Book Review: My Dream of Stars – From Daughter of Iran to Space Pioneer

My Dream of Stars – From Daughter of Iran to Space Pioneer by Anousheh Ansari with Homer Hickam; Palgrave Macmillan; New York, New York: $16.00 (softcover); $25.00 (hardcover); 2010. This is a love story…anchored here on Earth with her soulmate, Hamid – as well...

Book Review: Martian Summer – Robot Arms, Cowboy Spacemen, and My 90 Days with the Phoenix Mars Mission

Martian Summer – Robot Arms, Cowboy Spacemen, and My 90 Days with the Phoenix Mars Mission by Andrew Kessler; Pegasus Books; New York, New York; $27.95 (Hardcover); April 2011. NASA’s Phoenix Mars lander was a milestone in red planet probing. Touching down on Mars on...

Book Review: First Contact – Scientific Breakthroughs in the Hunt for Life Beyond Earth

First Contact – Scientific Breakthroughs in the Hunt for Life Beyond Earth by Marc Kaufman; Simon & Schuster; New York, New York; $26.00 (hard cover); 2011. The author is a science and space reporter for the Washington Post – and capitalizes on his aptitude...

Book Review: Strange New Worlds – The Search for Alien Planets…and Life Beyond Our Solar System

Strange New Worlds – The Search for Alien Planets…and Life Beyond Our Solar Systemby Ray Jayawardhana ; Princeton University Press; Princeton, New Jersey; $24.95; (hard cover) March 2011. This delightful and engaging book tells the story of humankind’s quest to locate...

Book Review: Voyages of Discovery – The Missions of the Space Shuttle Discovery

Voyages of Discovery – The Missions of the Space Shuttle Discovery by Robert A. Adamcik; Apogee Prime; Canada; $24.95 (soft cover); 2010. As NASA’s space shuttle program rolls to full stop, the missions performed by each of the orbiters have been truly stunning. The...

Book Review: The 50 Most Extreme Places In Our Solar System

The 50 Most Extreme Places In Our Solar System by David Baker and Todd Ratcliff; The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press; Cambridge, Massachusetts; $27.95 (Hardcover); 2010. Readers of all backgrounds will love this book. The volume is beautifully produced,...