Packing for Mars

This was the year of Mary Roach for me: I had always been hesitant about her books - Bonk seemed to flippant, Stiff irreverant and she was altogether too popular - always a sign that a pop science author doesn't know what she or he is talking about.

So I picked up Packing for Mars because one of my friends was insistent that Mary Roach was actually a great author, and by the title it seemed the least likely to offend, and, to be perfectly honest, there needs to be a new law of physics to describe the force that over time pulls me in to any book on astronomy.

To say I was pleasantly surprised is an understatement. Roach is clearly a scientific writer, rather than a scientist, which is a niche in need of more authors: she writes with a fluidity that is lacking in some popular science books written by scientists, but more than that, she functions in this odd way as an audience surrogate - bringing with her the curiosity (sometimes scatological) of her readers and commenting along the way about her anticipation for meetings, her rationale for her questions and a description of how she finds out the information that she shares. It is a unique authorial voice and one that I enjoyed thoroughly.
The content itself is a complete exploration into the NASA space program - short on hoopla and long on (sometimes scatological) details. Roach is complete, explaining, for instance, every type of food tried, the nutritional assessments, texture and composition of astronaut food, followed up by how it is actually eaten, including concerns about the ability to swallow in space, and which were substantiated and which were not.

Yes, she is a little long on the scatology, but I think that bothers me more than it does the average reader. And while there is a heavy dose of humor, it is mostly witty and tongue-in-cheek, more than gross-out humor. I've been converted: Long live Mary Roach!

Actual science is so much more interesting than science fiction. Unlike the space-age vision of sterile space capsules pensive floating, actual space travel is full of fear, bravery and lots of bodily functions. Roach discusses the very human concerns of people in space, and the history of how we got there. Fascinating, and some of her best writing. I laughed out loud on numerous occasions.

I love Mary Roach's writing and this book was no exception. Favorite chapters were sex in space, pooping in space, and food in space.

(Read Harder 2017: #13 Read a nonfiction book about technology.)

This is one of my new favorite books. I checked it out from the library, but might have to go buy it so I can enjoy rereading it at my leisure.

Mary Roach continues to impress. Fast, funny, and fascinating jaunt through space history

A perfect accompaniment for the newly-released ‘The Martian', this 2010 book by Mary Roach is both fun and insightful like her other books. Roach takes a look at behind-the-scenes (sometimes, literally) at the various machinations of space travel. She presents a lot of historical context and fun facts from the Gemini, Apollo, and the later Space Station missions.

Even wonder how astronauts poop in space? Well, wonder no more (spoiler alert! You need good aim). The more interesting parts are ironically the most boring parts of an astronaut's journey. The drudge work of research that went into finding out what happens when people don't bathe for 2 weeks in zero gravity or the kind of food they have to eat and even whether they do stir-crazy when propelled into space at mind-numbing speeds into the frontier that no man had ever been blasted into. Space travel is exciting but preparing for it may not necessarily be. The nerds on the ground and at mission control are just as committed as the guys that get to ride the rockets. Forget Columbus, these guys were the real pioneers.

Tato kniha vás krásně odradí od cestování do vesmíru či dokonce na Mars. Je tolik problémů, které se nepodařilo ještě vyřešit, aby člověk mohl pohodlně žít a cestovat ve vesmíru (z vesmírných stanic se nevysílá první dva dny, protože astronauti po příletu často zvrací, než si zvyknou na stávající změnu - i ti zkušení).
Lidé, kteří mají rádi sex, by rozhodně měli zůstat na zemi, protože zatím se nepodařilo najít řešení, jak správně tento akt provádět ve vesmíru (Pornoprůmysl se snažil natočit sex ve stavu bez tíže, ale marně. Tak to nafejkovali a snažili se to komunikovat jako reálný sex ve stavu beztíže. Mimochodem toto prvenství má česká pornoherečka Silvia Saint), dokonce se to nepodařilo ani pokusným krysám.
Mary Roach se s čtenáři podělí o spoustu zajímavých faktů, které vzešly z experimentů NASA a jiných společností. Kniha může být užitečná i pro ty, kteří mají rádi psychologii a fyziku. Zjistíte spoustu zajímavostí, které by vás nenapadly, ale NASA jim věnovala spoustu energie, času i peněz.
Ale uvědomíte si, kolik toho pořád o vesmíru nevíme.

I cackled like a maniac throughout this book. Part of it was really that funny and part of it was just that unbelievable (but true). It does cover some adult subjects, though, so I'd preview before turning teens loose on it.