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.