Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
How We'll Live on Mars  By  cover art

How We'll Live on Mars

By: Stephen Petranek
Narrated by: Stephen Petranek
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $7.49

Buy for $7.49

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Award-winning journalist Stephen Petranek says humans will live on Mars by 2027. Now he makes the case that living on Mars is not just plausible, but inevitable.

It sounds like science fiction, but Stephen Petranek considers it fact: Within 20 years, humans will live on Mars. We'll need to. In this sweeping, provocative book that mixes business, science, and human reporting, Petranek makes the case that living on Mars is an essential back-up plan for humanity and explains in fascinating detail just how it will happen.

The race is on. Private companies, driven by iconoclastic entrepreneurs, such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Paul Allen, and Sir Richard Branson; Dutch reality show and space mission Mars One; NASA; and the Chinese government are among the many groups competing to plant the first stake on Mars and open the door for human habitation. Why go to Mars? Life on Mars has potential life-saving possibilities for everyone on Earth. Depleting water supplies, overwhelming climate change, and a host of other disasters - from terrorist attacks to meteor strikes - all loom large. We must become a space-faring species to survive. We have the technology not only to get humans to Mars, but to convert Mars into another habitable planet. It will likely take 300 years to "terraform" Mars, as the jargon goes, but we can turn it into a veritable second Garden of Eden. And we can live there, in specially designed habitations, within the next 20 years.

In this exciting chronicle, Petranek introduces the circus of lively characters all engaged in a dramatic effort to be the first to settle the Red Planet. How We'll Live on Mars brings firsthand reporting, interviews with key participants, and extensive research to bear on the question of how we can expect to see life on Mars within the next 20 years.

©2015 Stephen Petranek. All rights reserved. (P)2015 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

What listeners say about How We'll Live on Mars

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    171
  • 4 Stars
    74
  • 3 Stars
    25
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    126
  • 4 Stars
    62
  • 3 Stars
    32
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    140
  • 4 Stars
    57
  • 3 Stars
    20
  • 2 Stars
    7
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Comparable

As with many others, I will agree that this ressembles nat geo's MARS series. A more in depth look into what it would take to get to the red planet, then making it habitable. I enjoyed listening to it because it looks into the certain aspects that the show didn't, as in terraforming. overall worth it if you show curiosity towards Mars.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Well presented reason why we haven't gone to Mars yet, and why we should

Well reasoned explanation why we didn't go to Mars after the Moon. How short sighted government and public stymied space exploration, and how private companies are leading the way towards the future of space exploration. Yea!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent.

What did you like best about this story?

This book was very interesting, I couldn't stop listening. There are a lot of very interesting ideas and proposals, would definitely recommend!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Cant wait till we are there!

I am an Aresophile, and I still learned quite a bit. I would have liked more content, but it would have probably mired the book down. Highly recommended!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Watch Mars on NatGeo

The series was based on the book. The tv show is better, but I like the depth of explanations that the author goes into.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Short But Good

Short, wish there was more, but comprehensive and insightful. It's an overview with broad sweeping strokes, but with enough detail too believe that it is possible.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

A fun journey into the happenings of mars travel

This was a quick but informative expose of how we will get to asnd live on mars. Petranek explores many different theories on how we will accomplish this goal and highlights the reasons why tok go at all.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story from a great perspective

This book is great this man knows his history. For that, he can undoubtedly predict the future of our species in the cosmos.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Mars coolest place

super duper book and storyline. sways the finest quality structure this is very difficult to express my deepest sorrow for the best part about being in the future of this message

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

needs an update in tech advances

needs to be updated it's 2018 now! Tech has improved vastly. A.I. NVIDIA, Tesla Solar and battery, Falcon Heavy launch with reusable rockets, 3D printed houses, update this please!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful