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benji_dw's review against another edition
informative
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
3.0
There’s better books on space. A City on Mar is much better researched and written.
keithlafountaine's review against another edition
3.5
Leonard David's book is one part history, one part theory. The first half deals with the world's rush to land on the moon, and the second half explores the possibilities that come with mining its resources and colonizing it. All of this is interesting, but the book is a shallow exploration of these ideas. It's enough to give you a cursory idea of what a realistic (albeit incredibly optimistic) vision of the future is, particularly when it comes to mining moon ice and setting up lunar bases. Still, it doesn't explore these issues in any depth.
lizabethstucker's review against another edition
3.0
A closer look at how the moon could be revisited and what could be done with a base on our satellite.
I had to drag out some old science braincells to make it through this book. Hardcore space science junkies should enjoy this, but...frankly I can't say I was overwhelmed. The author, a veteran space journalist, goes into great detail on both science fact and supposition. David gives history of the original missions to the moon in enough detail to satisfy readers who have already delved into that, then moves onto what plans are floating out there in the private sector, particularly SpaceX and Blue Origin.
My copy was an Advance Reader's Edition, so there may be quite a few additions and changes. Overall, I think the science was solid enough, but there are some flights of fancy that, frankly, would be more expensive than most companies could handle. Especially considering that it will be years if not decades before there will be a return on the investments. 3.5 out of 5.
I had to drag out some old science braincells to make it through this book. Hardcore space science junkies should enjoy this, but...frankly I can't say I was overwhelmed. The author, a veteran space journalist, goes into great detail on both science fact and supposition. David gives history of the original missions to the moon in enough detail to satisfy readers who have already delved into that, then moves onto what plans are floating out there in the private sector, particularly SpaceX and Blue Origin.
My copy was an Advance Reader's Edition, so there may be quite a few additions and changes. Overall, I think the science was solid enough, but there are some flights of fancy that, frankly, would be more expensive than most companies could handle. Especially considering that it will be years if not decades before there will be a return on the investments. 3.5 out of 5.
shawngray's review against another edition
4.0
Apparently we have been trying to return to the moon for the last 30 to 40 years and I didn't even know it. It was recently discovered that there may be ice within permanently shadowed regions of the lunar surface, potentially providing a source of water, oxygen, and rocket propellant. Harvesting these and other resources may help to transform the moon into a training and testing site as well as a jumping-off point for further space exploration.
An enlightening read that cover the moon's past and future.
An enlightening read that cover the moon's past and future.
lacyp's review against another edition
2.0
The author's outright simping for President Trump's unrealized plans for a return to the moon were extremely off-putting. This did not age well, even in a small handful of years. The factual reporting of past missions was a highlight here. The areas where opinions and conjecture were included had an unreasonable amount of bias.
reallifereading's review
4.0
’ve read many works of fiction that are set in space, watched many movies and TV shows set in space, but I’ve never really read much nonfiction about space.
And you can rest assured that you are in good hands here with journalist Leonard David, who has been reporting on space-related news for over 50 years.
The race to the moon began in the 1960s, between the Soviet Union and the US. But today it is a very different landscape – in January, the Chinese landed a spacecraft on the far side of the moon; a spacecraft from an Israeli nonprofit crash-landed on the moon in April; India’s moon-lander is scheduled to take off later this year; or how about Japan, which plans its own lunar rover to land next year? The race to space is definitely back on and this book is published just at the right time to tell us all about the history behind it all, as well as what’s upcoming developments that we can expect in lunar exploration.
Some fascinating tidbits of information were gathered from my reading of this book.
Such as:
“Three sealed samples, one each from Apollo 15, 16, and 17, remain unopened, intentionally saved until technology and instrumentation has advanced to the point that investigators can maximize the scientific return on these unique specimens.”
I couldn’t help wondering when exactly that would be. How, for instance, could anyone decide, oh we should open this year, when who knows what kind of scientific advancement could happen next year? It’s not like science and technology is going to stop improving (or at least I hope not) so who makes that decision and how do they make such a decision?
Reading this book made me wonder, would I go to space if that were an option in the future? Would I want to go to the moon? I don’t know if I would. I don’t think I like the idea of hurtling up in a spacecraft powered by rockets (that’s probably why the first astronauts were pilots). How about you? Would you want to be a space tourist?
And you can rest assured that you are in good hands here with journalist Leonard David, who has been reporting on space-related news for over 50 years.
The race to the moon began in the 1960s, between the Soviet Union and the US. But today it is a very different landscape – in January, the Chinese landed a spacecraft on the far side of the moon; a spacecraft from an Israeli nonprofit crash-landed on the moon in April; India’s moon-lander is scheduled to take off later this year; or how about Japan, which plans its own lunar rover to land next year? The race to space is definitely back on and this book is published just at the right time to tell us all about the history behind it all, as well as what’s upcoming developments that we can expect in lunar exploration.
Some fascinating tidbits of information were gathered from my reading of this book.
Such as:
“Three sealed samples, one each from Apollo 15, 16, and 17, remain unopened, intentionally saved until technology and instrumentation has advanced to the point that investigators can maximize the scientific return on these unique specimens.”
I couldn’t help wondering when exactly that would be. How, for instance, could anyone decide, oh we should open this year, when who knows what kind of scientific advancement could happen next year? It’s not like science and technology is going to stop improving (or at least I hope not) so who makes that decision and how do they make such a decision?
Reading this book made me wonder, would I go to space if that were an option in the future? Would I want to go to the moon? I don’t know if I would. I don’t think I like the idea of hurtling up in a spacecraft powered by rockets (that’s probably why the first astronauts were pilots). How about you? Would you want to be a space tourist?
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