Packing for Mars

The Curious Science of Life in the Void

By: Mary Roach

Narrated by: Sandra Burr

Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

Space is a world devoid of the things we need to live and thrive: air, gravity, hot showers, fresh produce, privacy, beer. Space exploration is in some ways an exploration of what it means to be human. How much can a person give up? How much weirdness can they take? What happens to you when you can’t walk for a year? Have sex? Smell flowers? What happens if you vomit in your helmet during a space walk? Is it possible for the human body to survive a bailout at 17,000 miles per hour?

To answer these questions, space agencies set up all manner of quizzical and startlingly bizarre space simulations. As Mary Roach discovers, it’s possible to preview space without ever leaving Earth. From the space shuttle training toilet to a crash test of NASA’s new space capsule (cadaver filling in for astronaut), Roach takes us on a surreally entertaining trip into the science of life in space and space on Earth.

©2010 Mary Roach (P)2010 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Delightful!

I enjoyed this book! Sandra Burr did a great job narrating this novel by Mary Roach. It was funny, insightful, eye-opening, and humorous. Mary Roach took a topic that some may find dull and made a relatable masterpiece. I would recommend this to those who whiny to know the real story about astronauts and their training.

Fun stuff!

Like all of Mary Roach's work, this is a really fun book to listen to! It's actually a little more well-organized than her previous work, but just as much fun. Her humor and accessibility are still at 100%!

My only complaint is similar to all of her work - there could be more science here. The lay public CAN handle science, and holding back on it does a disservice to those of us who crave more.

Well Researched

The author does a good job describing the preparations that must be made for a trip to Mars. Everything from food to poop is covered. She had amazing access to the astronauts, NASA staff and other researchers...even the "three dolphin club." I think that I'll read another Mary Roach book, but not for awhile.

great book, Performance was a tad distracting

Mary Roach dissects the little things that count when you go to space like bathroom facilities showering and weird things like that. As always she's very entertaining. the reader however was a little bit dry and sort of sarcastic the whole time and so it was a little bit distracting but overall it didn't detract Too Much from the enjoyment of the book

Interesting for some, probably not for all

Having read/ listened to many of Ms Roach's books, I was looking forward to this one. It was interesting, but not as engrossing as GULP! Overall, I think this report would be interesting to a specific subset of readers, and some parts of the story were sort of off putting. I can see many readers who are not particularly strong stomached putting it down and never picking it up again (I don't think it is widely known that Yuri Gagarin, and the first Russian Cosmonauts were given one liter enemas prior to their missions, because there were no bathroom facilities in the capsule he rode in. A condom catheter worked for liquid body waste, but there was no provision for the other, so the objective was an empty colon, not needing to be evacuated until the cosmonaut was back on earth. All of the tidbits like that were interesting, although I'm not sure they would be to everyone. All in all, the book was very revealing to me.

It's E-V-A

KK, so I like the book, but call me anal, the narrator kept calling an E-V-A, an eva. Duh! Has this person never watched any NASA TV coverage? I found myself shouting E-V-A by the end. If you can get by that then buy this book! Four stars for the book and two stars for the narrator.

A Little Heavy

For the most part, I loved this book. The author goes into a lot of depth about all the logistics involved in space flight (food, sanitation, using the bathroom, etc). So many things that the average person probably never thinks about, but have to be addressed for zero-g travel. The only issue I had is that the author sometimes goes a bit overboard in details.

The reader was very good. She has a lighthearted tone that was very easy to listen to, and put plenty of emotion into the book.

The down and dirty of space travel/ exploration!

The was a far ranging and well researched examination of what it takes to go to space and what we Can expect to Get for it! I enjoyed it even got past the graphic discussion of managing bodily functions in space. I recommend this as an interesting way to spend an evening! Well read Sandra Burr.

Everything You Always Wanted to Know - and More

Mary Roach has applied her keen research skill and packaged her keen insights, once again, for us in "Packing for Mars." The result is one wild ride through space programs in the US and abroad. Crew compatability, the vagaries of bowel elimination, sex in space, food preparation, and taking (or not taking) a shower is all here. The result is a delightful, informative, thought provokiing insight into space travel, engineering, and human behavior.

This is a great listen to have on the MP3 on a long drive. It keeps your attention, informs, and makes the time fly by. The writing is good and topically organized. The reading of Sandra Burr is excellent.
NOTE: There is a section dealing with sexual matters which you may or may not want to play when younger companions are about. If you car pool with sensitive people, perhaps you should listen to that section in a different locaion.

Awful narration leads to complete boredom

You know that soft, metered female voice that seems to be part of any automated phone service? That's precisely who's reading this book and it dulls down an otherwise humorous and interesting subject.

Listen to the sample first! This might be a better book to buy in black & white