The Road To Mars

Download or read book The Road to Mars written by Eric Idle and published by Pan Publishing. This book was released on 2014-07-31 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Carlton is an android working for Alex and Lewis, two comedians from the twenty-second century who travel the outer vaudeville circuit of the solar system known ironically as the Road to Mars. Being a computer he can't understand irony, but is nevertheless attempting to write a thesis about comedy, its place in evolution, and whether it can ever be cured. He is studying the comedians of the late twentieth century (including obscure and esoteric comedy acts such as Monty Python's Flying Circus) in his search for the comedy gene. Meanwhile, during an audition for a gig on the Princess Di (a solar cruise ship), his two employers inadvertently become involved in a terriorist plot against Mars, the planet of showbiz. Can Carlton prevent Alex and Lewis from losing their gigs, overcome the love thing and finally understand the meaning of comedy in the universe? From one of the original members of Monty Python's Flying Circus.

Download or read book The Sirens of Mars written by Sarah Stewart Johnson and published by Crown. This book was released on 2020-07-07 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Sarah Stewart Johnson interweaves her own coming-of-age story as a planetary scientist with a vivid history of the exploration of Mars in this celebration of human curiosity, passion, and perseverance.”—Alan Lightman, author of Einstein’s Dreams WINNER OF THE PHI BETA KAPPA AWARD FOR SCIENCE • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • Times (UK) • Library Journal “Lovely . . . Johnson’s prose swirls with lyrical wonder, as varied and multihued as the apricot deserts, butterscotch skies and blue sunsets of Mars.”—Anthony Doerr, The New York Times Book Review Mars was once similar to Earth, but today there are no rivers, no lakes, no oceans. Coated in red dust, the terrain is bewilderingly empty. And yet multiple spacecraft are circling Mars, sweeping over Terra Sabaea, Syrtis Major, the dunes of Elysium, and Mare Sirenum—on the brink, perhaps, of a staggering find, one that would inspire humankind as much as any discovery in the history of modern science. In this beautifully observed, deeply personal book, Georgetown scientist Sarah Stewart Johnson tells the story of how she and other researchers have scoured Mars for signs of life, transforming the planet from a distant point of light into a world of its own. Johnson’s fascination with Mars began as a child in Kentucky, turning over rocks with her father and looking at planets in the night sky. She now conducts fieldwork in some of Earth’s most hostile environments, such as the Dry Valleys of Antarctica and the salt flats of Western Australia, developing methods for detecting life on other worlds. Here, with poetic precision, she interlaces her own personal journey—as a female scientist and a mother—with tales of other seekers, from Percival Lowell, who was convinced that a utopian society existed on Mars, to Audouin Dollfus, who tried to carry out astronomical observations from a stratospheric balloon. In the process, she shows how the story of Mars is also a story about Earth: This other world has been our mirror, our foil, a telltale reflection of our own anxieties and yearnings. Empathetic and evocative, The Sirens of Mars offers an unlikely natural history of a place where no human has ever set foot, while providing a vivid portrait of our quest to defy our isolation in the cosmos.

Download or read book Mars Underground written by William K. Hartmann and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 1999-02-15 with total page 454 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A search for a scientist who disappeared while exploring the Martian desert. He is Alwyn Stafford and as the search progresses it becomes clear he has discovered something which other people want kept hidden. A new alien civilization? A first novel by a Mars astronomer.

Download or read book The Big Book of Mars written by Marc Hartzman and published by Quirk Books. This book was released on 2020-07-07 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The most comprehensive look at our relationship with Mars—yesterday, today, and tomorrow—through history, archival images, pop culture ephemera, and interviews with NASA scientists Mars has been a source of fascination and speculation ever since the ancient Egyptians observed its blood-red hue and named it for their god of war and plague. But it wasn't until the 19th century when “canals” were observed on the surface of the Red Planet, suggesting the presence of water, that scientists, novelists, filmmakers, and entrepreneurs became obsessed with the question of whether there’s life on Mars. Since then, Mars has fully invaded pop culture, inspiring its own day of the week (Tuesday), an iconic Looney Tunes character, and many novels and movies, from Ray Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles to The Martian. It’s this cultural familiarity with the fourth planet that continues to inspire advancements in Mars exploration, from NASA’s launch of the Mars rover Perseverance to Elon Musk’s quest to launch a manned mission to Mars through SpaceX by 2024. Perhaps, one day, we’ll be able to answer the questions our ancestors asked when they looked up at the night sky millennia ago.

Download or read book Rainbow Mars written by Larry Niven and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2000-05-15 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Science fiction-roman.

Download or read book The Martian Chronicles written by Ray Bradbury and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-04-17 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The tranquility of Mars is disrupted by humans who want to conquer space, colonize the planet, and escape a doomed Earth.

Download or read book Destination Mars written by Rod Pyle and published by Prometheus Books. This book was released on 2012-04-24 with total page 455 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the next decade, NASA, by itself and in collaboration with the European Space Agency, is planning a minimum of four separate missions to Mars. Clearly, exciting times are ahead for Mars exploration. This is an insider’s look into the amazing projects now being developed here and abroad to visit the legendary red planet. Drawing on his contacts at NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the author provides stunning insights into the history of Mars exploration and the difficulties and dangers of traveling there. After an entertaining survey of the human fascination with Mars over the centuries, the author offers an introduction to the geography, geology, and water processes of the planet. He then briefly describes the many successful missions by NASA and others to that distant world. But failure and frustration also get their due. As the author makes clear, going to Mars is not, and never will be, easy. Later in the book, he describes in detail what each upcoming mission will involve. In the second half of the book, he offers the reader a glimpse inside the world of Earth-based "Mars analogs," places on Earth where scientists are conducting research in hostile environments that are eerily "Martian." Finally, he constructs a probable scenario of a crewed expedition to Mars, so that readers can see how earlier robotic missions and human Earth simulations will fit together. All this is punctuated by numerous firsthand interviews with some of the finest Mars explorers of our day, including Stephen Squyres (Mars Exploration Rover), Bruce Murray (former director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory), and Peter Smith (chief of the Mars Phoenix Lander and the upcoming OSIRIS-REx missions). These stellar individuals give us an insider’s view of the difficulties and rewards of roaming the red planet. The author’s infectious enthusiasm and firsthand knowledge of the international space industry combine to make a uniquely appealing and accessible book about Mars.