The Mystery of Mars

by Sally Ride, Tom O'Shaughnessy

In 1997, NASA's Pathfinder began a new era in Mars exploration when it touched down and, along with its tiny rover, Sojourner, explored the Martian surface for the first time in 20 years. In December 1999, a new NASA spacecraft will land on Mars, to  be followed by several more missions over the coming decade. In The Mystery of Mars, former astronaut Sally Ride and science teacher Tam O'Shaughnessy draw on the latest Pathfinder data, as well as decades of study of Mars, to present a comprehensive overview of Earth's nearest neighbor. With its thin atmosphere, rocky canyons, extinct volcanoes, and icy polar regions, Mars has many things in common with Earth—and may have even had life. Comparing the two planets' evolution, geology, and geography, the authors explain what we know about Mars today and what we hope to learn about it in the future. With lavish color photographs, this engaging and accessible introduction to the Red Planet is the ideal guide to this new age of Mars research.

Genres: Science, Space

48 pages, Paperback

First published November 23, 1999

About the author

Dr. Sally Kristen Ride (May 26, 1951–July 23, 2012) was an American astronaut and physicist. Born in Los Angeles, she joined NASA in 1978 and became the first American woman in space in 1983. Ride was the third woman in space overall, after USSR cosmonauts Valentina Tereshkova (1963) and Svetlana Savitskaya (1982). Ride remains the youngest American astronaut to have traveled to space, having done so at the age of 32. After flying twice on the Orbiter Challenger, she left NASA in 1987.

Ride worked for two years at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Arms Control, then at the University of California, San Diego as a professor of physics, primarily researching nonlinear optics and Thomson scattering. She served on the committees that investigated the Challenger and Columbia Space Shuttle disasters, the only person to participate in both. Ride died of pancreatic cancer on July 23, 2012.

Reviews

[dogluvers867 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book! it got me wondering about not just Mars and it's mysteries, but all of the other planets and their mysteries. Like: There must be at least one organism of life on each planet. I wonder how rovers work? I... And I really enjoyed all the comparisons to the other planets.

~Audrey**

[Tammie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Science
Solar system
Great facts
Comparison
5-8th gr.

[Robert Beveridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sally Ride, The Mystery of Mars (Crown, 1999)

Ride, the first American woman in space, offers up a kid-sized overview of Mars, the text supplemented by a wealth of photos and artists' renderings of the planet. While the book is dated now-- a number of the missions she mentions that were projected for the early part of this decade were scrapped-- there's still a great deal about the planet itself here that;s worthwhile, and Ride takes the very interesting tack of comparing the evolution of Mars with the evolution of Earth, which should be good for helping kids get a clearer picture of why the two planets are so different. Interesting. ***

[Liam Townsend · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd read this for a research project in school when I was a kid, and recalled it as awe-inspiring. Today, a decade and a half later, I found it sitting on my parent's shelf and couldn't resist giving it another browse. I now have a greater appreciation for it having been written by Sally Ride, the first female American in space, and her partner Tam; these were great visions, and great knowledge, being shared by two women that had proven even the most tumultuous challenges can be overcome. Between the beautiful images this book contains and its easily-grasped text, this book remains a wonderful supplement to a burgeoning mind.

[Andrew Schoenfelder · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book could have valuable use to middle school or fifth grade science classes when dealing with the solar system. The book has a lot of interesting facts that you would never even ask yourself about and makes you wonder how they get all that data. The pictures in this book are amazing as well taking through telescopes. The text is rather in depth and may be too much for younger and middle elementary grades but has quality information for the middle school level.