Packing for Mars
by Mary Roach · first published 2010
63% recommend38% neutral
Why HN recommends it
A light, anecdote-rich look at the everyday science of spaceflight, from food to bodily functions to the physiology of life in orbit. An entertaining, accessible read for anyone curious about space travel.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Space is devoid of the stuff humans need to live: air, gravity, hot showers, fresh veg, privacy, beer. How much can a person give up? What happens when you can't walk for a year? Is sex any fun in zero gravity? As Mary Roach discovers, it's possible to explore space without ever leaving Earth. From the space shuttle training toilet to a 17,000-mile-per-hour crash test of NASA's space capsule, she takes us on a surreally entertaining trip into the science of living in space.
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…less friendly (and not immediately lethal) to humans. Also, different animals have different thresholds -- mice, for example, have a much lower tolerance for G-forces than whales. I recommend reading "Packing for Mars" by Mary Roach -- very insightful book that discusses all sorts of things about planet habitability, space travel, space suit design, psychology, and among many other things, G-forces.
on “NASA Confirms Its First Planet in Habitable Zone of Sun-like Star” ↗Mary Roach had a bit in her book Packing for Mars about the huge impact fresh food has on astronaut morale. She also included a great anecdote about how some early Russian cosmonauts ended up eating some onion bulbs that were meant for a zero-gravity…
on “Space Farming: The Final Frontier” ↗…Spawned Life as We Know it Blood Work: A Tale of Medicine and Murder in the Scientific Revolution Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error: The Meaning of Error in an Age of Certainty Mycophilia Packing for Mars: The Curious Science Of Life In Space No Logo King of Infinite Space: Donald Coxeter, the Man Who Saved Geometry The Ghosts Of Evolution Nonsensical Fruit, Missing Partners, And Other Ecological Anachronisms Rosalind…
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite non-fiction books of all time?” ↗Related, which some might find interesting: "Packing for Mars" by Mary Roach
on “The Mars Delusion” ↗…"heavy-weight" and more theory-heavy course) - Introduction to Solar Systems Astronomy: https://www.edx.org/course/introduction-solar-systems-astron... - Talking about a journey to Mars, you just must read "Packing for Mars" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packing_for_Mars), Google Talk presentation by the author (40 minutes): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0kaycVtvhU . PS: For a first flight experience I recommend you…
on “Mars Explorers Wanted Posters” ↗Alexandr Laveikin (cosmonaut) spent time on the Mir (Мир) spacestation in 1987. He said it was "very noisy, very hot." (This is from 'Packing for Mars' by Mary Roach) I guess heat conduction is difficult if your spacecraft is in a vacuum.
on “What happens when you wring out a washcloth in space [video]” ↗One of Mary Roach's books (Packing for Mars?) also claimed that in a large passenger plane, you're moving too fast to jump out without dying.
on “How to land an airplane if you are not a pilot” ↗In Mary Roach's book "Packing for Mars" [0], in the section where they talk about the psychological impact of going into space, there is an interesting anecdote about the history of trains. As trains began to become more commonplace, there…
on “The Great Offline” ↗