Trailblazing Mars: NASA's Next Giant Leap

By: Pat Duggins

Narrated by: Gary L. Willprecht

Travel to and from Mars has long been a staple of science fiction. And yet the hurdles - both technological and financial - have kept human exploration of the red planet from becoming a reality. Trailblazing Mars offers an inside look at the current efforts to fulfill this dream.

Award-winning journalist Pat Duggins examines the extreme new challenges that will be faced by astronauts on the journey there and back. They'll have to grow their own food, find their own water, and solve their own problems and emergencies without hope of rescue or re-supply. Mars travel will be more challenging and hazardous than settling the Old West - but we were not witness to the fate of the Donner Party on CNN.

Can the technological hurdles be cleared? Will the public accept the very real possibility of astronaut death? Should a mission be publicly or privately funded? Is the science worth the cost? These and many other questions are answered in Duggins's exciting new book.

©2010 Patrick Duggins (P)2012 Redwood Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Duggins gives you the how of the process along with the facts. Who knows what trails this book will help blaze." (Bill Nye the Science Guy)

"Duggins has written a marvelous book, sure to inspire our imaginations and remind us that all space travel ultimately arises from human ingenuity." (Howard McCurdy, author of Space and the American Imagination)

Got this because of narrator

The book itself was pretty good but the narrator was amateurish at best using "eye-talian" as Italian and things really went off track when he read quoted material using wierd attempts of foreign accents. When authoritative female sources were quoted a voice that sounded like a 13 year old teenager was used.

Poor Quality

Would you try another book from Pat Duggins and/or Gary L. Willprecht?

Maybe.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The book title would lead one to believe it is about the future exploration of Mars but it is mostly a historical review of NASA. Interesting history but I personally purchased the book to hear and Mars and its future exploration.

How could the performance have been better?

The audio quality was extremely poor. It continually paused for several seconds. I deleted it and re-downloaded it several times with no effect. I listen to 2/3 books a month on my Android phone and this is the first issue I've had with the audio.

Was Trailblazing Mars: NASA's Next Giant Leap worth the listening time?

No.

Beware of the narrator!

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The narrator

Would you be willing to try another book from Pat Duggins? Why or why not?

Don't know yet

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Gary L. Willprecht?

anyone who reads slower and has a genuine interest in science

Could you see Trailblazing Mars: NASA's Next Giant Leap being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

no

Any additional comments?

I'm writing this after listening to only the first few chapters as there are no reviews as of now, and the potential listener should be warned. The narrator reads it as if he is in a schoolroom class and has been reluctantly chosen to read the next chapter. He reads way to fast with no inflection so it's very difficult to understand all the intracies of the various preliminary unmanned flights etc. He obviously has no interest in the subject matter, even prounouncing "nuclear" as "nucular" just like one of our recent non-science orientated presidents! Totally spoils the book for me.

I also don't know where the book is going -- that should have been outlined in the first few pages -- so I have no idea if this is a good comprehensive overview or a flippant poorly researched book with the same integrity as the narrator. I recommend searching Scientific American for a serious article although this is obviously not available in audio

Not close to what it claims.

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Anyone interested in the past of spaceflight.

Has Trailblazing Mars: NASA's Next Giant Leap turned you off from other books in this genre?

not at all.

What didn’t you like about Gary L. Willprecht’s performance?

lack of emotion and bad voices.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Trailblazing Mars: NASA's Next Giant Leap?

All of it. this book is all about the past and not about getting to mars.

Any additional comments?

I have over 300 books and this is the first one I want to return for being totally off the mark as to what it claims to be.