Roving Mars: Spirit, Opportunity, and the Exploration of the Red Planet, Hardcover by Steve Squyres

“In Roving Mars, Steve Squyres, principal scientist for the Mars Exploration Rover mission, shares his account of life at the center of one of the great explorations of all time, Since 1977, Squyres had dreamed of exploring Mars, and after nearly two decades of planning and preparation, he got his chance. With hundreds of other scientists and engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and elsewhere, Squyres worked to build and launch two rovers named Spirit and Opportunity, and then guide them on Mars.” “In the tradition of other ground-breaking stories of exploration and adventure, Squyres captures every glorious success and heartbreaking setback of the mission – from potentially catastrophic design defects to the tension between scientists and engineers. He recounts the exhilarating race to get the rovers to the launchpad in time, and introduces us to the remarkable individuals who got them there.”–BOOK JACKET., An inside look at NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover mission chronicles the evolution of the project, from its conception in 1995 to successful landing on the planet Mars in 2004, covering the politics, mistakes, and technological innovation involved., It’s the age-old question: is there life on Mars? This is the story of the Mars Exploration Rover mission, the most ambitious attempt yet to explore the surface of another planet and the first great voyage of exploration of the 21rst century. If so much as a fossilised microbe is found, it will change fundamentally the way we view our place in the universe. Squyres is the charismatic scientist behind the Mars mission. Considered the leading authority on all things Mars, he uses his firsthand knowledge to bring this historic mission in perspective. Features a 16-page photo insert., Steve Squyres is the face and voice of NASAs Mars Exploration Rover mission. Squyres dreamed up the mission in 1987, saw it through from conception in 1995 to a successful landing in 2004, and serves as the principal scientist of its $400 million payload. He has gained a rare inside look at what it took for Rovers Spirit and Opportunity to land on the red planet in January 2004and knows firsthand their findings.