Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach. Deceived by the sub-title, I was expecting a philosophical journey into the mind of a lonely astronaut in space. I couldn't have been more wrong. It's one hilarious joy ride. Rocket science is not exactly rocket science but what's more difficult is emulating in space the "mundane" tasks we take it for granted here on earth. That's what this book is all about. We wouldn't read better book this year on how precious earth is and how gifted we are all to share this planet.
A word of caution before reading this book - please schedule your reading time before dining.
Astronaut Jim Lovell is telling Mission Control about an image he has captured on film - "a beautiful shot of a full Moon against the black sky and the strato formation of the clouds of the earth below," reads the mission transcript.
After a momentary silence, Lovell's crewmate Frank Borman presses the TALK button. "Borman's dumping urine. Urine in approximately one minute."
Two lines further along, we see Lovell saying, "What a sight to behold!" We don't know what he's referring to, but there's good chance it's not the moon. According to more than one astronaut memoir, one of the most beautiful sights in space is that of a sun-illumined flurry of flash-frozen waste-water droplets. Space doesn't just encompass the sublime and the ridiculous It erases the line between.
A word of caution before reading this book - please schedule your reading time before dining.
Astronaut Jim Lovell is telling Mission Control about an image he has captured on film - "a beautiful shot of a full Moon against the black sky and the strato formation of the clouds of the earth below," reads the mission transcript.
After a momentary silence, Lovell's crewmate Frank Borman presses the TALK button. "Borman's dumping urine. Urine in approximately one minute."
Two lines further along, we see Lovell saying, "What a sight to behold!" We don't know what he's referring to, but there's good chance it's not the moon. According to more than one astronaut memoir, one of the most beautiful sights in space is that of a sun-illumined flurry of flash-frozen waste-water droplets. Space doesn't just encompass the sublime and the ridiculous It erases the line between.
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