Travel to and from Mars has long been a staple of science fiction. And yet the hurdles--both technological and financial--have kept human exploration of the red planet from becoming a reality. Trailblazing Mars offers an inside look at the current efforts to fulfill this dream. Award-winning journalist Pat Duggins examines the extreme new challenges that will be faced by astronauts on the journey there and back. They'll have to grow their own food, find their own water, and solve their own problems and emergencies without hope of rescue or re-supply. Mars travel will be more challenging and hazardous than settling the Old West--but we were not witness to the fate of the Donner Party on CNN. Can the technological hurdles be cleared? Will the public accept the very real possibility of astronaut death? Should a mission be publicly or privately funded? Is the science worth the cost? These and many other questions are answered in Duggins's exciting new book.

Travel to and from Mars has long been a staple of science fiction. And yet the hurdles—both technological and financial—have kept human exploration of the red planet from becoming a reality. Award-winning journalist Pat Duggins offers an inside look at the current efforts to fulfill this dream. He examines the extreme new challenges that will be faced by astronauts on the journey there and back. Can the technological hurdles be cleared? Will the public accept the very real possibility of astronaut death? Should a mission be publicly or privately funded? Is the science worth the cost? Duggins explores the answers to these questions and many more. --Publisher

Travel to deep space and back again with The Mars Challenge, a nonfiction graphic novel for teens about the science and logistics of a manned mission to Mars. Nadia is a teen with a dream: to be the first woman on Mars. But to get there, she's got to learn all she can about the science of spaceflight. It's a good thing her friend Eleanor is an Attitude Determination and Control Officer—basically, she pilots the International Space Station! Eleanor takes Nadia on a conceptual journey through an entire crewed mission to Mars, and explains every challenge that must be overcome along the way; from escaping Earth's gravity well, to keeping the crew healthy as they travel through deep space, to setting up a Mars base, to having enough fuel for the trip home! In The Mars Challenge, writer Benjamin A. Wilgus and artist Wyeth Yates bring the reader on a thrilling interplanetary voyage and clearly illustrate the scientific concepts and complex machinery involved. Humans can reach Mars in our lifetime—this book explains how it can be done.

"Scientists conduct hundreds of experiments in space every year! Readers can discover the amazing things space scientists have learned in this up-close, exciting look at the way research is conducted in space."--

The astronaut crime that shocked the world Star Crossed transports readers to the moment the news broke that one of America’s heroes, an astronaut who had flown aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery& just months before, had been arrested for a very bizarre crime. Lisa Nowak had driven 900 miles from Houston to Orlando to intercept and confront her romantic rival in an airport parking lot—allegedly using diapers on the trip so she wouldn’t have to stop. Nowak had been dating astronaut William “Billy” Oefelein when she learned that Oefelein was seeing a new girlfriend—U.S. Air Force Captain Colleen Shipman. The “astronaut love triangle” scandal quickly made headlines. The world watched as Nowak was dismissed from NASA, pleaded guilty to a felony, and received an “other than honorable” military discharge. An award-winning investigative reporter who covered Nowak’s criminal case, Kimberly Moore offers behind-the-scenes insights into Nowak’s childhood, her rigorous training, and her mission to space. Moore ventures inside the mind of the detective who studied the actions Nowak took that fateful February night. She includes never-before-told details of Nowak’s psychiatric diagnosis, taking a serious look at how someone so accomplished could spiral into mental illness to the point of possible attempted murder. This book spotlights the often-overlooked psychological health of astronauts, exploring how they are cared for by NASA doctors and what changes have been made in recent years to support space travelers on long-term missions. Expertly told, Moore’s story is a riveting journey inside the high-pressure world of one of America’s most elite agencies and the life of one beleaguered astronaut.

Who are the extraordinary individuals that will take us on the next great space race, the next great human endeavor, our exploration and colonization of the planet Mars? And more importantly, how are they doing it? Acclaimed science writer Oliver Morton explores the peculiar and fascinating world of the new generation of explorers: geologists, scientists, astrophysicists and dreamers. Morton shows us the complex and beguiling role that mapping will play in our understanding of the red planet, and more deeply, what it means for humans to envision such heroic landscapes. Charting a path from the 19th century visionaries to the spy-satellite pioneers to the science fiction writers and the arctic explorers -- till now, to the people are taking us there -- Morton unveils the central place that Mars has occupied in the human imagination, and what it will mean to realize these dreams. A pioneering work of journalism and drama, Mapping Mars gives us our first exciting glimpses of the world to come and the curious, bizarre, and amazing people who will take us there.