Re: Packing For Mars

From poop jokes to warnings of bone loss, in Packing For Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void, Mary Roach does an amusing job of showing just how ridiculous it is to send living organisms into lifeless space. The shower never worked, the toilet barely works, and space food in the 60s was […]

Re: Mars Is No Place for Children

It’s just about a year since I last paid a visit to Mars. This time I went via “Mars is No Place for Children,” by Mary Turzillo. I like the story’s depiction of life on Mars, and the neat little inventive twists. Considering that this was my desktop image for over a year, it’s no […]

Becoming a ghost in the machine?

So today I got the sniffles when I read that Mars Phoenix is shutting down. Which is ridiculous. I mean, I got a lump in my throat over Chalcedony’s fate in “Tideline.” Then when I read “Edward Bear and the Very Long Walk” to my friends, I could hardly speak through the ending. Now this.

Re: Journey Between Worlds

Just in case you don’t have enough summer reading, the Rocket Girls Reading Club offers science fiction featuring girls in space. One that draws a vivid portrait of life on Mars is Journey Between Worlds, by Sylvia Engdahl. Unlike most scifi heroes, the last thing Melinda Ashley wants is to leave home. At first, when […]

Re: The Case For Mars

I have mixed feelings about The Case for Mars, by Robert Zubrin. The second half is full of reasonable-looking ideas for using the resources available on the nearest terrestrial planet to build a liveable place. But the first half is a hard slog through the self-congratulation about how brilliant he was for coming up with […]