The Interstellar Age

The Story of the NASA Men and Women Who Flew the Forty-Year Voyager Mission

De: Jim Bell

Narrado por: Jim Bell

The story of the men and women who drove the Voyager spacecraft mission— told by a scientist who was there from the beginning.

The Voyager spacecraft are our farthest-flung emissaries—11.3 billion miles away from the crew who built and still operate them, decades since their launch.

Voyager 1 left the solar system in 2012; its sister craft, Voyager 2, will do so in 2015. The fantastic journey began in 1977, before the first episode of Cosmos aired. The mission was planned as a grand tour beyond the moon; beyond Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn; and maybe even into interstellar space. The fact that it actually happened makes this humanity’s greatest space mission.

In The Interstellar Age, award-winning planetary scientist Jim Bell reveals what drove and continues to drive the members of this extraordinary team, including Ed Stone, Voyager’s chief scientist and the one-time head of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab; Charley Kohlhase, an orbital dynamics engineer who helped to design many of the critical slingshot maneuvers around planets that enabled the Voyagers to travel so far; and the geologist whose Earth-bound experience would prove of little help in interpreting the strange new landscapes revealed in the Voyagers’ astoundingly clear images of moons and planets.

Speeding through space at a mind-bending eleven miles a second, Voyager 1 is now beyond our solar system's planets. It carries with it artifacts of human civilization. By the time Voyager passes its first star in about 40,000 years, the gold record on the spacecraft, containing various music and images including Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode,” will still be playable.

Reseñas de la Crítica

Praise for Postcards from Mars


"Postcards From Mars is a masterpiece. It promises the future for all of us."
—Ray Bradbury, author of The Martian Chronicles and Fahrenheit 451

"This superbly produced set of photographs is a spine-tingling preview of the dramatic landscape that future humans will one day explore in person. Jim Bell has put together a beautiful, inspiring, and powerful book."
—Dr. Buzz Aldrin, one of the two astronauts aboard the Apollo 11 lunar module,
the first manned mission to land on the Moon


"Bell's informed, impassioned impressions of Mars enhance the vicarious thrill of this unique travelogue. For an armchair space traveler, here is a fantasy realized."
—Dava Sobel, author of Longitude, Galileo's Daughter, and The Planets

“Jim Bell has compiled a book of photos that puts our neighboring planet in sharp focus.” —USA Today

“Awe-inspiring. . . . Exquisite detail. . . . Glorious.” —Natural History

“[Bell] tells the story of preparing the spacecraft for launch and of the rovers’ arrival on Mars in a conversational tone, with just the right mix of detail and personal point of view. . . . The quality of the printing is high, reproducing intense colors, dramatic shadows, and fine details.”
—The Planetary Society

“The quality and volume of photos coming back from Spirit and Opportunity far exceeds anything that has come back from Mars before.” —American Photo

“The craters, dunes and sandy ripples [the rovers] depict are both stunning and eerily —familiar. . . . Bell takes readers through the mission’s highs and lows, but it is the glimpses of the rovers’ own tracks and long shadows that remind us how special this moment is.” —ForbesLife

“The crystalline photographs can’t help but impress.” —Houston Chronicle

“[A] stunning portfolio of robotic snapshots that capture the red planet in all its desolate beauty.” —Entertainment Weekly

Postcards from Mars is a coffee-table book of fabulous photos that also includes the compelling human story behind the successful Spirit and Opportunity rovers. . . . Postcards from Mars is a handsome gift book, and an excellent tool to jumpstart imaginative trips to Mars and discussions of space exploration and settlement with family, friends, and coworkers. Highly recommended.” —National Space Society

“Striking.” —Sciencenews.org

“A beautiful hardcover with rich color plates. . . . It’s striking how much the pictures are just pictures of rocks and dirt. But, of course, they’re pictures of rocks and dirt on Mars!” —The Onion

Very Engaging Book

One would not automatically think that a book about an unmanned probe would be very interesting. Jim Bell, however, weaves a very entertaining tale of the almost 40 years (and still going) of the Voyager program and the men and women who have devoted years to it (in some cases, most of their careers). The scientific discoveries by the little probes are pretty astonishing. It is also amazing that the scientists have achieved so much with what now seems like ancient technology (8 track tape recorders!).

The book is also a loosely autobiographic account by Mr. Bell, as well as biographical sketches of some of his colleagues. This approach adds considerable human interest to the book.

Finally, Mr. Bell chose to narrate the book himself. Although this normally comes with an alarm, there is no problem here. Mr. Bell is a very engaging narrator.

Brilliant

Absolutely loved it. Amazing journey through our solar system with the people who made it happen. I listened to it twice in one week.

interesting and fun if you like space

exploratoration is it's own reward. explore space vicariously through this book. Author did a surprisingly good job narrating.

Exciting, Inspiring, and interesting.

Exciting, Inspiring, and interesting! I've read SF for years... It was a lot of fun to listen to real science being done by real people, and see how SF writers could be inspired by it. I was born in 84, so most of what the Voyager missions accomplished were before my time, but the fact that we're still learning from them even today made me feel a part of the excitement and awe. Jim Bell's passion is obvious in this narrative, and him reading made it that much better. I'll be re-listening soon.

Wonderful personal journey through a space program

This is an outstanding account of the Voyager missions through the solar system and through the lives of the many scientists and engineers that made it all happen. I was a bit surprised by the fact that this is nearly as much an autobiography as a history of Voyager, but Jim Bell writes well enough that it did not come off as a cry for attention, and indeed gave the book a very personal feel.

I have no doubt that every large space mission has an incredible story to tell, but Voyager was so far-reaching and has done so much that it deserves this treatment more than most. I highly recommend this book, and hope to find similar books about other missions (such as the Mars rovers - hint, hint, Dr. Bell!) in the future.

Very interesting, not too technical.

Any additional comments?

The author does a great job of explaining the subject in detail without turning the text into a rocket science technical manual. There are pieces of the personal stories which were very interesting that I wish had been expanded more but it was overall still very good. Highly recommend for anyone even remotely interested in the subject of space exploration with a personal touch.

Inspiring.

Amazing hearing first hand the ups and downs of the Voyagers. Those two little guys carry a piece of all of us. Good luck Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 you each have a message to deliver.

Truly an exciting an informative story.

Truly an exciting an informative story. As a high school science teacher I am often on the look-out for such an interesting portrayal of our solar system and the adventures that have been attempted within it. Great job.

Exceeded Every Eexpectation

Not only is The Interstellar Age very well written, it serves to inspire those who already have an interest in space exploration and the history of such missions to date. Jim is pleasant to listen to and the story, fortunately very linear, unfolds from one wonderful encounter to the next, never to disappoint. I found myself googling images taken from Voyager's I & II flyby of planets and moons. My imagination rekindled, as though I was ten years old all over again, the age I visited the Rueben Fleet space theater in San Diego to view the images of Uranus in almost real time. Half bored at the time because I had no access to information other than the images on the big screen. This book serves as a bridge to my younger self and helps to add meaning and closure to the desire to know more.

Thanks for a great book Jim. I will happily recommend it to friends in New and old Space.

An amazing journey celebrating technology

From start to finish this was an excellent book. You can tell that Jim Bell has a very informed and enthusiastic interest in the topics he discusses.

He makes concepts easy to understand, and explains quite a bit of the science involved in the journeys of the Voyagers. I felt like I was on a learning adventure through the solar system!

I also loved the details of the way the spacecraft worked and the context in which the various instruments were conceived and developed.

If you enjoy a good story with an author who knows his stuff, check this book out - you won't regret it!