Author: Mark Mortimer

This book is an in-depth, technically precise narrative on the geology of Mars. The wealth of provided satellite imagery makes it easily understood by the layman. Images mostly come from Mars Global Surveyor’s MOC system and the Mars Odyssey THEMIS system. Comparisons to the author’s own photographs of Earth’s geological magic magnify the similarities. Yet this is not a picture book. Rather, Kargel does a magnificent job of tying the features into appropriate geological processes. For example, size, frequency and quantity of craters indicate age and tectonics. Crater rim condition demonstrates weathering. Alluvial fans, valleys, and moraines indicate fluid flow. All together these and others lead Kargel to believe and to show us that, at times, the surface of Mars must have had significant amounts of liquid flowing and pooling on its surface. That is, Mars was a much wetter planet than it is today.

But where has this liquid come from and gone to? We don’t know for sure, but Kargel believes the liquid was and still is present on Mars. Warmer equatorial regions have liquid frozen at great depth; mid-latitude regions have this material close to or at the surface; while the polar ice caps and their glaciers act as high density fluid moving at an amazingly slow pace. Kargel’s supposition is that Mars began with a comparatively homogeneous mantle but transitions occurred via ‘MEGAOUTFLO’ events. These episodes of internal geologic activity, such as volcanism, together with cycles of changing orbital eccentricity and obliquity, led to climatic oscillations. Hence, he concludes that though today Mars is very dry, it must have been, at least once before, both a warmer and wetter planet.

The shear breadth of this book can be daunting. Rock types and their personalities abound. Chemical compounds, their formations and their significance also get a solid billing. This is not surprising as after all, Kargel is a pre-eminent geologist and the forward by Harrison Schmitt leaves no doubt whatsoever about the subject. Topics within the text include active outgassing of juvenile volatiles from the mantle, glaciers that flow like condensed laminar fluid down an inclined plane and the forming of the mineral jarosite which requires many times its mass of water.

However this book is not a dry technical treatise. Kargel uses everyday language to discuss what is seen on Mars today, why it came to be, and what use can be made of this new knowledge. He considers the views of Cydonia Clanists and Percival Lowell and how unique life may exist on Mars and where it may be hiding. A very high level view presents the planet’s life cycle starting with accretion and concluding with the charring of its surface during our sun’s final explosion and subsequent collapse into a white dwarf star. He also discusses optimal landing locations for explorers and colonists of Mars, together with processes and techniques for power generation, water provisioning and infrastructure build-out. Still, the focus of this book is Mars’ surface geology and the deductions that result.

And in keeping with the progress of scientific investigation, Kargel is quick to point out that much is needed before any scientific advance is considered valid. This must be kept in mind throughout the book as the phraseology continually changes between observed fact and speculation. Also, given the complexity of the subject, the breadth of discussion is perhaps too broad. This is reminiscent of a wedding guest who waxes too eloquently when they get in front of the microphone. Still, for those who want to know what those amazing pictures of Mars are telling us, this is an excellent book.

Further, just as the proof of this book was nearing completion, the two Martian probes Opportunity and Spirit landed. Some of their early images appear but certainly much is left out. However, the book focuses on planet wide issues as seen through expansive satellite views so the probes’ information would likely be complementary to rather than a replacement of the supposition.

Some people say that we already know that Mars has a lot of rocks on it so why do we keep sending probes to see more rocks? Well a diamond on a wedding band can equally be considered just a rock and isn’t of great value, only don’t tell that to the wearer. Each picture of Martian rocks is much more than just another picture. Jeffrey Kargel in his book Mars: A Warmer Wetter Planet, provides us with the information and background to interpret the pictures and be thankful for their provision. Then, by placing these images into a geologic context, he gives a whole lot of understanding of the planet Mars and its rock formations.

Read more reviews, or order a copy online from Amazon.com.

Review by Mark Mortimer

Astrobiology is the study of life in the universe. It broadly encompasses many fields but purely for its own purposes. Early astrobiology (not that long ago) was, “a jumble of names with a variety of backgrounds and motivations and no central brain”. Its principal goal, to understand the inception of life, gave rise to many fundamental questions. What is life? How can or will we detect life on other worlds? How did life arise on Earth? What does life need to sustain itself? The questions were many and most still have no clear answer. As we read in this book, NASA had a strong influence in astrobiology in its early days and almost single handedly is keeping it going today.

Not all of the investigations related to astrobiology focussed directly on these lofty queries. For instance, space travel began and gave rise to the possibility of cross-planet contamination. Earth probes landing on foreign bodies (i.e. Viking) or especially when returning from foreign bodies (i.e. Apollo), shouldn’t transfer any harmful life forms. Other foretelling work included Stanley Miler’s experiment that simulated early Earth conditions and resulted in the formation of amino acids. Sidney Fox and his spherical proteinoids or Tom Cech and his RNA World thought they had tagged the beginnings of life in their own way though, not all agree. James Lovelock’s proposal, called Gaia, credited living things with having a dramatic effect on the atmospheric conditions on our planet. The early days were indeed a jumble, often supported by short term NASA contracts and almost always directed to space concepts. Nevertheless, a certain cohesion sprang up, together with the first moniker, exobiology.

Today’s investigations, well documented in the book, identify researchers and provide details relevant to the context of the day. The spectre of a hunt for little green men shadowed the creation of the SETI program and forced its evolution to an independent organization. The asteroid found in the Antarctic was blasted off from Mars billions of years ago and may have traces of life, but shapes tens of nanometres across leave a lot to the imagination. Nevertheless this finding may have assured the Viking and follow on programs that headed to Mars. The hunt for planets, difficult and error prone in the beginning, is now progressing rapidly, with indications that planets frequently occur. Again, throughout, NASA is shown to have a significant presence in these investigations, often supporting the inception stage and sponsoring many workshops and principal investigators. Also a name change happened as exobiology became astrobiology.

The destination of astrobiology is perhaps the most telling. A simple equation says it all. This equation known as the Drake equation, estimates the number of other technological civilizations in the galaxy. As long as this equation results with a value of one or greater, then there is at least one other life form to whom we can communicate. Obviously, if true, this could require a big change in some religions as well as some serious societal circumspections. But until we have the evidence, first contact will remain in the realm of science fiction. Reading between the lines, it appears that NASA is contemplating this question and considering options!

Our living universe is a fascinating subject with lofty goals. Dick and Strick do the history of the field justice by accumulating a description of so many of the activities, projects and workshops that relate to this topic. Sometimes the reading gets a bit dry. Typical passage are, ‘person x of department y at site z on date t did something’. Hundreds of names flow by, as well as contract descriptions, amounts, budgetary issues, personalities and the like. The style is more reminiscent of a memorial tomb than a Carl Sagan novel. Don’t be surprised by this as the funding for the book came from NASA. This does result in an apparent biassed result. For example, the first section of the book includes efforts from around the globe, while the remainder centres almost exclusively on NASA funded activities. Sometimes I got the feeling that this book was just a tool to justify NASA expenditures, which is a shame, as the subject is so interesting, and NASA has made a tremendous contribution. On the whole though, the book is well laid out, has only a few references to techno-speak and successfully covers a lot of information.

Hundreds of great scientists have contributed to astrobiology. This hunt for the understanding of life might be rationalized as the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, or as a good preparation for contacting other worldly life. Either way, Steven Dick and James Strick in their book, The Living Universe – NASA and the development of Astrobiology, show the progress of these scientists and researchers and give credit to NASA’s support during the build up and implementation of this new research field.

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Review by Mark Mortimer

First a bit of a background. We’ve a long way to go. Alpha Centauri is 4.3 light years away (about 13 zeros after the one when considering kilometres). Voyager 1, the fastest man made object, is speeding at 3.6 AU’s per year (about 8 zeros after the one in kilometres per year). Were a person to be on it, some 100,000 years would pass before entering Alpha Centauri’s solar system. This won’t happen as Voyager 1 travels another path, but this is the problem in a nutshell, it’s too far for today’s chemically driven rockets. With most people expecting a return on investment well within ten years then there would be little support in waiting thousands of generations for payback. Given this impracticality Gilster presents options and methods that might reduce the travel time to within one generation.

The first chapter sets the background of who’s doing what, where they are keeping themselves busy and, sometimes, when their activities first appear upon the scene. Scores of researchers’ names arise, especially physicists, mathematicians and astronomers, but a sprinkling of other esoteric specialists such as Internet designers, clearly demonstrates the broad response to this challenge. NASA’s programs and facilities predominate. CERN appears as does the Brookhaven National Laboratory. Early visionaries from the 1800’s and even earlier make a brief appearance. Applicable science fiction stories from the early 1900’s get noted, while the predominance of technically valid work dates from about 1960 on. This shows that on the whole, considerable thought and work has gone into advancing concepts for high speed interstellar travel.

Five chapters follow and represent the real meat of this book. These look at different methods of getting a useful payload to our neighbouring stars and they focus on well known and lesser known means of propulsion. Antimatter, sails, ramjets and fusion runways get their dues. Field-drives, providing force from the interaction of matter and fields get an honourable mention. Each chapter clearly and simply describes the methods of the chosen propulsion and the state (or technical level) of the research. Interviews with today’s investigators provide a superb insider’s view of activities. If you’re looking to identify locations for grad studies, there is a bonus as key investigating sites get identified alongside. Exciting sections detail the latest in experiments and technical investigations. The Planetary Society’s solar sail lifts off soon, antimatter is getting expansive new containers, lasers push model crafts up against Earth’s gravitational pull and a mini-magentospheric plasma propulsion prototype undergoes testing. Each of these might answer the riddle about how we propel ourselves at near light speed but as pointed out, the breakthrough technology may yet be around the corner.

One chapter seems a little bit like a lost child. This deals with communication and guidance. Of course these issues will need to be addressed, but it seems a bit early to be worrying about setting up extra-planetary webs or designing their communication protocol for that real long distance feeling. The guidance/navigation portion seems equally out of place. As the propulsion method so drastically constrains the mission, this discussion is preemptive. Still, as the title states, this book plans for interstellar exploration, hence communication and guidance are relevant and their consideration is warranted.

And yes, the title says it all. Alpha Centauri is a dreamers destination but dreams are only the beginning. Imagination gets us out of the constraints of everyday thinking and planning will see that effort gets well applied. As depicted within the book, many people share this dream. Some are incredibly lucky and can make it their life’s work. Others contribute directly in their part time or indirectly whether through related research, writing fiction or, as Gilster is undertaking, performing outreach activities. The link from imagination, to serious consideration and eventual trials constantly arises as either a sign of humanity’s adaptability or perhaps a sign of genetic coding. Nevertheless, time and again, imaginations are shown to conceive of the knowledge that thrusts plans out of the realm of fiction and into the laboratory where researchers make it reality.

Stars twinkle all about us at night. Perhaps maliciously inviting or teasing like a temptress, either way they remain today too far to fathom visiting today. Science fiction had imaginaries who gave detailed if somewhat fanciful means of propulsion between the stars. Paul Gilster in Centauri Dreams: Imagining and Planning Interstellar Exploration shows that real science is advancing technologies that could make this trip practical. The plans of the scientists and other technical may soon bear fruit and future generations of humans would have a much better and more exciting life amongst the stars.

Read more reviews online or order your own copy from Amazon.com.

Review by Mark Mortimer

This book is somewhere between a coffee table art book and a grade school science book. It has over three hundred stunning images of the Earth and, in particular, man-made structures divided up into eight chapters. The break down isn’t immediately obvious, but the overall result is. These views from remote sensing satellites help us understand the forces at work and in particular man’s influence. Seeing the drastic changes due to mankind causes some deep retrospection.

A typical chapter starts with a couple of pages detailing the importance of a particular topic. Often side bars therein contain small pictures of the earth (on the typical lat/lon perspective) that focus on one measurable parameter, such as surface temperature or ozone level. The main text discusses these and other related subjects all within the broad topic. Mineral content, for example, includes surface geology, presence of craters and shapes of desert plumes.

The pages after the text contain many large format (25cm by 25cm) images that highlight the topic. A view’s extent ranges from continental to citywide. The colour format can be real, infrared, or false coloured for highlighting. Also, a caption adjoining each image clearly describes the feature of interest, a bit of background of its significance (e.g. longest river in the world), the originating satellite and the acquisition date.

Man-made marvels take up a good portion. Toronto’s Skydome stabs upwards. Robert Smithson’s artwork ‘Spiral Jetty’ is just that, an impressive 450m long sculpture of placed rocks curling into Great Salt Lake of Utah. One awe inspiring view shows the al Haram mosque in Mecca with 400,000 worshipers surrounding the Ka’bah.

Though man-made features predominate, nature gets to show off as well. North America’s spring and fall foliage have gorgeous comparative views. Volcanoes and lava flows strut their fire and aftereffects. Hurricanes and glaciers meander in pleasant streams of vortices and funnels. The sand dunes from Yemen look like a beach shore at your toes until you read that the camera is at 800km and the average dune’s height is tens of metres. The Lena River in Siberia appears refreshingly green except for the vivid slashes of red scars throughout, the result of natural forest fires. Nature apparently makes great art without really trying.

Yet in a very unassuming way, the author highlights the main purpose of the remote sensing satellites; to identify the processes at work on the Earth’s surface. Though no preaching occurs, the images of the quickly disappearing Aral sea, the removal of the rain forests in the Amazon or the irrigation of crops in deserts serve this purpose well. Interestingly enough, the natural views tend to have smooth shapes and colours that gently flow from one type to another. However, the influence of humankind takes this smooth melody and introduces sharp discordant chords, breaking the rhythm. Mind you, nature can make its own sour music; just see the lava flow that slices right through the city of Goma. Nevertheless, humankind’s influence on the Earth is usually front row centre throughout.

The clarity of the images, whether of humankind or natural subjects, are outstanding. Resolutions at about 2m by 2m per pixel enable you to see individual cars. Many shots from the space shuttle give more of an oblique angle that puts the viewer closer to the action. Play an out of this world game of ‘eye-spy’ by guessing the area before reading the caption. Missing from the book are discussions on the accomplishments of remote sensing; in particular views showing changes over time and ensuing reactions by people. The many artistic shots, though bright and sharp, tend to quickly drift out of memory from this lack of mandate for inclusion.

Having grown up in fairly flat surroundings I really appreciate views from height. Images from 800km up are definitely out of the ordinary. Andrew Johnston in his book, Earth from Space, provides a wonderful trip about Earth, seeing some of the best images available from this height. Their source, mostly remote sensing satellites, provide these great artistic pictures that also provide important insight into how humans change this world.

To read more reviews online, or to get your own copy, visit Amazon.com.

Review by Mark Mortimer

Three programs got the USA to the moon. The Mercury program, conceived before Kennedy’s speech, was to achieve orbital flight and the recovery of a manned satellite. The Gemini program, an indirect result of Kennedy’s speech, had quickly to teach NASA if one could travel to the moon and how best to do so. The Apollo program used all the lessons learned and had to place a human on the moon. Or, in other words, Mercury was the child, Gemini was the teacher, and Apollo was the graduate.

Harland’s book opens with a brief description of the Mercury program, its association with von Braun and the prerequisites for a manned satellite. Here we see that ocean explorers had one advantage. They could stretch and walk about their ships! The Mercury capsule was effectively a flying chair encased in a protective steel shell. Once the challenge of the Moon race began, the Gemini capsule ensued. To test rendezvous requirements, two people were needed. One flew the craft while the other confirmed the rendezvous. Much as the Gemini capsule was second generation and fit two people, it wasn’t much better than its predecessor. Or as one pilot put it, ‘it was like sitting in the front end of a Volkswagen for days’. Apparently functionality kept winning over form.

Much of the remainder of the book presents each of the Gemini launches in a chronological order. The focus is on the human aspects of the Gemini program, principally the pilots. Benign actions and casual banter are judiciously presented. The early flights assessed endurance abilities. Some experimental work occurred but you will discover that even being in orbit can be boring. For example, the astronauts were advised to bring fiction books to while away the time. You will also discover how a House investigation was convened to discuss how sandwich crumbs ended up floating around the cabin.

A typical chapter begins with a description of the mission for the flight. Often it was an extension or elaboration of a preceding flight so the chapters smoothly flow together. Sometimes outside interests arose as the Air Force wanted to know if their special backpack could allow an astronaut to ‘visit’ an orbiting USSR satellite. The launch is also covered in detail. Sometimes they were tricky; one had a launch window of two seconds (it succeeded!). The flight themselves are presented firsthand by the use of conversations between the crew and the ground controllers of the stations of the World Wide Tracking Network (WWTN). When there is lots going on, these chapters get extensive. When an endurance record is set, the topics change such as centring on the best way to sleep in space. A brief summary concludes each chapter, usually including a reference to how the results affect future Gemini missions or Apollo designs.

One of the best feelings Harland raises is the sense of urgency. Though no or little information was known about space flight, a lot had to be learned very quickly. The ten Gemini flights were launched at an average of one every two months. There was little room for error even though target satellites failed or onboard equipment performed inadequately. Just looking at the pilots’ work cycle clearly shows this. First they help define their flights mission(s). Next, they train. Then they adapt to any mission specific tasks. Their launch pad experience may transcend many countdowns and mission scrubs. Finally they go and undertake their mission. Afterward they go through debriefings. Afterward they complete a stint as communications officer at one of the WWTN sites and then they’re back training for their next mission. Nothing like a deadline set by a president to provide inspirational feelings and timeliness.

This book does not contain much technical description of the Gemini craft, its launcher or the mathematical trickeries of orbital mechanics. There are descriptions but really, this book is about the people, their actions and their emotions. Many photographs identify the astronauts and their achievements. Perhaps some will find this a trifle too casual such as reading how an astronaut’s wife gave birth while he was in orbit. Yet this vantage contributes to the depiction of these craft as for humans and controlled by humans. The empirical data can happily stay in text books, this one is for the people.

The early explorers knew how to sail but didn’t know what they would find during their voyages. NASA’s Gemini program taught the USA how to sail through space to place their feet on the ever present moon. In David Harland’s book ,’How NASA Learned to Fly in Space’ you can read what they had to learn and how they learned it so that they, like the ocean’s explorers before them, could extend the travelogue of humankind.

To get your own copy, visit Countdown Creations.

Review by Mark Mortimer

Andrew Chaikin divides humankind’s history of space and his book into six chapters. The beginning shows a cross section of a model rocket based on Konstantin Tsiolkovsky’s designs and a wonderful portraiture of this figurehead of space travel. Thereafter comes a steady and well mixed parade of photographs of people, machines and views from space. It ends with photographs of Yang Liwei in his cabin and the launch of his Shenzhou 5 rocket. Many are related to outstanding achievements like the docking of the space shuttle to Mir though some are of crisis events like the damaged Apollo 13 craft. With the book’s chronological ordering, a reader can easily grasp the challenges and accomplishments that occurred in our escape from the bounds of Earth.

Starting each of the six chapters is a narrative that provides some context into the events of the time. Mostly this contains an overview of the political situation and the significant space events. The result is a perspective on the contents and importance of the following photographs. Also, annotations attached to each photograph clearly tell the reader about the subject and the date which it was taken.

The photographs themselves are all superbly clear. Most are in colour and are well sized and positioned to provide optimum impact. Some might be rare, such as one of the checkout of Apollo 14 and 15’s lunar module at the Kennedy Space Center, or another of the Soviet Union’s one man lunar lander. But, for the most part, the pictures are or, at least were, well known.

The main value of this book is its depth. It includes authentic photographs to cover the complete span of human space endeavours. This collection gives feeling to the power of the ever present natural forces and the precocious nature of our advances. However, even though this book was enjoyable to read through once, thereafter, much like a family photo album, it will likely stay put on a shelf or coffee table until friends come over and show an interest.

Though the international space programs of today may not appear astounding, just remember that, only a short time ago, the first human blasted into space. Since then, humankind has really made significant achievements. Luckily cameras recorded many of these and Andrew Chaikin, in his book Space – A History of Space Exploration in Photographs presents an excellent collection. This book will give you a wonderful excuse to ignore a cold winter and curl up in your favourite chair to look at all the marvels we’ve accomplished.

This review is for the paperback edition, which was just released. The hardcover version was put out over a year ago, but Universe Today didn’t get a copy to review.

To get your own copy, visit Amazon.com.

Review by Mark Mortimer

Given the chance, most people would be off vacationing in space at a moment’s notice. Spencer’s plan is to make the holiday a lot more enjoyable than a weekend spent bouncing about Mir’s functional but restrictive interior. He has visions of space yachts in races similar to the America’s Cup; sentinel robots with self aware artificial intelligence maintain the yacht and keep the passengers happy; lunar dune buggies provide for excursions outside the yacht, much like excursions for cruise ships; and simulation centres on Earth train and condition people to their out-of-this-world holiday. With all this at hand, space vacationing would be very popular.

And popularity is a key condition for Spencer. He expects more than 800 people per month will be vacationing, once the infrastructure is in space. For example, a significant portion of the text describes the design of his own yacht, the Destiny. This yacht allows for a small group of passengers to mingle or enjoy solitary relaxation. Rooms, suites and common areas are created by self inflating structures. Environments are conditioned by service robots running on batteries. Safety is ensured by the afore mentioned AI sentinel. Self inflating space ports provide ‘harbours’ for the Destiny and her sister ships. There are even descriptions of coastguard like vessels that ensure the safety of the space lanes. All this is to allow the very rich to enjoy the Earth’s luxuries (wine, dining and dancing) while in the nouvelle regions of space. With this emphasis on pleasure, there should be no challenge meeting the monthly quota.

Though Spencer’s image of space tourism is wonderful, his tie-ins to the practicalities is not. He expects space tourism to be well established by the year 2050, in spite of today’s obvious challenges of building and maintaining the International Space Station. Because of this, his book reads a little too much like science fiction. Almost every aspect of his infrastructure requires large leaps in current scientific and engineering knowledge. For example, his space vessel windows will have material that, on verbal command, changes to allow different sun/radiation intensities into the cabin. This would be more believable if there were an estimate of the effort to get to the required state. Another example is that his vessels include a squad of specialized robots. However, there are no trade off assessments made between the cost and effectiveness of robots to people. Perhaps most telling is his reliance on a low cost orbital access vehicle for which we’re all waiting. In consequence when regarding practicalities, the book is much more of a marketing flyer than it is a business plan.

I think that to get the most out of this book, you must set aside the practical and pessimistic side of your mind and let your free thinking self take over. A particularly rewarding is a first hand account of a lottery winner taking a space holiday in the future. This person starts with describing their training and conditioning through simulation centres on Earth. Next are meetings with fellow passengers at the launch area, safety drills, and the launch to an orbiting port. From there, the winner heads into the space yacht and spends a few luxurious days watching the Earth spin beneath them and the stars twinkle all about. Onboard and off board, activities keep everyone happy and entertained. Upon completion and debarkation, the lottery winner becomes an outspoken advocate for space tourism. In summary, this chapter is the most entertaining and the highlight of the text.

In conclusion, the supposition of the authors is that, today, there is a valid space tourism movement that can lead to a real industry in the near future. The people of this movement believe that by continually highlighting the potential benefits and applauding any steps made in this direction, they will have eventual success. Dennis Tito’s self-paid trip is the landmark they often cite. Also, one complete chapter is dedicated to the progress in space tourism from the mid-1960’s to now. Though this chapter appears to be the summary of the author’s day timer or diary, it still is an interesting and unique view into the progression of space tourism movement from a nascent bottom feeder to today being an oft seen marketing tool and front page head liner. Perhaps, the subtitle would have been more accurate as, ‘do you want to tour in space, then jump on the band wagon!’.

Space tourism, to some people, will be the final industry to succeed in the thrust to the stars. John Spencer and Karen Rugg in their book Space Tourism – Do You Want to Go? show how space tourism can lead the way. They present plans and ideas to build upon the existing space tourism movement so that a full fledged bit of fun can happen in space. Just think what your longest drive might be during a friendly golf game on the moon!

To get your own copy, visit Countdown Creations.

Review by Mark Mortimer

The book inside is Peter Grego’s Moon Observer Guide. You can read our review of this book here. To sum up, this book talks about types of viewing equipment, how to record observations and what are the neat things too look for. The book is quite comprehensive though for more detail, it’s the map you’ll need.

The Moon map by John Murray gives an index of over 500 prominent features on the Moon’s visible side. Of course in addition to rilles, craters and mares, you will see bright red marks for our probes and landers. This poster would look sharp mounted on any wall. North is at the top so all the names read easily for people in the northern hemisphere. Maybe there is another version for viewers in the southern hemisphere otherwise they will need to turn the map around and learn to read upside down! The map comes folded at 13 by 23 cm and unfolds to about 100 by 70 cm.

The last item, and itself a very nice touch, is a broad sheet with photographs of the Moon. There are 26 images on each side of the sheet which effectively makes for a photograph for each Earth night. An image is about 11 centimetres in diameter. One side has photographs of the view from Earth’s northern hemisphere and the other from Earth’s southern hemisphere though from a quick perusal there’s not much difference between the two.

With this package it’s quite easy and fun to look at the Moon in the night sky. Compare the Moon to one of the photographs on the sheet then go to the book to identify the features then go to the Moon map to pick up on small features or special locations. It’s simple to do and very informative. With Moonwatch – A Complete Starter Pack for the Lunar Observer, Firefly publishers have put together a great Christmas gift great or a good any-day addition to a club or group that wants to get into lunar watching.

To read more reviews, or order the book online, visit Amazon.com.

Review by Mark Mortimer

The main doomsday premise is the exhaustion of the supply of high density, easily transportable energy (read oil and gas). Not only is this supply nearing exhaustion, but the overall population of human beings is still climbing. Using a number of case studies, the reader is shown that the Earth, as a closed system, can’t support the status quo. We either need less people, a lower quality of life or more Earths. The last option, crazy as it sounds, is exactly what Wingo is proposing. Within our Solar System, there are bodies that contain many of the elements that are mined on Earth. These include the rare and valuable platinum group metals, especially palladium, which play a key role in today’s economy and would do so even more in a future hydrogen based economy. Thus we have a proposed solution to the envisioned energy doomsday; that is, to mine for the required minerals on asteroids, comets and moons.

Wingo takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of the history of lunar exploration and present day space flight capability (there’s plenty of wailing and gnashing of teeth about the unproductive Apollo missions and the total lack of interest in lunar exploration). By using the results from the Apollo missions and the Clementine and Lunar Prospector missions, Wingo makes a strong case for lunar mining. As a response to the doomsday premise and using the data gathered by these spacecraft, we’re presented with plans to use existing technology to get mining on the Moon. A detailed $16 billion list of components and techniques follows to explain exactly what would get done. Wingo thinks that governments need to provide incentives, minimize obstacles and encourage private enterprise to get mining.

The title is well suited. Like the earlier gold rushes in North America that did so much to open up tracts of land, a Moon rush, with people headed to the Moon to bring minerals back to Earth can also lead to all kinds of innovations. Further, by extracting, smelting and refining off-Earth, we can keep the harmful waste away too. This would be another benefit to life on Earth, as the subtitle states.

The book’s prose lacks a bit. It’s kind of repetitive and I got the impression that it’s a cleaned up version of someone’s class notes. There’s quite a lot of extraneous information, like completely describing the Otto cycle internal combustion engine, and a lengthy study of the stock prices of Boeing and Microsoft. I get how they’re relevant, but I’m not sure it was the best use of space and focus. Still, the chapters are clear and well laid out.

I liked Moonrush. It’s not too technical, and there isn’t a lot of hand waving. The premise is clear and well supported. The historical perspective lends credence and vision. Finally, Wingo does a great job of describing vehicles and methodology that ring true to me (as an armchair Moon miner).

Although Moonrush – Improving Life on Earth with the Moon’s Resources starts on a sour note – you know, the impending doom of the human race – it’s really a positive book that shows how Dennis Wingo has enthusiasm and faith that private enterprise will help get us back to the Moon with 21st century pickaxes and shovels to get the minerals we need without having to wreck our own environment. Maybe doom won’t be around the corner after all. If Paul Allen’s got some pocket change left over, he’d be well advised to kick some cash to help harvest the Moon’s resources.

To read more reviews, or order the book online, visit Amazon.com.

Review by Mark Mortimer

Much like an art gallery, this book is all about its illustrations. Most of these fall under the same spell. There is a foreground view of a planet’s surface (or other such body floating in space). Sometimes the landscape is littered with human artifacts or other alien artifacts. However often it is devoid of life altogether, much like a graveyard. ‘Above’ the surface, orientation of course being very relative, swirls a supernatural ether. ‘Day’ time views (again time being relative) have ghostly perspectives of familiar or quite unusual planets and asteroids whispering into or out of the ether. Night views are clear, without an obfuscating atmosphere, but don’t expect to see recognizable constellations. For example with Alpha Centauri in near proximity, patterns of other stars are quite original. Though the authors use this same spell to weave their magic many times over, each resulting visage is compelling and intriguing in its own right.

And with the universe as the subject matter there is no lack of material. In a similar manner to most astronomy books, this one starts with views of the Earth’s moon and then it soars out. Mars has extensive coverage. Following this are the remaining planets of the solar system and/or their asteroids. Most astronomy books don’t include pictures of surfaces hereafter as even Pluto hasn’t had any significant imaging done of its surface. But here is perhaps where Hardy and Moore excel. Rather than restricting themselves to well known visages, they push a reader into the unknown. There is an Algol-type binary where a small blue white star can be seen scavenging material from its neighbour orange giant. Or, one can see a city which is lit up at night by the glow resulting from a nearby globular cluster. Perhaps no images like these exist anywhere, but perhaps they do, and this speculation adds to the impact of each artwork. Maybe in hundreds of years such an image will be viewed by people or by a robotic probe. Until then we will have to rely on the skills of imaginative seers like Hardy and Moore to bring us such pleasurable treats.

The title itself is a bit misleading, but no deception is intended. The theme of this book is to provide images of what might be seen by future travels, hence futures is in the title. Hardy and Moore first conceived the idea of making an illustrated book of space art in 1954. Hence 50 years is in the title. They did complete a similar venture in 1972 and again in 1978. However, for the most part, this book contains original space art based on up to the date (mid-2003) space science. The final phrase of the title, that is, the challenge of the stars, is not the challenge of making the illustrations, but more the challenge to send people to view them. Here lies one of the main reasons for the authors to prepare another space art book. That is, they wanted to further encourage people to explore space. They believe that there is a real chance that our current opportunity may slip out of our grasp and not return for a very long time. And there is no deception on their belief in this.

There are a number of pleasantries for me, in reading this book. It is non-partisan. There are no flags, no corporate logos and no sales pitch. I also like the author’s ability to step outside the box of predefined life systems. For instance, one sees oxygen-filled sacs that are alive and congregate into rafts or mature into free floating spheres. All imagines have annotations and fall within a chapter of related prose so you always know the subject of the image. Missing however, is a description of how they translate hard scientific data into images. This information would have lent authenticity to the displayed views.

Allowing an artistic mind to travel the realms of space should always result in surreal results. With David Hardy driving the illustrations and Patrick Moore co-piloting via the prose, a reader gets a visual treat that is not so much a trick as just a well thought out gallery of space art. If you are curious about what an asteroid might look like at the moment it strikes the Earth’s surface or see the birth pangs of a new star, then Futures – 50 Years in Space, The Challenge of the Stars is for you.

To read more reviews, or order the book online, visit Amazon.com.

Review by Mark Mortimer