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Loading... The Traveler's Guide to Space: For One-Way Settlers and Round-Trip Touristsby Neil Comins
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Doctor Comins is an astrophysicist, astronomer, professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Maine. He wrote a fascinating well-researched technical review of life in space. It covers all aspects of space travel that would interest a novice tourist and research scientist. Comins breaks the book into four sections, preparing for space, adjusting to space, making most of the experiences in space, and home sweet home. Numerous photographs, figures, and science and science fiction factoids support the hypothesis under discussion. The book includes an appendix on the power of ten, notes, bibliography, and index. Anyone considering a trip into space or would like to travel there vicariously, should read this book. The Traveler’s Guide to Space, by Neil F. Comins, is much more than a travel guide. This book is packed with scientific facts and other interesting phenomenon about space travel. For the reader who is willing to wade through the fluff to get to the facts, it is very interesting and entertaining. In some instances, I thought I was reading a salesman’s pitch for why I need to book a space vacation. The book opens with an overview of space and the science pertaining to space and travel in space. From that point, the reader is lead on the journey of what to expect when you become a space traveler. The good and the bad about space travel is revealed in great detail, from the types of training required for the various possible space destinations, to the adjustments of living in space through to returning back to Earth. The last section of the book deals mainly with being a space tourist at a destination outside of Earth’s atmosphere with the main focus being on our Moon, the moons of Mars and Mars. The book concludes with a small section about of emigrating to Mars and/or returning to Earth. The book abounds with details about every aspect of space travel. In fact, the detail was so good I can only give a very general overview. It is obvious that Mr. Comins is well-informed on the subject. The relatively unknown facts is what I found to be the most interesting thing about the book. For example, I did not know that oral hygiene in space was of a particular concern because the rate of bacteria growth is much greater than on Earth. Gross, but true. This is a great book for any science buff, travel enthusiast, or reader, like myself, who loves to discover quirky facts. There is some amount of unnecessary fluff (I did not need to be told numerous times to be sure to collect rock specimens) but not so much that it turned me off. This is most definitely a book I could reread to cement my knowledge of space travel and get all those quirky facts into my long term memory. Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from Columbia University Press, via Net Galley, in exchange for my honest review. no reviews | add a review
If you have ever wondered about space travel, now you have the opportunity to understand it more fully than ever before. Traveling into space and even emigrating to nearby worlds may soon become part of the human experience. Scientists, engineers, and investors are working hard to make space tourism and colonization a reality. As astronauts can attest, extraterrestrial travel is incomparably thrilling. To make the most of the experience requires serious physical and mental adaptations in virtually every aspect of life, from eating to intimacy. Everyone who goes into space sees Earth and life on it from a profoundly different perspective than they had before liftoff.Astronomer and former NASA/ASEE scientist Neil F. Comins has written the go-to book for anyone interested in space exploration. He describes the wonders that travelers will encounter-weightlessness, unparalleled views of Earth and the cosmos, and the opportunity to walk on another world-as well as the dangers: radiation, projectiles, unbreathable atmospheres, and potential equipment failures. He also provides insights into specific trips to destinations including suborbital flights, space stations, the Moon, asteroids, comets, and Mars-the top candidate for colonization. Although many challenges are technical, Comins outlines them in clear language for all readers. He synthesizes key issues and cutting-edge research in astronomy, physics, biology, psychology, and sociology to create a complete manual for the ultimate voyage. No library descriptions found. |
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Comins also gives a description of the sights to see beyond Earth, on the Moon, comets, asteroids, and on Mars and its moons as well as a basic introduction to the physics of space and space flight. The book is clearly written and scientifically sound. ( )