Interplanetary Robots: True Stories of Space Exploration

by Rod Pyle

Overview

A NASA insider tells the exciting story of robotic space missions to explore the solar system. Exploring the planets has been a goal of America's space program since the dawn of the space race. This insider's perspective examines incredible missions of robotic spacecraft to every corner of our solar system and beyond. Some were flown into glory, while others were planned and relegated to dusty filing cabinets. All were remarkable in their aspirations. Award-winning science writer Rod Pyle profiles both the remarkable spacecraft and the amazing scientists and engineers who made them possible. From the earliest sprints past Venus and Mars to Voyager1's current explorations of the space between the stars, this exciting book sheds new light on ever-more ambitious journeys designed to increase the human reach into the solar system. Drawing on his perspective as a writer for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, ground zero for NASA's planetary exploration, the author further details plans now in development to look for signs of life on Jupiter's moon Europa, submarines that will dive into the hazy hydrocarbon lakes of Saturn's moon Titan, and intelligent spacecraft that will operate for months without human intervention on Mars and in the outer solar system well into the 2030s. Equally compelling are programs of exploration that were considered but never left the drawing board, such as automobile-sized biology laboratories designed for a Mars landing in the 1960s and plans to detonate atomic bombs on the moon. Complemented by many rarely-seen photos and illustrations, these stories of incredible engineering achievements, daring imaginations, and technological genius will fascinate and inspire.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781633885028
Publisher:	Prometheus Books
Publication date:	01/29/2019
Pages:	376
Sales rank:	645,668
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Rod Pyle is the author of the widely acclaimed Curiosity: An Inside Look at the Mars Rover Mission and the People Who Made It Happen and Destination Mars—called "the best recent overview of Mars missions" by the Washington Post—and also Destination Moon, Missions to the Moon, and a popular audiobook called The Space Race. He has produced numerous documentaries for the History Channel and Discovery Communications, including the widely praised Modern Marvels: Apollo 11. He has been an assistant professor at the University of La Verne and a lecturer with NASA's Johnson Space Center.

Read an Excerpt

FOREWORD
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Interplanetary Robots"
by .
Copyright © 2019 Rod Pyle.
Excerpted by permission of Prometheus Books.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Foreword 9

Introduction 11

Chapter 1 Alone in the Dark 15

Chapter 2 The Center of the Universe: Part 1 19

Chapter 3 Early Plans 31

Chapter 4 Frau im Mond 39

Chapter 5 Suicide on the Moon 51

Chapter 6 Flash Forward: The Lunar Flashlight 61

Chapter 7 Mars in the Crosshairs 65

Chapter 8 Flash Forward: MarCO 79

Chapter 9 Landing on Luna Incognita 83

Chapter 10 Russian Rovers 89

Chapter 11 Flash Forward; Prospecting the Moon 93

Chapter 12 The Center of the Universe: Part 2 97

Chapter 13 Voyagers on Mars? 105

Chapter 14 … And Then Came Viking 119

Chapter 15 Flash Forward: Mars Has MOXIE! 143

Chapter 16 Barnstorming Venus: Part 1 147

Chapter 17 Barnstorming Venus: Part 2 157

Chapter 18 Flash Forward: The Tick-Tock Rover 165

Chapter 19 The Center of the Universe: Part 3 169

Chapter 20 A Grand-Ish Tour 171

Chapter 21 Pioneering Jupiter and Saturn 177

Chapter 22 JPL's Finest Hour: The Voyagers, Part 1 183

Chapter 23 Brief Encounters: The Voyagers, Part 2 199

Chapter 24 Into the Void: The Voyagers, Part 3 209

Chapter 25 Flash Forward: Going Interstellar 217

Chapter 26 Not by a Longshot 221

Chapter 27 Ruddy Chunks of a Red Planet: Mars 5M 225

Chapter 28 Flash Forward: Robotic Rendezvous at Mars 235

Chapter 29 Jupiter's Revenge 239

Chapter 30 Flash Forward: Inflatable Antennas 267

Chapter 31 The Center of the Universe: Part 4 269

Chapter 32 Saturn Ahoy 275

Chapter 33 Flash Forward: Diving on Titan 299

Chapter 34 A Return to Mars 303

Chapter 35 Flash Forward: Grabbing Those Samples 315

Chapter 36 Other Missions of Exploration and Discovery 317

Chapter 37 The Center of the Universe: Part 5 327

Notes 329

Index 345

Editorial Reviews

11/12/2018
Pyle (Amazing Stories of the Space Age), a media consultant for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, misfires in this disappointing survey of unmanned space missions. Pyle begins in 2012, as the Curiosity rover is scheduled to land on Mars, then backtracks to cover the entire history of what he’s dubbed “interplanetary robots,” beginning with the start of the U.S.-Soviet space race in the 1950s. Pyle proceeds to cover familiar developments, such as the launching of Sputnik, the fulfillment of President Kennedy’s promise to land a man on the moon, and the Voyager missions. In “Flash Forwards,” Pyle speculates about possible future technology, including “purpose-built spacecraft” for exploring nearby stars and a submarine for delving into hydrocarbon lakes on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. Despite Pyle’s undeniably strong credentials, the authority of his text is undermined by some questionable statements, including about the surprising discovery of what appeared to be surviving Earth bacteria on equipment left on the moon for years; only in a footnote does he mention that the bacteria may have resulted from nonsterile conditions after the equipment’s return to Earth. Strained and flowery prose (satellite dishes are described as “poking high into the arid skies like withered daisies seeking a bit more sunlight”) provides another minus in this missed opportunity. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

""Interplanetary Robots by Rod Pyle is, quite simply, the best chronicle I’ve ever read about our golden age of planetary exploration. It’s a behind-the-scenes look at the many missions, flown or not, designed to explore our solar system. Brilliant, thorough, and crack-me-up funny!”   —Pascal Lee, planetary scientist, Mars Institute, SETI Institute, and NASA Ames Research Center “A breathtaking account of humanity’s robotic exploration of the solar system. Compelling and well-written, this book immerses the reader in the political and scientific realities that challenged each interplanetary mission over the past sixty years. Rod Pyle’s conversational style and insider perspective enable the reader to personally experience the scientific and historical discoveries, something few books of this genre are able to offer.”   —Louis A. Del Monte, bestselling author of Genius Weapons, Nanoweapons, and The Artificial Intelligence Revolution “A fun, eminently readable romp discussing the past, present, and future of interplanetary robotic spaceflight—Pyle makes a dense, multi-textured subject relatable to all readers with his (pardon the pun) down-to-Earth storytelling style.”   —Emily Carney, author, and founder of the online group Space Hipsters   “In this optimistic, exciting book, master space storyteller Pyle turns to the ultimate in robotics: machines small enough to fit in a suburban driveway (or even a suburban living room), flung into the hostile abyss by dangerous rockets, maintaining radio contact with their human creators for years but almost never coming back, transforming our knowledge of our solar system. From his home base near NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pyle surveys sixty years of progress and, in the ‘Flash Forward’ chapters, glimpses the future.” —Steve Fentress, director, Strasenburgh Planetarium, Rochester, NY “Pyle has done it again! What he accomplished for human spaceflight with Amazing Stories of the Space Age he repeats in this consistently fascinating review of robotic space exploration. The thrilling successes throughout our solar neighborhood are here, but so are the almost equally interesting schemes that literally never left the ground. I learned something new from almost every page, while being entertained by Rod’s signature humor and unique observations along the way. His own interactions with some of our robot emissaries make this an even more personal and enjoyable read.”   —Mat Kaplan, host of the Planetary Society’s Planetary Radio   “If machines ever replace us, they’ll want to keep Pyle on hand to do what he does for our interplanetary robots—personalize their stories, spotlight what’s important, and explain why with wit and wonder. This book is a first-class seat on all of these unmanned spacecraft.”   —Dr. E. C. Krupp, director, Griffith Observatory

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