Missions to Mars: A New Era of Rover and Spacecraft Discovery on the Red Planet

Dr. Larry Crumpler, a long-term planning lead for the Mars Exploration Rover Project, provides an insider account of NASA's most vital and exciting missions to the Red Planet, illustrated with full-color photographs. This book chronicles the history of Mars, from ancient astronomers to modern technology, and explores its geological past and potential for microbial life. It also reveals the joys and demands of life as a scientist participating in these historic missions.

\n Format: Hardback
\n Length: 336 pages
\n Publication date: 23 December 2021
\n Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
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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-colour 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 21st century, and few people on Earth 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.

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-colour photographs taken by rovers and NASA satellites, 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 team were able to reconstruct the planet's stunning geological past, when it was once inun.

The rovers discovered that Mars was once a warm, wet world with flowing rivers and lakes, much like Earth. They also found evidence of ancient life, including microscopic fossils and chemical compounds that suggest that microorganisms once lived on the planet.

The Mars Exploration Rover Project has been a huge success, and it has paved the way for future missions to the Red Planet. Dr. Crumpler's book is a must-read for anyone interested in space exploration and the search for life beyond Earth.

In conclusion, the Mars Exploration Rover Project has been a remarkable achievement, and Dr. Larry Crumpler's book is a must-read for anyone interested in space exploration and the search for life beyond Earth. The rovers have uncovered a wealth of information about the Red Planet, and they have paved the way for future missions to the planet. With the continued development of technology, we may one day be able to send humans to Mars and explore its wonders firsthand.

\n Weight: 1376g\n
Dimension: 194 x 239 x 37 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9780008407261\n \n