224 pages
English language
Published Dec. 30, 2014
In Mars Rover Curiosity: An Inside Account from Curiosity's Chief Engineer, Rob Manning, the project's chief engineer, tells of bringing the groundbreaking spacecraft to life. Manning and his team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, tasked with designing a lander many times larger and more complex than any before, faced technical setbacks, fights over inadequate resources, and the challenges of leading an army of brilliant, passionate, and often frustrated experts.
Very interesting listen. I always seem to enjoy stories on huge NASA projects that make the seemingly impossible possible overcoming technical, political and financial barriers. This was no exception.
More about the engineering than the science, this book covers Rob Manning's very stressful job as the chief engineer for the Mars Science Laboratory. From the start, this is about discovering and solving problems with engineering, and for me it wasn't too jargon heavy.
After a brief bio (high school in Burlington WA!) he dives into earlier Mars missions, including Mars Pathfinder and the Sojourner rover. He also discusses some of the failed missions and why they failed (Newtons mistaken for pounds - ouch!). The primary focus of the book is Curiosity, and while he touches on budget and schedule challenges, engineering is the star here. Each problem is explained, the methods to narrow down described and the solution detailed.
The writing is not always smooth, but the ideas are clear. It also felt short - I started and finished it on a long flight between Seattle and Iceland. There …
More about the engineering than the science, this book covers Rob Manning's very stressful job as the chief engineer for the Mars Science Laboratory. From the start, this is about discovering and solving problems with engineering, and for me it wasn't too jargon heavy.
After a brief bio (high school in Burlington WA!) he dives into earlier Mars missions, including Mars Pathfinder and the Sojourner rover. He also discusses some of the failed missions and why they failed (Newtons mistaken for pounds - ouch!). The primary focus of the book is Curiosity, and while he touches on budget and schedule challenges, engineering is the star here. Each problem is explained, the methods to narrow down described and the solution detailed.
The writing is not always smooth, but the ideas are clear. It also felt short - I started and finished it on a long flight between Seattle and Iceland. There are quite a few photos and diagrams, though none are in color. Then again, nasa.gov has plenty of color images, and the book even references some design videos available. In summary, a solid 4½ stars out of 5.
