"Exploring Mars is a bit like doing brain surgery through a mile-long soda straw. At an average distance of fifty million miles from Earth, with a one-way radio message time of twelve to twenty minutes, roving the dry, treacherous surface requires the utmost in planning and careful execution. One false move can end a mission in seconds, and there are rarely many options to correct mistake. That is why the people who dare seek the truth about Mars are so remarkable. This is the story of human striving, from early times through tomorrow, to discover what makes Mars tick."
And so begins our exploration of Mars, the best prospect for crewed exploration in our solar system. Since 1964, NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory have been sending robotic probes to the red planet to do just that. With uncanny accuracy and a magnificent record of success beyond our wildest expectations, these mechanical emissaries have pulled-back the many layers of mystery surrounding Mars. "Destination Mars" is a compeling telling of the many missions sent into the Great Darkness to our planetary neighbor; fact that reads like fiction. "A novelistic telling of a true story- a fantastic read." KK, LA Country Library.
