Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier

A great, if mildly repetitive set of essays on renewed space exploration, the shuttle program, the necessity of a new Sputnik moment, etc.

If you're familiar enough with Neil deGrasse Tyson, you'll know what he's saying here already. If you're not, here's a great place to start. Or at least follow his Twitter. Seriously. The man's great. ( )

I can't remember anymore how or where I first came across Neil deGrasse Tyson. What I do remember is taking an instant liking to the man. I first started reading one of his earlier books, Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries, though I never got through the entire thing because I ended up giving it to my grandfather who took it back to India. With so many books on my reading list, I haven't had a chance to get another copy.

Around that time, I also saw Dr. Tyson speak at an event at Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC. He has so much energy and so much passion that you just fall under the spell.

When I first heard about this book, I knew I had to read it. This is probably more up my alley than Death by Black Hole, because I have trouble wrapping my mind around physics, especially astrophysics, and that book is much more physics-heavy. There is a bit of physics and such in this but definitely nothing too complicated. Bottom line is that anyone can read this.

Space Chronicles outlines the past and present (and potential future) of space exploration and in particular, discusses why NASA is so important. The book is definitely focused on the United States and its place in this arena. In fact, it's very "USA, USA!" so that's something to keep in mind. I do see why he puts it in this light, because this is an appeal to the people of the US to not let our space program die.

Another potential criticism is that there is a lot of repetitiveness throughout. This is because this book is composed of a variety of essays, speeches, interviews, etc. from various sources so you tend to see a lot of his ideas repeated. I didn't really mind this as much because it helped to cement the ideas in my head. However, I can see where this would become annoying for others.

Other than these criticisms, I think this is a very important book and should be widely read. I learned so much, not just about space exploration but just how stuff works, especially politically. For example, why did we get to the moon? Because humans - Americans? - value exploration, dreaming, curiosity? No! It was because we were trying to beat the Soviet Union during the Cold War, to show our might. That's the only reason all that money could be justified. Were it not for the Sputnik and the subsequent "firsts" made by the Soviet Union, maybe we would never have reached the moon.

I wasn't born during moon landings and I was barely 4 when the Challenger disaster happened. [Fun fact! The development I grew up in had streets named after the Challenger and all the people who died in it.] But growing up, I always had a deep interest in space and even wanted to be an astronaut at one point. (Although who didn't want to be an astronaut when they were little?) This book really opened my eyes and made me think - we did these huge things back in the 60s and 70s, but where are we now? How come humans are not going back into space anymore? (Dr. Tyson explains the different between low earth orbit (LEO) and actually going into space.)

Another major discussion point in the book is the cost of going into space (often mentioned is that NASA's yearly budget is on average half a penny per dollar of the federal budget) vs. the benefits and justifications. I think his arguments are solid and make sense.

One criticism I have about all the space cheerleading is this:
Throughout the book, the viewpoint is that space is the only exciting thing left. This is how it comes off to me. That we - kids especially - need the lure of space travel to be excited about going into science. But there is still so much left on Earth to explore too. So much that we don't know. A big example is the oceans. I might be a bit biased here because I love the oceans and am really into marine biology but still. I absolutely understand that we need excitement about space to get our program (in the US) going again and get students willing to go in that direction. But that doesn't mean it's the only thing left or that there aren't compelling things left on Earth to explore.

I could probably go on and on but I'll try to wrap it up. I really loved the characteristic humor infused throughout the book and there were places where I literally laughed out loud. Especially the chapter America and the Emergent Space Powers. This was the funniest in the book, in my opinion. I also liked the tweets from Dr. Tyson that were sprinkled throughout the book. Some of them added to the text and some of them were funny asides, like this one:
"At a fine Italian restaurant this evening. Served grappa at meal's end. NASA should study it as a replacement rocket fuel"

I would recommend this book to everyone! ( )

Dr. Tyson brings up a number of valid points as to why space exploration should continue. Only 1/2 cent of our tax dollar goes towards NASA. Two years of military spending would've funded our efforts in space for the past 50 years. Numerous scientific discoveries have resulted from our efforts in space. Most recently, software engineered to sharpen the images from the Hubble Space Telescope is now used to better interpret mammograms. A more robust space program would help influence younger generations to enter the scientific and engineering fields, much like the Apollo program did for the previous generation. Currently we are falling well behind other countries in this area. China and India graduate far more scientist than the US. China alone has more scientifically literate people than we have college graduates. If this trend continues it is predicted China's economy will surpass ours in about 5 years.

These statistics sure opened my eyes. A very thought provoking book ( )

Neil deGrasse Tyson writes wonderful, inspiring books, and this collection of essays, speeches, and interviews about space exploration is no exception. It does get a bit repetitive at times; I guess once you come up with a good sound bite or line of argument, it's tempting to use it frequently. ( )