with the Planetary Society, Bill! You are much appreciated!)

I digress. The pictures are high quality and stunning to look at. If you are at all interested in space stuff, you will probably have seen many of these pictures elsewhere by now; whether it be on TV, the news, or the panoramic Martian wallpaper you just put up in your bathroom.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly I love this because I worked with Jim Bell the summer before it was published, and got to know a lot of these images really intimately. I was doing a study on soil composition based on spectral data from Opportunity. I learned a lot more about linux and IDL and other basic computer stuff than soil, but I got to look at a lot of pretty pictures. Most of which are in this book. And Jim Bell is beyond awesome.

My copy is signed:
"For Lisa--
With gratitude for all your enthusiasm for space science! Mars Rocks--enjoy the view!
--Jim"

[Connor Holmes]

I don't really do book reviews anymore, but I thought it might be useful to note a few things to readers of this book. First, Jim Bell is a super intelligent dude who is passionate as hell about space exploration, and that comes through in this book and another of his I've read, The Interstellar Age (about the Voyager missions), as well as his appearance in a tangentially related film on Netflix. But if you're going to pick up this book, you gotta know it's a coffee table book. Meaning it's the size of a freaking coffee table. Which is good because the pictures are breathtaking. But the text is super technical and pretty much a full-length book stuffed in with the pictures. So you can't really carry it around with you to read. So basically you're reading a novel about the technical details of these missions while leaning over your table. If you're not into that, you can skip the text, watch the NOVA documentary "Welcome to Mars" and get the same enjoyment out of just oogling the photos. If you are into that, it's got tons of nerdy nuts and bolts so go crazy and enjoy. Or else check out a human-sized book about the missions written by one of the other team members, like Steve Squyres. The only thing you might want to know before you delve in is that a lot of the text--I mean a lot--is about the cameras, not the missions. There's a ton of info on resolutions, when the cameras worked and didn't work, the technology of the cameras, sundials, coloration, and so forth. Which makes sense, because the book's about "postcards" from mars--the photos, and of course the camera equipment are the eyes to that world for the scientists working the rover missions. And there's still plenty on the missions, the potential of water on ancient mars, and so forth. I'm not knocking the book, but I'd just say to know what kind of book you're getting into. I got my copy from the library, but buying this beautiful glossy hardcover will put you out $50. Worth it, if this is what you're looking for in a Mars book.

[Scott Benowitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very beautiful photo essay, collection of images which were captured by NASA's Spirit and Opportunity probes. "Postcards From Mars" is designed for laypersons, you don't need any advanced understanding of planetary science to understand or to appreciate this book.

[Henry Kline · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read about the Rovers time of Mars with plenty of excellent pictures.

[Fabrizio Forlani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply wonderful pictures from the Spirit and Opportunity Missions.
The book was released during mission so many of the recent developments of the two rover missions are missing. The book contains some beautiful pictures which are more updated, but were added quite ealier than the mission's end.
Anyway the panoramas are simply stunning, covered with a great deal of details and the comment from Jim Bell who explains both his work in the 'postcard team' and that of other groups involved in the mission. I appreciated every page of it because the pictures are simply stunning.
Mars looks both familiar and alien and such vistas will fill with interest and enthusiasm every one already in love with space and planet exploration. At this point, whether Mars hosted life in the remote past or not, I found the exploration of this new, strange world, as an endevour in itself. A whole world of marvels, inscripted in stunning rocks and vistas.

[David Czuba · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely stunning images sent from the rovers on the surface of the Red planet to Earth. A fascinating oversized book unlike the coffee table books we're used to. With foldout panoramic mosaics of the Martian surface, as well as a narrative that makes you feel as though you're moving along with rovers Spirit and Curiosity, it almost feels like a travelogue, with references to the packing, unpacking, and change in oneself along the journey. It is difficult to believe that we live in an age when we're becoming familiar with the surface of another planet. You feel the urge to scoop up ferrous blueberries, or examine a meteorite, or spread out a picnic blanket and basket on that rocky ridge of the crater's lip overlooking sand dunes. This book make Mars seem so close and such a wonderful destination to visit.

[g0rd0 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nonfiction book that takes place half on another planet, the best of it's kind I've ever read. The inside story of the under appreciated Mars rovers, a coffee table book really from the guy in charge of the rover's cameras. Huge glossy fold out panoramas with nail biting details of the process of obtaining them. The rovers would be successful if they survived 90 days NASA said, its been almost 9 years and they are still viable. Super cool and other worldly.

[Andypants · Rating 4 out of 5]

5 stars for the photos, 3 stars for the memoir.