‘Mars Rover Curiosity’ chronicles robot’s journey
Engineer gives an insider’s look at the creation of the interplanetary robot
Mars Rover Curiosity
Rob Manning and William L. Simon
Smithsonian, $29.95
During its first two years on Mars, NASA’s Curiosity rover discovered that the Red Planet was once hospitable to life. For Manning, the rover’s chief engineer, landing on Mars was the capstone of an adventure that started 10 years and $2 billion earlier.
In Mars Rover Curiosity, Manning and coauthor Simon offer a firsthand account of designing the most complex piece of machinery ever to land on another planet. Starting with a harebrained scheme and ending with a drive across the red dust of Gale Crater, the book deftly guides readers through the many setbacks, victories and difficult decisions that came with planning an interplanetary mission.