The Quest for Mars: NASA scientists and Their Search for Life Beyond Earth - Hardcover

Bergreen, Laurence

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0002570300 ISBN 13: 9780002570305

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2000

Synopsis

Is there life on Mars? And if not, why not? These questions have gripped mankind throughout the twentieth century. In the shadow of the new millennium, The Quest for Mars seeks the definitive answers from the dedicated NASA scientists participating in the race to discover life on the Red Planet.

‘Ever since I was a small child, I’ve believed there was life out there. When I look at the magnitude of the universe, with its billions of stars, I believe that if life developed here on Earth, it must have developed elsewhere. We simply can’t be unique. I really don’t think we’re the most intelligent life forms in the universe, but that’s just my gut feeling’, Dr Claire Parkinson, NASA scientist.

Of all the planets, Mars has exerted the most powerful allure over the human intellect and imagination. Generations of astronomers have expected to find clues to the origin and destiny of Earth and its inhabitants concealed amid the red storms sweeping across the surface of Mars. Today, the mystique of Mars is even greater. Public interest in the Mars mission is sky-high; the exploits of the tiny Mars Rover ‘Sojourner’ in the summer of 1997 excited the greatest curiosity in a space mission in a generation.

In The Quest for Mars Laurence Bergreen has unrestricted access to a team of NASA employees – engineers, geologists and other scientists – who are consumed by the search for proof of life on Mars. As one formidable obstacle after another attempts to scupper their quest for a deeper understanding of life on Mars and throughout the Solar System, the narrative takes us step by step through the exhilaration and the despondency of their extraordinary adventure. Nothing is off limits in this unique, behind-the-scenes story of space exploration.

About this title

About the Author

Laurence Bergreen is the author of the highly acclaimed biographies ‘Capone: The Man and his Era’, ‘As Thousands Cheer: The Life of Irving Berlin’, ‘James Agee: A Life’ and ‘Louis Armstrong: An Extravagant Life.

From the Back Cover

The untold story of NASA's search for life on Mars, a story as intense as it is complex, as human as it is scientifically illuminating.

Of all the planets, Mars has exerted the most powerful allure over the human intellect and imagination. Generations of astronomers have expected to find clues to the origins and destiny of Earth and its inhabitants concealed amid the red storms sweeping across the surface of Mars. Now, the mystique of Mars is even greater. The exploits of the tiny Mars Rover 'Sojourner' in the summer of 1997 excited the greatest curiosity about a space mission for a generation, and the quest to understand life on Mars and throughout the Solar System continues today.

Award-winning writer Laurence Bergreen was granted unrestricted access to the team of NASA scientists who are consumed by the search for proof of life on Mars. Uniquely, he chronicles the exhilaration, the setbacks and the triumphs of their extraordinary adventure.

"We simply can't be unique. I really don't think we're the most intelligent life forms in the universe, but that's just my gut feeling."
DR CLAIRE PARKINSON, 'NASA Scientist'

"Maybe 'epiphany' is the work for the aura surrounding Mars. My wife wonders why I'm so emotional, but the successful landing brought me to tears."
DR JAMES GARVIN, 'NASA Scientist'

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0002570300
• ISBN 13: 9780002570305
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320