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Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void

Mary Roach (Goodreads Author)

3.94 · Rating details · 44,222 ratings · 4,160 reviews

Space is a world devoid of the things we need to live and thrive: air, gravity, hot showers, fresh produce, privacy, beer. Space exploration is in some ways an exploration of what it means to be human. How much can a person give up? How much weirdness can they take? What happens to you when you can’t walk for a year? have sex? smell flowers? What happens if you vomit in yo ...more

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Paperback, 334 pages

Published April 4th 2011 by W. W. Norton Company (first published August 2nd 2010)

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· 44,222 ratings · 4,160 reviews

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Aug 20, 2010 Will Byrnes rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction, science, comedy-satire, brain-candy

Maybe she could have titled the book The Right Stiff.

I needed to have tissues handy while reading Mary Roach’s latest. No, it is not because it made me sad, but because I was laughing so hard my eyes were gushing. Mary Roach has had that effect on me before. I have read two of her books. Stiff and Spook are greatly entertaining. She has a sense of humor that encompasses a pre-adolescent affinity for the scatological. OK, she likes fart jokes. Blast off, Mary.

She has an appreciation for the abs ...more

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Jun 09, 2011 Stephen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, science, 2006-2010, ebooks, audiobook, humor-and-satire

Space…the final frontier:

where intrepid heroes break free from the mortal bonds of Mother Earth to experience such singular marvels as:

1. Fecal popcorning (definition forthcoming);
2. Condom-shaped urinal devices (with different sizes for, um, different sizes);
3. Weightless Flight Regurgitation Phenomenon (Hint: turns out gravity is a vital part of both swallowing food and keeping it locked down in the tummy);
4. The pleasures, subject to NASA regulations, of Zero-G copulation; and
5. The breat ...more

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Aug 03, 2010 Kemper rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: blinded-me-with-science, non-fiction, space

I’m a big space geek and have spent countless hours reading or watching documentaries about manned space flight. I’ve seen a space shuttle launch and been through the Kennedy Space Center a couple of times. I went and saw the traveling exhibit of Gus Grissom’s capsule that was retrieved from the ocean floor and refurbished. So I thought I knew something about NASA and astronauts.

However, I’d never heard the phrase 'fecal popcorning' before.

These are the kind of tidbits you get in Packing for Mar I’m a big space geek and have spent countless hours reading or watching documentaries about manned space flight. I’ve seen a space shuttle launch and been through the Kennedy Space Center a couple of times. I went and saw the traveling exhibit of Gus Grissom’s capsule that was retrieved from the ocean floor and refurbished. So I thought I knew something about NASA and astronauts.

However, I’d never heard the phrase 'fecal popcorning' before.

These are the kind of tidbits you get in Packing for Mars. Mary Roach takes a light hearted but fascinating look at all the research and projects that go into putting and keeping people in space. This isn’t about the rockets or the life support systems, it’s about the seemingly more mundane stuff like hygiene, the effects of isolation, long-term health risks, time management, safety devices, nutrition and human waste disposal. (Actually, way more about the waste disposal than I really wanted to know. Which is where the fecal popcorning came into it. Thanks for that, NASA!)

This stuff may seem trivial, but as Roach illustrates when it comes to living in a sealed zero-gravity environment nothing is easy. Something as simple as trying to get some exercise to prevent the deterioration of bone mass involves countless hours of study on earth, including a research center where subjects are paid thousands of dollars to spend a month in bed. (Read the fine print before you rush to sign up. It's not quite as good as it sounds.)

Roach strikes the perfect tone of treating the various subjects seriously while still injecting a lot of humor when it’s called for. She’s also willing to do far more than I would for a book including drinking her own recycled urine and using the space toilet trainer that has a camera in it so that astronauts can see parts of themselves that no person was meant to see as they orient themselves to do a *ahem* docking maneuver. (Seriously, there’s a lot of poop in this book.)

While reading it, I kept thinking of the argument that’s been made that putting people into space is dangerous and wasteful. So much of what’s done becomes just about keeping the astronauts alive that the science tends to get lost. Especially considering what’s been accomplished with far less money on projects like the Hubble telescope and the Mars rovers. However, Roach has a short but passionate argument at the end where she outlines why she thinks all of this is so cool and necessary, and why people should go to Mars. And you know what? She sold me.

Entertaining, informative and filled with funny stories and bits of trivia, I enjoyed this one a lot. But it’s got more poop than a Jonathan Franzen novel so beware if you’re squeamish. ...more

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Jun 07, 2017 Ana O rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Martians eagerly awaiting our arrival!

photo 2b9183bb6db2b3bc125c08b3b38f2eb5_zpsbbte0sew.jpg

Don't they look thrilled?

photo marslC4B1larC4B1ntepkisi_zpsfovoj5q9.jpg

I have doubts this will ever happen. I don't see us going to Mars anytime soon. There are too many issues. The odds are stacked against us. But who knows what the future brings? One day our great-great-great-grandchildren might live on Mars. Now my question is, what happens when humans destroy Mars? Where do we ~~fail~~ explore next?

For all you Mars enthusiasts out there, check out this documentary- The Big Think, Should We Go to Mar ...more

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Dec 28, 2010 Petra Eggs rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: medicine-science, reviewed

Note: the dolphin-sex thing appears to be a hoax. Shame that. I like the idea of space sex having to be a threesome.

Why the Space Program Costs so Much. Because its run by a load of backward-thinking dickheads, contrary to what you might think.

Mary Roach seems to have an obsession with poo. I did actually want to know about toilet facilities in space, but not two-chapters worth of knowledge. Similarly a chapter about sex, although no-one apart from one Russian wanker (literally) actually admits Note: the dolphin-sex thing appears to be a hoax. Shame that. I like the idea of space sex having to be a threesome.

Why the Space Program Costs so Much. Because its run by a load of backward-thinking dickheads, contrary to what you might think.

Mary Roach seems to have an obsession with poo. I did actually want to know about toilet facilities in space, but not two-chapters worth of knowledge. Similarly a chapter about sex, although no-one apart from one Russian wanker (literally) actually admits to having it at all. The author does make the point though that weightlessness might make union difficult unless one employed a third person to push the two together, much like dolphins apparently do in the equally weightless medium of water.

I wanted to know much more about questions the author chose not to address to do with food, leisure time Do they watch movies, read books or just go for a stroll? How did they do their hair, did it grow faster or slower on the space station? Did they grow food of any kind? What about insects - did any of those find themselves on a trip to space and what happened to them if they did? Loads of things...

What I did learn was that anything built for space is subject to one restriction - it must be as small and light as possible as each extra pound costs thousands of dollars in the extra thrust needed to send it into space. However, there are certain taboos that cannot be overcome and the governments of both the USA and Russia are willing to spend out all the extra money in the world to make sure that men, as ever, not matter how fake it is, reign supreme.

Women are smaller, lighter and consequently generally eat less food, drink less water and breathe less air so naturally they should be the astronauts. NASA could raise only one objection to women in space which obviously must have been solved by now, as there are female astronauts, that urine droplets do not separate from the genitals and pubic hair 'cleanly' as they do in men. I'm not joking. Have they never heard of http://www.thisnext.com/topic-female-... or couldn't they invent one? So essentially the whole space program would be much more cost-effective if women were astronauts and men, unless they were quite little, stayed home and looked after the babies. But we couldn't have that, could we? American values count for more! ...more

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Mar 15, 2011 carol. rated it liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: people looking for light sciencey reads

Shelves: non-fiction

Roach is well known for her earlier books, Stiff (about human cadavers), Bonk (science and sex) and Spook (the afterlife). In Packing, she takes on the US space program, and how it’s dealt with many of the everyday biological issues we take for granted– such as washing, eating, and urinating. However, willingness to take on the scatological is just part of her hook; she integrates information about the program in general as well as Earth-based research supporting it.

I learned a lot more of the e
Roach is well known for her earlier books, Stiff (about human cadavers), Bonk (science and sex) and Spook (the afterlife). In Packing, she takes on the US space program, and how it’s dealt with many of the everyday biological issues we take for granted– such as washing, eating, and urinating. However, willingness to take on the scatological is just part of her hook; she integrates information about the program in general as well as Earth-based research supporting it.

I learned a lot more of the early space program than I expected, usually palatable due to Roach’s inclusion of either direct interview or historical quotes from astronauts and scientists. Initial sleepiness from the material was chased away once I reached the chapter “The Cadaver in the Space Capsule” onward. The section on food and nutrition was horrifying, as well as the section on defecating. I have to confess, I’ve never been much of a space junkie, but I love science fiction and biology and this was a fascinating read once I was past the beginning hurdles. Roach’s humorous asides added a dash levity to a potentially dry subject. I had never really thought about the extent to which astronauts sacrifice their personal privacy; she has a hysterical transcript from Mission Control where controllers are asking about astronaut flatulence. Roach even explores some of the ongoing studies impacting space travel. One covered in some detail is an Earth-based study examining the impact of 3 months of bed rest on bone structure, and the poor people who volunteered for it. A note for those who like accuracy in titles: much in the book does not specifically has to do with Mars missions, just issues regarding living in space.

The book had an extra impact of nostalgia back when I read this–it was close to the last shuttle launch. Sad now to see so much of the program being planned for obsolescence when it was an international preoccupation for decades. Thank you, astronauts for your sacrifices.

Laugh out loud lines:

“Is he leaking badly from anything major?”

“The whole procedure will unfold exactly as it would with a live patient, right down to a forty-five-minute wait and a problem with the billing.”

“The staff played hot potato with my call until someone could locate the Person in Charge of Lying to the Press.”

Cross posted at http://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2013/0... ...more

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Sep 21, 2016 Greta rated it really liked it

Shelves: owned-in-english, pop-science

photo 03A4BAAE-DA26-47DD-8669-6243FEB91B92.jpg

This was a fascinating trip. Really.
I learned a lot about seals, black bears, dolphins, rats, dogs and chimps.

En route I also learned something about astronauts and their way of life in space.
And this kind of life is not at all what I had imagined even in my wildest dreams.
Let me warn you, if you've ever fantasized about taking a vacation in space, you should read this book first.

The comfort in a space hotel is basic, even if you paid billions of dollars for a 5-twinkling-star hotel.
If yo ...more

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Sep 16, 2010 Richard Derus rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Rating: 4.5* of five

The Publisher Says: Space is a world devoid of the things we need to live and thrive: air, gravity, hot showers, fresh produce, privacy, beer. Space exploration is in some ways an exploration of what it means to be human. How much can a person give up? How much weirdness can they take? What happens to you when you can’t walk for a year? have sex? smell flowers? What happens if you vomit in your helmet during a space walk? Is it possible for the human body to survive a bailout ...more

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Feb 24, 2017 Monica rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: female-author-nonfic, kindle_nonfiction, science, audio, wh_fem_nonfic, pub_2010s, science-technology, science-astro-space-explore

Fascinating and well considered. Lots of gross facts about conditions in outer space. Space travel does not resemble Star Trek at this time. I don't want to go to Mars personally and I'm traumatized by the concept of the impending voyage at our current level of technology, but I relish the idea of some other ~~poor soul~~ dreamer willing to endure the trip. Listened to on audible narrated by Sandra Burr. I thought she did a good job.

4 Stars

Edited to Add: Listened to the Audio version.

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Nov 03, 2011 Melki rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: sciency-stuff, taking-up-space

I did not expect to be so captivated by this book. After all, I barely paid attention when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon in 1969. I was a very mature seven year old, and I had seen better space "movies" at the local theater.
My interest in the space program remained low while I was growing up. Of course, I watched and cried over the Challenger and Columbia disasters. But otherwise, I was mostly oblivious.
I suppose it was not until Nasa announced that the shuttle flights were coming to an end ...more

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Apr 17, 2011 Cassy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: from-leo, physical-own, event-met-author, 2011, non-fiction-general, region-elsewhere, flavor-humor

There was a rule in my house growing up: no talking about “bodily functions”. When my older sister would start going on about how she clogged the toilet or an episode of smelly burps, my very Southern mother would intervene. “Jill, there will no discussion of bodily functions at this dinner table. Would anyone like more peach cobbler?”

Mary Roach would make an interesting dinner guest at my parents’ house. Her book is overflowing with bodily functions: vomit, body odor, pooping/peeing, and sex i ...more

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Mar 22, 2019 Bradley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2019-shelf, science, non-fiction, humor

Mary Roach is a funny woman. I guess that's what you get when no subject is taboo and she has the charm to pull it all off. :)

What does she pull off? A full, scientifically accurate look at the little stuff in life. Astronauts living in space was rather more the focus. That's okay. We're not quite ready to go to Mars. But at least we're ready to drink our pee! Yay!

Seriously though, beyond the last quarter of the book being devoted to floating poo in a very fun and educational way, the whole book ...more

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Sep 23, 2010 Trevor rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: history, psychology, science

I’ve read two other Roach books and have really loved them. They tick all of the boxes – they are witty, wise, fascinatingly interesting and written by someone with an eye that unfailingly spots human foibles. The beauty of her writing is that rather than pointing and laughing, she embrace our foibles and makes us fell all the more human because of them.

Do you know that feeling you get when you read someone and think, ‘God, I would really love to meet you, just to listen to you talk?’ Well, Ms I’ve read two other Roach books and have really loved them. They tick all of the boxes – they are witty, wise, fascinatingly interesting and written by someone with an eye that unfailingly spots human foibles. The beauty of her writing is that rather than pointing and laughing, she embrace our foibles and makes us fell all the more human because of them.

Do you know that feeling you get when you read someone and think, ‘God, I would really love to meet you, just to listen to you talk?’ Well, Ms Roach is one of those authors for me.

This one starts slow – she should have cut maybe the first chapter or so. In fact, it starts so slowly that I was afraid I was witnessing the loss of one of my favourite writers. But then she gets into her stride when she starts talking about the sorts of things you’ve always wondered about space flight but were too afraid to ask.

At least, this fear is something finding out about the inconveniences of space flight is something I’ve only just discovered. I was excitedly telling my mother about this book the other day when she said something that really surprised me. I was telling her about the difficulties of defecating in space and she said, “Why would anyone want to know about that?” Her saying this stopped me in my tracks. It had never occurred to me that someone might not want to know about that. Just as the difficulties of sex in space (given Newton’s third law of motion – equal and opposite motion and all that) mean that thrusting can have the undesired effect of pushing the object of your lust off away from you – you can calculate how fast they will move away by using F=ma. It is all a matter of coming and going, I guess.

How could you not be interested in the problems zero gravity present to your bladder? Or that the bag you defecate into also needs antibacterial cream mashed through it before it can be disposed of thoughtfully. A friend of mine once called the bags used for picking up dog droppings ‘little hand warmers’ – this is even more true in space.

This is a look at the all-too-human sides of space exploration and some of the proposals to deal with issues space exploration presents – Muslim prayer times, for example. These are exactly the sorts of things I would never think to think about. I love how obvious some of the solutions to these seemingly intractable problems have turned out to be.

Who would think of putting a camera in a toilet bowl to help train for the best sitting position? And who wouldn’t expect the film thus made not to be viewed inappropriately?

The book looks at some of the crazier myths that have surrounded NASA, like the masturbating chimp story that seems to have been completely fabricated. Although, while we’re on the topic of masturbation, I have to admit that I was surprised that people have actually asked cosmonauts if they masturbated in space.

I really enjoyed this book and am prepared to admit that perhaps that makes me strange. I’ve never been all that interested in space travel, at least, not since I was a kid – in fact, I can probably say I’ve been even less interested in space travel in my adult life than I have been in that other standard childhood fascination, dinosaurs. However, this isn’t really about space travel, it is about putting people in remarkably inconvenient situations and then watching to see how they cope. A lot of the coping they need to do involves abandoning social taboos we take utterly for granted. Defecating while sitting beside a work colleague, for example, would surely prove a challenge for most of us. It is remarkable how well people do cope with these challenges and wonderful to hear about the ingenuity that is applied to solving these issues.

Don’t let the start of this one put you off, this really is the right stuff.
...more

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Jan 22, 2011 David rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: humor, science, audiobook

There's a bit of space science in this book, but it's mostly a humorous, immensely scatalogical romp through the space program. By reading this book, you will gain a treasure trove of trivia, ranging from astronaut food, defecation, odors, nausea, to the earliest, non-human astronauts who were shot up into space on rockets. You will learn the real reason why women were not enlisted as astronauts in the early days of NASA, which turns out to be the exact same reason why Russians did include women ...more

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Jul 16, 2017 Emily (Books with Emily Fox) rated it really liked it

If you're looking for a fun non-fiction about space/astronauts I would recommend it!

With that said, be warned that pooping in space is a big problem and you'll learn about it in length!

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Jan 10, 2018 Glitterbomb rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 5-star, non-fiction, history, owned, reviews, space, talk-dirty-to-me-with-your-science, all-time-favorites, owned-dc

**This review contains profanity and dick and fart jokes.**

I've been trying to write this review for what feels like hours now (Its actually been about 10 minutes). It's not that I didn't take notes, because I did, lots and lots of notes. This... thing... sitting next to me resembles a pile of unicorn vomit, rather than a book, with the amount of post-its stuck to it (its very colourful and pretty). I was going to take a picture, but I'm not sure I want this floating around on the internet for a ...more

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Dec 15, 2010 Stephanie *Very Stable Genius* rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science, non-fiction, 2012

When I was in the sixth grade we had a science project. I remember this well, we had to learn all about rockets and space travel. When we were to reach the end of all the information, we were going to have a test on what we learned.

Nothing new there right? Oh but there was……

The person who had the highest grade on the test was to be the one to “launch” a rocket, you know, the model rockets made from cardboard with a built in parachute for its descent…the ones that you would sometimes put a toad ...more

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Jan 18, 2017 Heather K (dentist in my spare time) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: not-a-romance-book, non-fiction, narrator-so-so, audiobook

Love Mary Roach, but I didn't find this as entertaining as some of her other books. I got a few fun factoids to share with my family, so I guess that's a win.

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Aug 18, 2011 Crystal Starr Light rated it liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, science, sold

Bullet Review:

Huh. Not quite what I was expecting - more a "look at all these weird things in space" than anything close to a checklist of things necessary for a Mars mission. And those weird things seem to focus A LOT on bodily functions.

I wish we spent more time on how bad the food was, how hard it would be to store enough food and oxygen and more about the psychology of long duration flights. And less time on space poos.

Full Review:

I will try to do a full review, though I don't really know if ...more

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Mar 22, 2019 Trish rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is my second book by this author and once again she has proven that she has a great sense of humour. The other book I've read was about human cadavers and it was funny to see a short chapter dedicated to cadavers needed here, too.

The book, as the title suggests, is about space exploration - the history including Moon landings, the science behind anything from heat shielding to toilets, the process with which astronauts are tested and chosen, atronauts' training. There are even some comments This is my second book by this author and once again she has proven that she has a great sense of humour. The other book I've read was about human cadavers and it was funny to see a short chapter dedicated to cadavers needed here, too.

The book, as the title suggests, is about space exploration - the history including Moon landings, the science behind anything from heat shielding to toilets, the process with which astronauts are tested and chosen, atronauts' training. There are even some comments about funding and, therefore, changing politics.
Why Mars, specifically, in the title then? Because it has its very own challenges due to being farther away. There is a significant psychological difference between going to the ISS or the Moon and the much longer journey to Mars.

In her signature humorous way, she respects the topic and seems fascinated by the topic herself, but also knows that many things related to space travel are quite ridiculous and thus presents them in a corresponding funny way. From dolphin genitalia capable of grabbing even humans and puke-loving coyotes to hilarious actual communiquès about turds floating in zero-g and aspiring astronauts having to fold 1000 Origami cranes, the reader is taken on a very entertaining tour full of scientific facts that are therefore never boring and easy to follow.

Personally, apart from me wanting humanity to colonize the stars (yes, I know we'll take our problems with us but it's still cool - and necessary!), I'm also very interested in the engineering feats and all the things we take for granted here on Earth that simply don't work/exist in space so astronauts have to re-learn everything and engineers and technicians need to be aware of the respective problem even before being able to come up with a work-around or solution!

Did you know, for example (not a fact drawn from this book but it's true and has fascinated me for decades) that when you cut open one of those musical greeting cards the chip you're holding has the exact same amount of computing power that was needed / used to get man to the Moon?! Isn't that equally exciting and unbelievable?!

Or the fact that NASA not only had to take an American flag up to the Moon (romantic little me thinks nationalities shouldn't matter up there) but then also had to remember that the flag wouldn't fly as they usually do down here (depending on the weather) and subsequently also had to come up with a solution for the problem (which sparked so many conspiracy theories that we never actually have been to the Moon)! Not to mention that every gram of weight on a rocket is a problem.

Apart from the heroism we associate with astronauts and the feats achieved with space shuttles and space stations, Mary Roach doesn't hold back when showing us what space research and space flight is really like (at least sometimes). The advancements as well as the problems (technological and due to us humans), going TO space and coming BACK (re-entry), what we do in the void. She covers almost all and gives us details I'm not sure too many others dare cover.

I wasn't and still am not too much a fan of the animals that had to suffer in the name of science (dogs, chimps, rats, ...) but the crash tests and the interconnectedness of sooo many scientific fields (even dermatology) always sparks my interest.

Sure, there have to be better solutions for drive systems that we'll hopefully develop in the future, but what we've already achieved in the past (even though it was mostly only thanks to competition between warring nations) is amazing and I hope we won't stop but keep pushing forward!

A seriously cool book narrated by a great woman who had no problem with appropriately bring certain scenes to life - adding to the laughter and enjoyment. ...more

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Feb 12, 2018 Laurie Notaro rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I will read anything by Mary Roach. Of course, my favorite parts in this book were about farting and pooping in a space suit. Hilarious.

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Sep 21, 2015 HBalikov rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I took my time going through Mary Roach's rap on what it means to be out beyond the Earth's surface.
NASA and the Russians have been spending loads of time and money since the 1950's to prepare and put humans in orbit and beyond. I started reading partially because I wanted a different perspective than the recent bestseller and movie, The Martian, would provide. Roach writes that she was inspired to "think about a trip to Mars and what it would be like to spend two years trapped inside sterile, I took my time going through Mary Roach's rap on what it means to be out beyond the Earth's surface.
NASA and the Russians have been spending loads of time and money since the 1950's to prepare and put humans in orbit and beyond. I started reading partially because I wanted a different perspective than the recent bestseller and movie, The Martian, would provide. Roach writes that she was inspired to "think about a trip to Mars and what it would be like to spend two years trapped inside sterile, man-made structures with no way to escape one's work and colleagues and no flowers or trees or sex and nothing to look at outside the window but empty space or, at best, reddish dirt. The astronaut's job is stressful for all the same reasons yours or mine is --- overwork, lack of sleep, anxiety, other people-but two things compound the usual stresses: the deprivations of the environment and one's inability to escape it. Isolation and confinement are issues of no small concerns to space agencies."

With persistence and humor, Roach takes us through the testing of man, equipment, food, etc. She casts a dubious but discerning eye on what the agencies say and what they do, quoting a NASA physician: "The agencies try to keep the best image up, otherwise they don't get funded anymore."

There are wonderful and provocative details about the Japanese, Russian and American experiences. Do you believe, did you know that certain Russian astronauts were given suicide pills? "Given that death from cyanide, the poison most commonly associated with suicide pills, is slower and more ghastly than death from having one's oxygen supply cut off, there would have been little call for the pill."

Roach covers everything, and I mean EVERYTHING! From the dangers of vomiting in a space suit to the fact that you have to take a dump into a baggie while sitting next to your fellow astronauts. Psychological stress of every kind are explored, as are physical issues such as loss of bone mass and flatulence. There is a section devoted to just the physical challenges of sex in zero gravity. And a longer section on the choices of foods, the rationale behind them, and their successes and failures.

I learned a lot. I laughed a lot. And, I am no longer interested in taking a long space journey. "Beam me up, Scotty."
...more

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May 24, 2012 Trudi rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, audiobook, non-fiction, thinky-books, laugh-out-loud

3.5 stars

***I'm reposting this review in honor of Neil Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) who died today at the age of 82.

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." --Neil Armstrong

Well...that was...interesting. This book is so thoroughly researched. The amount of painstaking detail used to describe the epic sublime of space right down to the microscopic level of doing your "business" in zero gravity is impressive to say the least. As a side-effect though, I did f ...more

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May 27, 2012 Brandon rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, 2013, non-fiction

I've always maintained a passing interest in space travel and with my burgeoning love of Sci-Fi starting to develop, I thought that this was the right book to pick up. With Packing for Mars, Mary Roach takes the reader on a journey through the bizarre history of space travel and the toll it takes on the human body and psyche.

It turns out that my passing interest in space travel was just that - a passing interest. I found myself constantly drifting off during chapters and having to rewind over a ...more

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Apr 26, 2013 Sanaa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

[4 Stars] This book was incredibly fascinating although a bit disturbing from time to time. You get to know some of the details about all of the strange things that accompany thoughts of space travel: how to you poop in space, what is the screening process like for astronauts, food in space, what kind of strange experiments and tests must be employed to test things for space travel, chimps in space, and so much more. I thoroughly enjoyed it even though I thought it was a bit slow. I wish the boo ...more

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Jun 29, 2018 Becky rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018, ebook_kindle, humorous, non-fiction, reviewed, yay-science

When you think about space travel and exploration, nobody ever thinks about the poop bags.

This book was interesting and eye-opening about a lot of the mundane minutiae of going into space, made (slightly) less mundane by Mary Roach's writing about it, but what really interested me was all of the ways that gravity allows us to live - and what happens to us when gravity is taken out of the equation.

This book covers pretty much everything from physiological results of high G pressures and impacts ...more

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Mar 15, 2019 verbava rated it really liked it

Shelves: on-human-beings

дуже кумедно уявляти історію пошуку в браузері мері роуч. зате про вміст її холодильника добре знає її чоловік, невинна душа.

із цієї чудової книжки про астронавтів можна, зокрема, дізнатися про психіатричні інновації хіх століття; яка поза найбезпечніша, якщо ви опинилися в ліфті, що падає; чому витримані сири пахнуть шкарпетками; як біг допомагає від ламкості кісток; чому в розважальному секторі рідше використовують дельфінів-хлопчиків (гаразд, тут я розкажу: бо вони можуть пенісом ухопити за н дуже кумедно уявляти історію пошуку в браузері мері роуч. зате про вміст її холодильника добре знає її чоловік, невинна душа.

із цієї чудової книжки про астронавтів можна, зокрема, дізнатися про психіатричні інновації хіх століття; яка поза найбезпечніша, якщо ви опинилися в ліфті, що падає; чому витримані сири пахнуть шкарпетками; як біг допомагає від ламкості кісток; чому в розважальному секторі рідше використовують дельфінів-хлопчиків (гаразд, тут я розкажу: бо вони можуть пенісом ухопити за ногу).

про самих астронавтів там, звісно, теж є. зокрема про те, що цікавого робить космос із людським організмом. астронавти на час польоту стають вищі, бо їхні хребти випрямляються й розтягуються; у них розвивається міопія, яка, втім, поступово минає після приземлення – тому сідати за кермо не можна тільки перші кілька днів; вестибулярний апарат, який довго звикав до невагомості (нудота на початку польоту – одна з дуже поширених, але не найбільших неприємностей), на землі знову мусить переналаштовуватися з усіма очевидними наслідками; тіло починає виробляти менше крові, а судини ніг розслабляються, тому повернення у гравітаційне поле запросто призводить до непритомності. а ще за це погано платять.

а з іншого боку – це ж космос. і стільки захвату, аж здається, що воно того таки варте. ...more

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Feb 01, 2011 Jim rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2non-fiction, 1paper, science

Wow! An excellent piece of very readable research of our journey into space & all the considerations for a trip to Mars in, hopefully, 2030. As usual, Roach captured the human side & presented it with plenty of humor.

The research had to be difficult for her in many cases. NASA needs publicity to stay funded, but any negative publicity can hurt them immensely, especially since Congress & the VP oversee them. (LBJ basically squashed any females in space for years with a pen stroke.) Co Wow! An excellent piece of very readable research of our journey into space & all the considerations for a trip to Mars in, hopefully, 2030. As usual, Roach captured the human side & presented it with plenty of humor.

The research had to be difficult for her in many cases. NASA needs publicity to stay funded, but any negative publicity can hurt them immensely, especially since Congress & the VP oversee them. (LBJ basically squashed any females in space for years with a pen stroke.) Considering how divisive our attitudes are on so many subjects, especially taboo ones, it's no wonder that NASA regulates what information goes out with an iron hand. For instance, they once spent a lot of time & money in an effort to give the astronauts a night cap - just a bit of sherry to finish off the day. It all went to waste because news leaked out & a letter writing campaign by a bunch of teetotalers caused too much negative publicity.

There are many taboo subjects that come up in relation to space flight & living in zero gee. Two biggies are sex & elimination. As Roach showed so well in her previous book, Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex, amazingly little is known about sex. NASA, the organization that can write entire books about the seemingly simplest things, ignores the subject. Unfortunately, it's a negative sum game for them. Any research they do into it will cause waves they can't afford. Still, she managed to pry a bit of info out of some, but not much.

Elimination took up several chapters & it's not because she's hung up on it, but because it is such a necessary, time consuming & messy business. It's also tied closely to what is eaten & what can be eaten on a long trip when every ounce has to be closely watched & personal odors have a huge impact on morale. It's an amazingly complex feat to deal with a simple stool. At one time, they actually used cameras to record the process & then destroyed the films to avoid bad publicity. Now researchers could really use that data again.

How strange & complex the simplest thing becomes when under intense public scrutiny & done without gravity! A lot of what we think we know turns out to be wrong. Even the urge to pee isn't present in zero gee until the bursting point - literally a point at which the urethra could be constricted by the bladder, so urination has to be scheduled to avoid problems.

There are more exhaustive books on the subject & many of them are in her bibliography, but I doubt there is a more readable introduction to the complexity of what faces NASA as they prepare for the Mars mission, a culmination of every space effort to date. She did a great job & I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

...more

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Dec 09, 2016 Becky rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: femtastic, frontiers, history, man-versus-nature, men-were-men, modern-nonfic, science

I have an awkward relationship with Mary Roach. I find her humor forced, blatant, and poorly timed and so it always falls flat to me. I realize that a lot of people really appreciate her humor, but it just doesn’t click for me. Actually, I bet I think she was really funny if I heard her talk, because potty humor IS my type of humor, but it just doesn’t seem to translate for me in her books.

That said, she researches these absolutely fascinating topics from angles that no one else would, and I tot ...more

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Mar 25, 2011 Sesana rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction, science

Mary Roach has made quite a career writing quirky, irreverent books on some of the weirder corners of science. She's covered corpses, the afterlife, sex, and now space. So all the cool subjects. As it turns out, space exploration is a rich and varied subject. Every aspect of life in space has to be carefully, exhaustively researched beforehand, after all. Right down to, ahem, elimination procedures. In the hands of another writer, all of this detail might become overwhelming, or boring, maybe ki ...more

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About Mary Roach

Mary Roach

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Mary Roach is the author of the New York Times bestsellers STIFF: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers; GULP: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal, PACKING FOR MARS: The Curious Science of Life in the Void; and BONK: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex.

Her most recent book, GRUNT: The Curious Science of Humans at War, is out in June 2016.

Mary has written for National Geographic, Wired, Discover ...more

Books by Mary Roach

Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex

Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal

Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War

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“Yes, the money could be better spent on Earth. But would it? Since when has money saved by government redlining been spent on education and cancer research? It is always squandered. Let's squander some on Mars. Let's go out and play.” — 37 likes

“To the rocket scientist, you are a problem. You are the most irritating piece of machinery he or she will ever have to deal with. You and your fluctuating metabolism, your puny memory, your frame that comes in a million different configurations. You are unpredictable. You're inconstant. You take weeks to fix. The engineer must worry about the water and oxygen and food you'll need in space, about how much extra fuel it will take to launch your shrimp cocktail and irradiated beef tacos. A solar cell or a thruster nozzle is stable and undemanding. It does not excrete or panic or fall in love with the mission commander. It has no ego. Its structural elements don't start to break down without gravity, and it works just fine without sleep.

To me, you are the best thing to happen to rocket science. The human being is the machine that makes the whole endeavor so endlessly intriguing.” — 27 likes

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