Smithsonian Books Releases Mars Rover Curiosity Book

In the enduring quest for knowledge about Earth and the universe, people have not found answers to one of the most fundamental questions: Does life exist anywhere else in the universe? Ten years and billions of dollars in the making, the Mars Rover Curiosity is poised to answer this all-important question.

In Mars Rover Curiosity: An Inside Account from Curiosity’s Chief Engineer, Rob Manning, the project’s chief engineer, and William L. Simon, science writer, tell of bringing the groundbreaking spacecraft to life. The book is forthcoming from Smithsonian Books Oct. 21. Manning and his team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, tasked with designing a lander many times larger and more complex than any before, faced technical setbacks, fights over inadequate resources and the challenges of leading an army of brilliant, passionate and often frustrated experts.

Manning’s personal account is filled with feats of revolutionary science, technology and engineering. Readers experience firsthand the disappointment of persistent technical problems, the agony of near defeat and the triumph at Curiosity’s successful touchdown on Mars Aug. 5, 2012. This is a story of persistence, dedication and unrelenting curiosity.

About the Book

Title: Mars Rover Curiosity: An Inside Account from Curiosity’s Chief Engineer
Author: Rob Manning and William L. Simon
On-Sale Date: 10/21/14
Price: $29.95 / Pages: 240
ISBN: 978-1-58834-473-1
Smithsonian Books

About the Authors

Manning has worked at NASA and Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory for more than 30 years. He now leads the engineering for the Mars Program Office and is chief engineer on a project to develop technologies for landing even larger robotic vehicles on Mars with hopes of eventually landing future astronauts and scientists on Mars. Simon is the author of 30 books including iCon: Steve Jobs and Ghost in the Wires, both New York Times and international bestsellers.

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SI-519-2014