The Mission

A True Story

By: David W. Brown

Narrated by: JD Jackson

Length: 15 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

A masterful, genre-defying narrative of the most ambitious science project ever conceived: NASA’s deep-space mission to Europa—the Jovian moon where might swim the first known alien life in our solar system—powered by a motley team of obsessives and eccentrics.

When scientists discovered the first ocean beyond Earth, they had two big questions: “Is it habitable?” and “How do we get there?” To answer the first, they had to answer the second, and so began a vivacious team’s twenty-year odyssey to mount a mission to Europa, the ocean moon of Jupiter.

Standing in their way: NASA, fanatically consumed with landing robots on Mars; the White House, which never saw a science budget it couldn’t cut; Congress, fixated on going to the moon or Mars—anywhere, really, to give astronauts something to do; rivals in academia, who wanted instead to go to Saturn; and even Jupiter itself, which guards Europa in a pulsing, rippling, radiation belt—a halo of death whose conditions are like those that follow a detonated thermonuclear bomb.

The Mission, or: How a Disciple of Carl Sagan, an Ex-Motocross Racer, a Texas Tea Party Congressman, the World's Worst Typewriter Saleswoman, California Mountain People, and an Anonymous NASA Functionary Went to War with Mars, Survived an Insurgency at Saturn, Traded Blows with Washington, and Stole a Ride on an Alabama Moon Rocket to Send a Space Robot to Jupiter in Search of the Second Garden of Eden at the Bottom of an Alien Ocean Inside of an Ice World Called Europa (A True Story) is the Homeric, never-before-told story of modern space exploration, and a magnificent portrait of the inner lives of scientists who study the solar system’s mysterious outer planets. David W. Brown chronicles the remarkable saga of how Europa was won, and what it takes to get things done—down here, and up there.

Written with verve, humor, and uncanny empathy, The Mission is an exuberant masterclass in how a few determined cogs can change an entire machine.

©2020 David W. Brown (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers

Science over Bureaucracy

Loved the science, but it was a little heavy on the bureaucracy. Really liked the narration and occasional wit.

I could not turn it off

Disclaimer: I know several of the people and institutions covered in this performance. This is my new favorite story of Big Science (in this case, planetary astronomy) and how it gets done. Listeners learn just enough science to inform them why the work is exciting to its practitioners and important too. Those practitioners become real people through a series of mini-biographies constructed through interviews. As for the organizational and interpersonal intrigues and battles, the author covers them with a diplomatic flair I wished I possessed. The only disappointment is that the story ends at the start of the Europa Clipper mission. One wants to know how it will turn out.....

Wow

I have a few favorite bits, but just in general, how amazing was this book?! It's so good!!!

In the room where it happens

Every space enthusiast, and everyone who wants to make something big happen should read this book. This book does a masterful job of addressing all the forces that determine outcomes: the politics, the economics, the technical capabilities, and social trends.

A Wonderful and Important Book

This is a wonderful book! Tremendous writing. Funny. Tom Wolfe rides again. I enjoyed David’s vernacular, storytelling, character descriptions and was impressed with his insight into JPL, NASA, White House and Congressional mission and budget politics. It’s hard to believe that David is not a battle-scarred space veteran. I know a number of the folks in the saga, and David nails them. Mike Griffin, former NASA Administrator, once demanded of me—as he does a beleaguered character in the book—‘Who do we have to kill!?!’ (unfortunately, in my case, it was me). It’s a vivid window into the history behind a thrilling upcoming space adventure for all humankind.

Interesting but a real slog

This book was really interesting and captivating about Europa and some of the things that are going on in space. It was also quite interesting to learn about how missions are determined and all of the give-and-take lobbying that goes on in NASA and the organizations involved. However the narrator is monotone and the story could’ve been about a third of the length that it really is. It felt that it just went on and on at times even though the point was made overall good to listen to because I learned a lot but man at times I was like get on with it will you LOL

The reality of Big Science

Some reviewers here didn’t like the presentation of this story as reducing the people and organizations involved as petty and slap-fighting. I suppose it could be interpreted that way, but the reality is that space is big, and far away, and very expensive to do anything in. Lots of people want to do lots of exciting work there, and there simply aren’t available the resources to get everything done for everyone as fast as we would like. So the work is long and hard and painstaking, and I think this book brilliantly tells the stories of otherwise unsung heroes of science and exploration. It was a fun time with ups and downs and I recommend it to anyone!

An excellent book covering key mission planners

I really enjoyed this book. The author goes into quite a bit of detail behind the politics and various players involved in the Europa Clipper mission.

The narration is excellent as well and you can tell the passion this author has about the topic. This makes me want to follow the latest advancements in this mission and I will definitely be following for more developments!

Great story, terrible narration

I really enjoyed this audiobook's story; however, they're narration made it hard to get through. his voice is lovely, but he reads like a first grader. there's no emotion. there's no cadence. it seems like he pauses at the end of every line before the beginning of the next line.

The Mission

The story ended very abruptly. What happened to the mission? All that story and nothing.