Roving Mars; Spirit, Opportunity, and the Exploration of the Red Planet

New York: Hyperion Books, 2005. First edition. Stated. First printing [stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. x, 422 pages. Illustrations (some in color). Glossary. Index. Steven Weldon Squyres (born January 9, 1956) is the James A. Weeks Professor of Physical Sciences at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. His research area is in planetary sciences, with a focus on large solid bodies in the Solar System such as the terrestrial planets and the moons of the Jovian planets. Squyres is principal investigator of the Mars Exploration Rover Mission (MER). He is the recipient of the 2004 Carl Sagan Memorial Award and the 2009 Carl Sagan Medal for Excellence in Communication in Planetary Science. On October 28, 2010, Squyres received the 2010 Mines Medal for his achievements as a researcher and professor. Squyres has written a book called Roving Mars : Spirit, Opportunity, and the Exploration of the Red Planet and appeared on the June 7, 2006 episode of The Colbert Report to discuss it, Mars, and MER. The Disney IMAX documentary film Roving Mars was made from the book. Derived from a Kirkus Review: The Rover mission's top scientist writes candidly here about being obsessed with interplanetary exploration since high school, and about the string of stumbles and bumbles that preceded his team's winning the contract for the $400-million payload comprising the Rovers and their incredibly complex package of instrumentation, sensors, probes, etc. As a geologist analyzing data from NASA fly-by planetary programs going back to 1978, the author always had his mind on Mars. Squyres brings the reader up to speed on the logic behind the quest: if water existed, then it could have fostered a life-forming process paralleling that of Earth's. Pursuing answers, Squyres details days and weeks of Mars observations as tantalizing hints of water presence accrue. Geological implications come fast and furious, with enough human perspectives to boost future manned Mars exploration. A fascinating, passionate insider's account.