Gets bogged down with budget issues

Overall this is not a bad listen, but if you're hoping for lots of specifics on the science end of putting together the MSL/Curiosity mission, this will leave you asking for more. The problem is that because the writer was the project manager, the book spends lots of time on the politics of NASA budgeting. huge parts of the book are about budget shortfalls, obtaining extra funds for the project, and meetings about budgeting issues. If you're a big fan of bureaucratic processes within NASA, then this is the book for you!
That being said, there was good information on the building of Curiosity as well as the mechanics of landing Curiosity on Mars, and the surprising amount of just plain "luck" that is part of this type of project.

32 persone l'hanno trovata utile

A fascinating insight

Would you listen to Mars Rover Curiosity again? Why?

I've been interested in space exploration since I saw the first moon landing at the age of about seven. I'm fascinated by the technical challenges, and the nuts and bolts of making a mission like this happen. I will be keeping this book and re-listening, for certain.

What three words best describe Bronson Pinchot’s performance?

Careful but dull. Everything is pronounced correctly, the pacing works well for me, and there are no major flaws that I can detect. Occasionally he places the emphasis strangely in a sentence - or at least, differently to how I would read it. But my main complaint is that for a topic that excites me, it's a very flat emotionless presentation. This is a story of how an amazing event was planned and achieved; the reading should be as interesting as the material.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Absolutely. I wanted to stay up all night listening to it.

Any additional comments?

Perhaps I am a little biased in my expectations, having heard an interview with Bob Manning before I bought the book. I would have loved to have heard it read by him.

15 persone l'hanno trovata utile

Good overview

Good chronological overview. Right amount of technical info for a "non-technical" person like myself. Wasn't quite as inspiring as other space related audibles I have listened to, but seems to be intended to be more factual.

12 persone l'hanno trovata utile

Very interesting!

I think any space-enthusiast would enjoy this, it's technical enough while remaining understandable and covers many topics and other projects besides just MSL. My only real complaint would be that I personally don't like the narrator, not that interesting reading voice nor particularly enthusiastic. But this is fortunately not the kind of story that relies on such things to be worth listening to!

9 persone l'hanno trovata utile

Thoroughly enjoyed!

This was a very interesting audio book for both its space exploration adventure, but also the behind the scenes story. I'm a space nerd, so was fairly certain I'd enjoy the title from that point of view. However I enjoyed it equally for the perspective on how the project was managed and how issues were dealt with.

The narration was also great. A good dose of energy that I thought suited the content well.

Highly recommended! Especially if you liked 'The Martian' and would like something similar, but non-fiction.

2 persone l'hanno trovata utile

CURIOSITY

Curiosity is a mechanical, one-eyed, six wheeled, antenna-tailed super dog. It can stiff the air, drill rocks, analyze elemental particles, roam a countryside (at a snail’s pace 300 feet per hour), and talk to humans. Its language is in 1s and 0s. It speaks to Earth from Mars across 49 million miles of space with a message that continues to amaze and encourage human exploration of the universe.

Robert Manning, in collaboration with William Simon (Manning’s ghost writer), reflects on the technological feat of creating and delivering a robotic laboratory to the fourth rock from the sun. Manning heads a team of NASA scientists and engineers to design the latest land rover, called Curiosity, to explore Mars.

“Mars Rover Curiosity” is a tribute to NASA and its organizational skill in achieving a land mark in extraterrestrial exploration. In listening to Manning’s story, one feels humans are on the edge of a continent in the 15th century, planning to sail to an unexplored place to find answers about what there is beyond imagination. NASA’s contribution to science and a possible future for humanity seems inferred by Manning’s story; particularly in light of current scientific evidence for Earth’s global warming.

2 persone l'hanno trovata utile

Making Curiosity Happen

Millions of Americans as well as people around the world have followed the adventures and the fascinating findings of the the Mars Rover Curiosity. For the scientists and engineers working on the project, much of the excitement, adventure, and stress came before arrival on Mars, and even well before take-off for Mars.

It was the largest rover ever sent to Mars. It carried an unprecedented number of scientific instruments. Its size and weight required a whole new landing method. Whole new methods, techniques, software had to be created--and every penny of cost had to be justified every step of the way, as other projects and scientists competed for their share of the underfunded NASA budget.

Rob Manning was Curiosity's chief engineer, and this is his account of how Curiosity got from "neat idea" to its "space crane" touchdown on Mars and the start of its exploration of the planet. Along the way, the earlier rovers, Pathfinder, Spirit, and Opportunity, provided vital information on how to proceed and what they would face. Yet they were also obstacles to overcome, as the Curiosity team was challenged to explain why their rover was so much more expensive than the (cheaper, smaller, less scientifically capable) rovers. They solve major technological challenges while fighting attempts to divert their funding to exploration of the outer planets.

It's a great story, well-told, full of its own variety of chills and thrills. And it's all true.

Recommended.

I bought this book.

1 persona l'ha trovata utile

Great details on an Amazing spacecraft!

Many times what ruins a great book is a mediocre narrator. in this case Bronson Pinchot delivers an amazing performance. I highly recommend any book that he is narrating. The content in this book was amazing and very detailed it took a lot more to put the spacecraft together than most people would think. This book is definitely worth your time!

Worth Your Time

This was an interesting tale of our Mars exploration program. Technical Enough to be fun but not boring.

easy to listen gripping story if you like Mars

even though i knew the ending ou would think a story about engineering would be boring. it was not.