Mars Direct: Space Exploration, the Red Planet, and the Human Future

I thought this was going to be a short work on what is listed in the title, space exploration, Mars and the future. Instead the majority of the work is basically complaining about the current administration's handling of the space program and NASA itself. The first thirty minutes were exceptional, full of visions of the future and travelling to Mars, exactly what i expected. From there, it derails and talks about why even planning Mars Direct isn't possible now or in the next three years. That's not to say that the information provided isn't accurate or interesting, but if you're looking for something full of theories on space travel/colonization (besides "change the government!"), look elsewhere.

“I have no desire to do a Mars landing on our own… The U.S. cannot always be the leader, but we can be the inspirational leader through international cooperation.”

Those were the words of Obama's NASA chief Charles Bolden when asked about the agencies vision for landing humans on Mars in 2012.

That quote was amazingly NOT in the book which is surprising since it pretty much sums up the current administrations view on anything to do with space, manned or not. To put it another way if your kid says they want to be an astronaut you should first start by getting them Russian language classes.

To the other reviewer that is offended that the author of the book would dare to criticize Obama for cancelling Americas manned space program maybe you should spend less time reading bumper stickers and more time actually paying attention to the issues if you actually care space travel.

The book is broken down into a few sections and it started off a bit slow but it hits its groove pretty quickly, which is a must in such a short book.

The author wants to get Americans (or humans in general) to Mars and points out how it could be done NOW, and paints a very reasonable picture of how to do it. In fact a lot of what he talks about is what SpaceX just announced with its plan to send humans to Mars and back in 2018 (to orbit, not land on the planet).

The author also takes a very harsh, and needed, look at the current administrations' complete lack of vision with NASA which apparently is offensive to people that value politics over space exploration and scientific achievement.

Overall the book was a very good short read and the reader did a good job and was completely appropriate for the subject matter.

If you're interested in realistic ways that people can walk on Mars in the near future this book explains it. If you're wondering why we have to fly our astronauts to Russia to get them to the ISS - you'll understand why, and why it's not going to change in the near future.

I was hoping for a book about colonizing Mars. About 1/3 is devoted to excoriating NASA. The first 1/3 is about a plan for getting to Mars efficiently and I was glad to hear it. But the rest: meh.

Mr Zubrin sounds more like right wing ideologue than a scientist.