Book Description

Scheduled for its television premier in September and October of this year, the exciting series Race to Mars will be presented on the Discovery Channel in the United States and Canada. This beautiful book—the program’s companion volume—describes the dramatic chain of events that will ultimately send human beings to Mars. The story begins in ancient times when the red planet was associated with war and violence, then leads us to the American astronomer Percival Lowell. He trained his telescope on our neighboring red planet and detected surface marks that he and other observers believed were canals. Both the book and the TV account proceed to the present day, describing NASA’s series of unmanned landings, then continuing into the future, dramatizing events in the course of the projected Martian mission. The TV series will be shown in two main sections: Race to Mars summarizes the science-based fictional docudrama, a four-hour miniseries to be pres/ented on two separate evenings Mars Rising summarizes the TV documentary, to be presented as six one-hour shows This book’s magnificent illustrations include many of the high-quality photos taken by satellites and recent surface probes of Mars. Its additional illustrations include state-of-the-art visuals created especially for the TV series by author Dana Berry. Lively, readable, and scientifically accurate, Race to Mars chronicles an ongoing challenge which, if successful, will climax with one of the twenty-first century’s greatest achievements. (sidebar material) Questions Facing the Planners of the Race to Mars Will Mars astronauts be the test pilots of legend or a new breed of multi-skilled engineers? Can humans endure the extreme psychological demands of a more than two-years-long Mars mission? What unexpected mental demands will be made on the first explorers of Mars? In light of the importance of long-term team compatibility, is a mixed-gender crew the best way to go?