NASA Missions to Mars: A Visual History of Our Quest to Explore the Red Planet

This book came shrunk wrapped in clear plastic so it arrived safely. It's relatively thin at less than 200 pages. It's also quite large in size. Would be a good coffee table book. Lots of interesting content in this book and it seems to be nice quality. Would make a nice gift for someone who is into astronomy or sci fi.

The exploration of Mars over the last 10 years or so has been one of the greatest achievements of mankind. The pictures sent back by the surface rovers have been incredible and the technology that went into the missions also is amazing. I was hopeful that this book would be all about the missions, the history and some photos. It has all that, but it is balanced more toward the images than the information.Before the rover missions, most of the imagery we had of the red planet has been in the form of artwork with some satellite fly-by photographs. We've speculated for decades, and fantasized as well, about what we would find if we ever went there. Much of this book has a lot of that literature including the artwork. That's all well and good and it does play into our historical perception of Mars.With the rovers sending back pictures and satellites getting better and better at taking high-quality images from above, we now have a large cache of truly incredible photos. This is from where the majority of the content comes, making this book a showcase of some of the most amazing photos you'll ever see.The one complaint I have with this book, though, is that it is heavy on the artwork and light on the writing. We know more about the planet that this book shares and for such a work as this it seems incomplete without more narrative. Perhaps I am being more picky, but that is how I feel about it.This is a beautiful book with some neat artwork but absolutely beautiful photos. There is some information about the missions as well at the planet too, but this is primarily a picture book. It's a wonderful resource if you have an interest in particular of the surface missions and satellite scans, and it makes a wonderful gift for someone interested in space and off-planet missions.

This is a very nice coffee table book of the wondrous celestial body, the planet Mars.It is a beautiful book that makes a great gift to a friend or family member that is inspired by space in general or a big fan of planet mars.There is not much to the writing in the book but the photography is best.

This is primarily a book of photographs and illustrations depicting all aspects of Mars and our attempts, thus far, at exploring the alien world. Written interludes are sparse but interesting, though they'll not provide any new information to the kinds of space nerd who are most likely to be drawn to a book such as this. The photographs, though, are beautifully presented and will be a source of ongoing study and admiration for anyone who purchases a copy.Though mostly a book of photographs, there is a narrative presented. The book tells us first of early conceptualizations of Mars from Earth-based science and, perhaps equally important, science fiction. We then learn of the various unmanned missions to Mars we've accomplished so far, including the most recent Perseverance rover mission. Finally, we close with artists' renditions and scientists' musings on the possibilities of manned missions to the Red Planet in the future, whether near or distant.Like much of the space program, this is a fundamentally optimistic book, and it does a great job of capturing the imagination through its images. However, if you're looking for an in-depth history or something a bit more technical, this book may not be what you're looking for. Because of its photographs, it makes a great supplement to any more detailed book on the same subject.

This book sounded like it would be right up our alley. We are all interested in space exploration and since this isn't a wordy read, it is definitely appropriate for older children, too. My kids LOVED looking at the photographs and it initiated a lot of great conversation. We even did several internet searches for more information on several subjects that came up in the book.This is your traditional coffee table type book. I wouldn't purchase it as reference material, it is more of a light read. (mainly captions under the corresponding pictures) Don't let that deter you, though. There is a lot of really interesting content here - from the front cover to the back cover. We never got bored with it!The photographs and illustrations are simple breath taking and utterly fascinating!!!! Even for those that already have a lot of knowledge on the subject, looking at the stunning photos of Mars never gets old!For the most part, the book doesn't contain a ton of complicated scientific data or go into major details. The captions are perfectly worded and make Mars exploration easy to follow and understand for all readers. Highly recommend!

NASA Missions to Mars is a gorgeous coffee table book that depicts the wonders of Mars and inspires the reader to look beyond what they know about Mars. It is fascinating to see the progress NASA has made in exploring this planet thus far and seeing the list of missions and the information each mission was able to acquire. The majority of the book is made up of a beautiful compilation of photographs, digital renderings, and illustrations with colors that are vibrant and mesmerizing. It is a beautiful reminder of how much exists out in space and how the efforts of each person at NASA plays in discovering and sharing this information. As with most coffee table books, the written text is limited in comparison to the photographs but the author made sure to use these opportunities to give the reader an informational packed pop. I think this book would make a wonderful gift for a loved one or as a treat yourself present. I really enjoyed this book and am now inspired to find additional books about Mars.

It's interesting, and I rate the author's NASA archives book very highly, but this was not quite what I was expecting. There's a lot about how people came to be fascinated by Mars (including lots of pictures from War of the Worlds etc), and plenty of speculative stuff about the future (again with lots of artwork) - but there's rather less about recent exploration than I was hoping for. There are photos of Perseverance and Ingenuity, but if you are after detail I'd recommend Jim Bell's 'Postcards from Mars' instead (currently out of print, alas) or Giles Sparrow's 'Mars - a new view of the red planet' if you are after jaw-dropping pictures in a larger format.

Most interesting book on Mars exploration. I will recommend the other people interested in space exploration.