I read the book Packing For Mars by Mary Roach. Packing For Mars is a nonfiction book that sheds light on the uneasy and sometimes awkward aspects of space traveling that allow humans to discover the unknown through rather complex topics of the sciences. Overall, I enjoyed the book because it gave me insight on how we’re able to survive in space due to many inventions and algorithms such as the general relativity equation, yet also being quite entertaining by pointing out on bizarre and comical things astronauts do in space like going to the bathroom or even not showering for such a long periods of time. Mary Roach uses a very interesting yet appealing writing style this book. To begin, Roach seamlessly incorporates important facts and information with humor, which entail keeps the reader thoroughly
America’s present-day Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith, has taken the nation by storm with her Pulitzer Prize winning book Life on Mars. The collections of poems revolve around a vast range of subjects regarding space exploration and her personal life. In the book, the poem “The Speed of Belief” is an elegy to her father whom worked on the Hubble telescope in the 70s. The poem is broken up over seven pages, each with its own structure that signifies a stage of grief. Smith’s elegy details how she personally went through the different stages of grief.
He makes use of these real-life examples of rovers and missions, and implements them in his book. This enhances the story because it adds an element of realism, which allows the reader to understand the material and make connections to many real-life examples. Furthermore, when the CNSA and NASA collaborate to rescue Mark Watney, it
She also honor’s her father with this book of poems called Life on Mars. An analysis reads that, “There is an actual lens at the heart of the book, too: the Hubble telescope, on which Smith’s father worked as an engineer. He died in 2008; Life on Mars is in part an elegy for him” (Chiasson). Tracy K. Smith admired her father by talking about the kind of father he was not in her poem “Life on Mars.”
Another time Weir uses science fiction is when Mark is stating his problems for a procedure: ”It does have air tanks, but they’re empty. An Ares mission needs lots of O2, N2, and water anyway. Why send more with the MAV” (Weir 217). As the reader would be able to tell Mark uses the scientific terms, devices, and real life science novels in his novel to explain his problems. Weir uses lots of science fiction in his novel that will keep science lovers on the edge of their seats the whole
To start with, many people didn't know what was happening and didn’t know what to do, believing the “Martian” attack. As the the article says “Perhaps as many as a million radio listeners believed that
It is assumed by the people of Earth that the first two expeditions exploded on Mars. They have no reason to believe otherwise; they live in ignorance. Upon arriving on what the expeditioners believe to be Mars, Hinkston thinks the past expeditioners landed on Mars and simply stayed and made a life for themselves. Captain Black assures
Commencing his speech, President Reagan delivered his reflections of the Challenger disaster to a stunned and saddened nation. Although the speech was primarily informative, he used a persuasive format in his reference to NASA. Imparting to the American people there were no plans to discontinue further space exploration, yet, delivering a discreet warning to NASA about the investigation that must occur following this horrid tragedy, “We don’t keep secrets and cover up,” impressing on NASA to “do it all up front and in public.” Incorporating a warning in a speech of this nature could have come across as heartless, however; Reagan’s delivery was flawless; direct, brief, and clear, this subtle portent reassured the families left behind there
The idea of space and the exploration of it is still a fairly new topic to most people. Even today, there are still conspiracies on whether or not the moon landing is even real. But before any of these conspiracies could even start, America’s exploration of space needed to be pioneered by John F. Kennedy. In his speech on September 12, 1961, delivered at Rice University, Kennedy appeals to both Americans’ emotion and trust in order to convey his message that space exploration is worthy for Americans to invest their time. Kennedy tried to build trust and credibility with the audience by acknowledging that space exploration will not be easy.
(Roach 318). The novel Packing for Mars was written to give insight to the reader of the challenges of space travel and how these challenges were dealt with. Mary Roach shares detailed factual information through transcripts and conversations
I don’t like the Martians. I have never seen one before. All these years you guys hide, and all of a sudden you pick on me. Leave me alone.” (Bradbury 178).
He addresses the schoolchildren who watched this disaster and said, “It’s all part of the process of exploration and discovery.” He uses simple and direct language and many emotion words such as “brave” and “future” to help the young to understand this tragedy. His tone began to change in the sixth paragraph when he said, “We don't hide our space program. We don't keep secrets and cover things up. We do it all up front and in public.”
For example, the construction of the Panama Canal was concurrent with the writing of Mars and Its Canals, so, considering the western superiority Lowell already possessed, seeing the “geometric beauty” of the Martian canals equated to signs of an intelligent civilization (Lowell 175). Just as Lowell proved to be western-centric in his thoughts about East Asia, Lowell theorizes from his Earth-centric point of view when studying Mars. The Panama Canal is one of the many Industrial Age feats of the western world that marks “the beginning of our subjugation of the globe” (Lowell 363). Therefore, Lowell is quick to assume that if the Martian surface is more complex than Earth’s, the civilization on Mars must reflect a more complex species. Furthermore, Lowell began to be called the “Roosevelt of Astronomy” during the time of the construction of the Panama Canal due to the similarities between America and the supposed Martian’s efforts in industrial innovation, expansion, and efficiency (Simpson
For many years, tales of human-alien interactions have been a great fascination to a large percentage of the population. Their unexpected and often times horrifying plot lines have drawn many people in, and horror story fanatics are sure to adore them, as they usually involve aspects of terror and invasion. Ray Bradbury’s “April 2000: The Third Expedition”, is a story which deals with this very aspect of human-alien interactions and alien-invasions. The story follows seventeen people as they set out on their third expedition to Mars, reaching their destination in the early unraveling of the plot.
The Martian Chronicles begins in a very strange place, which happens to be upon the planet of Mars. A Martian couple is quarreling about a dream the wife had. She had a dream of men coming in a rocket and taking her hand. The husband finds this very strange indeed. There is a bizarre mixture of cooking utensils and unimaginable items inside the Martian’s home.
