Mars: Making Contact

With unparalleled access to NASA’s archives, this stunning volume pays tribute to 50 years of Mars exploration.

Thanks to the latest Mars expeditions—with many more planned in the next few years—all eyes have turned to the once-mysterious red planet. This illuminating book traces our history of Mars exploration, from the earliest telescopic viewings, through NASA’s first flybys in the 1960s, to the landers in the 1970s, and the increasingly sophisticated rovers and orbiters of today. It also showcases in exquisite detail the elaborate plans for human expeditions to Mars, including NASA’s ambitious designs for crewed missions and other compelling alternative plans formulated by experts such as Buzz Aldrin. With breathtaking photographs and rare images of plans, maps, schematics, and more, including insider documents from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the story of mankind’s fascination with Mars jumps off the page.
 

Rod Pyle has written widely on space and the inner workings of NASA. His most recent book was Curiosity: An Inside Account of the Mars Rover Mission for Random House. He works on outreach programs for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Caltech. He is a frequent contributor to the Huffington Post and space.com, as well as other media outlets. Rod has also produced numerous documentaries for The History Channel and Discovery Communications. Other books include the Smithsonian’s Destination Moon and Carlton Books’ Missions to the Moon.

Dr. Jim Green is the former head of the National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC), NASA’s largest space science data archive, at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). In August 2006, he became the Director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters.