Mars Rover Curiosity

An Inside Account from Curiosity's Chief Engineer

By: Rob Manning, William L. Simon

Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot

Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's Summary

In the course of our enduring quest for knowledge about ourselves and our universe, we haven't found answers to one of our most fundamental questions: Does life exist anywhere else in the universe? Ten years and billions of dollars in the making, the Mars rover Curiosity is poised to answer this all-important question.

Here, Rob Manning, the project's chief engineer, tells of bringing the groundbreaking spacecraft to life. Manning and his team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, tasked with designing a lander many times larger and more complex than any before, faced technical setbacks, fights over inadequate resources, and the challenges of leading an army of brilliant, passionate, and often frustrated experts.

Manning's fascinating personal account - which includes information from his exclusive interviews with leading Curiosity scientists - is packed with tales of revolutionary feats of science, technology, and engineering. Listeners experience firsthand the disappointment at encountering persistent technical problems, the agony of near defeat, the sense of victory at finding innovative solutions to these problems, the sheer terror of staking careers and reputations on a lander that couldn't be tested on Earth, and the rush of triumph at its successful touchdown on Mars on August 5, 2012. This is the story of persistence, dedication, and unrelenting curiosity.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2014 Rob Manning, William L. Simon (P)2014 Blackstone Audio

A fascinating insight

Would you listen to Mars Rover Curiosity again? Why?

I've been interested in space exploration since I saw the first moon landing at the age of about seven. I'm fascinated by the technical challenges, and the nuts and bolts of making a mission like this happen. I will be keeping this book and re-listening, for certain.

What three words best describe Bronson Pinchot’s performance?

Careful but dull. Everything is pronounced correctly, the pacing works well for me, and there are no major flaws that I can detect. Occasionally he places the emphasis strangely in a sentence - or at least, differently to how I would read it. But my main complaint is that for a topic that excites me, it's a very flat emotionless presentation. This is a story of how an amazing event was planned and achieved; the reading should be as interesting as the material.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Absolutely. I wanted to stay up all night listening to it.

Any additional comments?

Perhaps I am a little biased in my expectations, having heard an interview with Bob Manning before I bought the book. I would have loved to have heard it read by him.

Gets bogged down with budget issues

Overall this is not a bad listen, but if you're hoping for lots of specifics on the science end of putting together the MSL/Curiosity mission, this will leave you asking for more. The problem is that because the writer was the project manager, the book spends lots of time on the politics of NASA budgeting. huge parts of the book are about budget shortfalls, obtaining extra funds for the project, and meetings about budgeting issues. If you're a big fan of bureaucratic processes within NASA, then this is the book for you!
That being said, there was good information on the building of Curiosity as well as the mechanics of landing Curiosity on Mars, and the surprising amount of just plain "luck" that is part of this type of project.

Good overview

Good chronological overview. Right amount of technical info for a "non-technical" person like myself. Wasn't quite as inspiring as other space related audibles I have listened to, but seems to be intended to be more factual.

Very interesting!

I think any space-enthusiast would enjoy this, it's technical enough while remaining understandable and covers many topics and other projects besides just MSL. My only real complaint would be that I personally don't like the narrator, not that interesting reading voice nor particularly enthusiastic. But this is fortunately not the kind of story that relies on such things to be worth listening to!

Making Curiosity Happen

Millions of Americans as well as people around the world have followed the adventures and the fascinating findings of the the Mars Rover Curiosity. For the scientists and engineers working on the project, much of the excitement, adventure, and stress came before arrival on Mars, and even well before take-off for Mars.

It was the largest rover ever sent to Mars. It carried an unprecedented number of scientific instruments. Its size and weight required a whole new landing method. Whole new methods, techniques, software had to be created--and every penny of cost had to be justified every step of the way, as other projects and scientists competed for their share of the underfunded NASA budget.

Rob Manning was Curiosity's chief engineer, and this is his account of how Curiosity got from "neat idea" to its "space crane" touchdown on Mars and the start of its exploration of the planet. Along the way, the earlier rovers, Pathfinder, Spirit, and Opportunity, provided vital information on how to proceed and what they would face. Yet they were also obstacles to overcome, as the Curiosity team was challenged to explain why their rover was so much more expensive than the (cheaper, smaller, less scientifically capable) rovers. They solve major technological challenges while fighting attempts to divert their funding to exploration of the outer planets.

It's a great story, well-told, full of its own variety of chills and thrills. And it's all true.

Recommended.

I bought this book.

Thoroughly enjoyed!

This was a very interesting audio book for both its space exploration adventure, but also the behind the scenes story. I'm a space nerd, so was fairly certain I'd enjoy the title from that point of view. However I enjoyed it equally for the perspective on how the project was managed and how issues were dealt with.

The narration was also great. A good dose of energy that I thought suited the content well.

Highly recommended! Especially if you liked 'The Martian' and would like something similar, but non-fiction.

CURIOSITY

Curiosity is a mechanical, one-eyed, six wheeled, antenna-tailed super dog. It can stiff the air, drill rocks, analyze elemental particles, roam a countryside (at a snail’s pace 300 feet per hour), and talk to humans. Its language is in 1s and 0s. It speaks to Earth from Mars across 49 million miles of space with a message that continues to amaze and encourage human exploration of the universe.

Robert Manning, in collaboration with William Simon (Manning’s ghost writer), reflects on the technological feat of creating and delivering a robotic laboratory to the fourth rock from the sun. Manning heads a team of NASA scientists and engineers to design the latest land rover, called Curiosity, to explore Mars.

“Mars Rover Curiosity” is a tribute to NASA and its organizational skill in achieving a land mark in extraterrestrial exploration. In listening to Manning’s story, one feels humans are on the edge of a continent in the 15th century, planning to sail to an unexplored place to find answers about what there is beyond imagination. NASA’s contribution to science and a possible future for humanity seems inferred by Manning’s story; particularly in light of current scientific evidence for Earth’s global warming.

Excellent book

A very engaging story which is very easy to follow. No math used or needed.

Good story, not enough technical detail

When I read a book by a NASA chief engineer, I'm looking forward to interesting technical details about the subject. This book is an interesting read, but focuses more on the administrative side than the technical.

Engineering is beautiful

This book definitely rekindled my love for engineering. It is just the right amount of “technical” without getting boring. If you love engineering, you’ll love this!

Building a rover under the bureaucracy of NASA

An interesting book, as much for the design & building processes of the rover, as for its portrayal of the inner workings of the NASA bureaucracy. The delivery is a little dry and occasionally flat, but the subject carries you through those moments. The fact that there is someone whose job is to consider contamination of other planets by earthly bacteria & who has to sign off on the project gives you just a flavour. I thought that the last few chapters, involving the landing, felt a little rushed, especially given the long build-up.

amazing

I really enjoyed this one. I read a lot about Curiosity and I also attended seminars with speakers that work on it. And still, I've learned so much from this book that it makes me happy that I lived to see this great achievement.

Compelling Listening Material

I found this to be compelling listening material and was sad when it came to an end. The authors and narrator take you on a real journey, charting the ups and downs of life behind the scenes in the Mars Space Laboratory mission. I have listened to several chapters multiple times, and I was especially interested in the overview of the software that helps Curiosity to complete its everyday tasks (over three million lines of C-language programming code).

a great insight into the curiosity rover.

Listen to on and off for a week but could have completed it quicker. I never realised how much skill and innovation went in to getting curiosity on Mars.

A very good account of recent Mars missions.

Overall a good listen. Many fascinating moments with a few odd dry spots. Pleased I purchased it. Would be nice to have had an updated more on it's scientific findings but people move on I guess.

Great Insight Into The Rover Building

I really enjoyed listening to this title about the car sized rovers that landed on Mars. The story goes behind the scenes of the building and political aspect of just starting a project and even how a project can be scrapped after spending upwards of $500,000,000 ( Half a Billion ). I'm glad I bought this title and the narrator done am excellent job keeping me focused on the story. I'd highly recommend to people fascinated by such achievements made by man.

Really interesting insight

What did you like most about Mars Rover Curiosity?

Interesting details about the project, how it was run and the problems faced.

What did you like best about this story?

Details about the technical challenges and how as a team they worked through (most) of them

What does Bronson Pinchot bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

An american accent

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

no

Any additional comments?

Very enjoyable