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Book Cover for: Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void, Mary Roach

Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void

Mary Roach

Hardcover
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Space is a world devoid of the things we need to live and thrive: air, gravity, hot showers, fresh produce, privacy, beer. Space exploration is in some ways an exploration of what it means to be human. How much can a person give up? How much weirdness can they take? What happens to you when you can't walk for a year? have sex? smell flowers? What happens if you vomit in your helmet during a space walk? Is it possible for the human body to survive a bailout at 17,000 miles per hour? To answer these questions, space agencies set up all manner of quizzical and startlingly bizarre space simulations. As Mary Roach discovers, it's possible to preview space without ever leaving Earth. From the space shuttle training toilet to a crash test of NASA's new space capsule (cadaver filling in for astronaut), Roach takes us on a surreally entertaining trip into the science of life in space and space on Earth.

Book Details

  • Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
  • Publish Date: Aug 2nd, 2010
  • Pages: 336
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 8.56in - 5.80in - 1.00in - 1.07lb
  • EAN: 9780393068474
  • Categories: • Space Science - General• Aeronautics & Astronautics• Physics - Astrophysics

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About the Author

Roach, Mary: - Mary Roach is the author of seven best-selling works of nonfiction, including Grunt, Stiff, and, most recently, Fuzz. Her writing has appeared in National Geographic and the New York Times Magazine, among other publications. She lives in California.

More books by Mary Roach

Book Cover for: Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law, Mary Roach
Book Cover for: Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, Mary Roach
Book Cover for: Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex, Mary Roach
Book Cover for: Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void, Mary Roach
Book Cover for: Six Feet Over: Science Tackles the Afterlife, Mary Roach
Book Cover for: Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal, Mary Roach
Book Cover for: Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War, Mary Roach
Book Cover for: Packing for Mars for Kids, Mary Roach
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What people are saying

Mentioner image for: Philipp Moehring
Philipp Moehring
@pmoe
2 years

Earliest stage tech investor with https://t.co/Yys8dhy1yK. I like hard & important problems. Aspiring woodworker and Girl Dad.

@AndrewCrow Also have Rubin on the docket. New Andy weir Arthur Clarke: Rama II Mary Roach: packing for Mars

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Mentioner image for: Rosemary Mosco (Bird And Moon Comics)
Rosemary Mosco (Bird And Moon Comics)
@RosemaryMosco
2 years

Nature cartoonist, bird artist, author of many science books. About: https://t.co/kDaXe6gEoz Comics: https://t.co/DdkdIek8nh Climate: @climate_comic. She/her.

@sgrimbly Oh I always enjoy anything by Mary Roach! Have you read Packing for Mars?

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Mentioner image for: David B. Larter
David B. Larter
@DavidLarter
2 years

Navy vet. Tweets on Navy, space, watches, scotch, history & other random unserious musings. All opinions mine, not employer's. Formerly Defense News, Navy Times

Packing for Mars by Mary Roach is funny. Apparently being pissy with mission control is a known astronaut psychological phenomenon. It's a way of redirecting your frustration with your fellow astronauts toward people with whom personal conflicts don't impact the mission

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Praise for this book

The author's writing comes across as reportorial, but with a clear sense of humor; even the footnotes are used to both informational and comedic effect.--Time Out New York
[Her] style is at its most substantial--and most hilarious--in the zero-gravity realm that Packing for Mars explores.... As startling as it is funny.--Janet Maslin "The New York Times"
This is the kind of smart, smirky stuff that Roach does so well.--Geoff Nicholson "San Francisco Chronicle"
Cool answers to questions about the void you didn't even know you had.-- "People"
An utterly fascinating account, made all the more entertaining by the author's ever-amused tone.-- "BookPage"
An impish and adventurous writer with a gleefully inquisitive mind and stand-up comic's timing.-- "Booklist"
Hilarious.-- "The New York Times Book Review"
A delightful, illuminating grab bag of space-flight curiosities.-- "Kirkus Reviews"

What people are saying

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