As Roach notes in her book, yes, the money could arguably be better spent on terrestrial issues – housing, education, medicine – but, I would argue, we don’t know what we might find out there that could benefit everyone down here.

I think it’s important to explore and research everything we can out there. I’m a huge fan of NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and all the different companies, institutes, and universities that contribute to the exploration of space. I understand laying a foundation, giving readers some context and history, but that seemed to be her focus. I would have preferred to have read more about where we are going, rather than where we’ve been. The book is subtitled, “The Curious Science of Life in the Void”, and she does touch upon this, but I feel the book looked back far more than it looked forward. It didn’t really feel like it needed this much attention. It was interesting, but for example, she spends more than a chapter writing about the first two chimps the went into space. While I enjoy Roach’s writing style and her wit, I felt like she spent too much time focusing on the history of the space program at NASA. In zero-g, a body in motion stays in motion, if you catch my meaning. I’m still not certain if it sounds sexy or incredibly awkward. And yes, there’s even a chapter on sex in space. Waste disposal, both in the early days and with modern technology.

There’s a chapter on food and eating in zero-gravity. She also delves into some of the less-known but just as interesting aspects. Her focus isn’t just on the parts of the space program we read about. Roach throws herself into her research, speaking with astronauts, NASA administrators, researchers, and inventors. What’s not to love about it?Īs far as non-fiction is concerned, this is a fun read. Of course, she gets to hang out at NASA and spend the day with astronauts. It’s not surprising since she gets to investigate, research, and even get hands-on with her subject matter. It comes across in every one of her books.

Packing for mars book