Overview

"InThe Interstellar Age, award-winning planetary scientist Jim Bell reveals what drove and continues to drive the members of this extraordinary team, including Ed Stone,Voyager's chief scientist and the one-time head of NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab . . . The story of the men and women who drove NASA's Voyager spacecraft mission-the farthest-flung emissaries of planet Earth-told by a scientist who was there from the beginning. Voyager 1 left our solar system in 2012; its sister craft, Voyager 2, did so in 2018. The fantastic journey began in 1977, before the first episode of Cosmos aired. The mission was planned as a grand tour beyond the moon; beyond Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune; and maybe even into interstellar space. The fact that it actually happened makes this humanity's greatest space mission. In The Interstellar Age, award-winning planetary scientist Jim Bell reveals what drove and continues to drive the members of this extraordinary team, including Ed Stone, Voyager's chief scientist and the one-time head of NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab; Charley Kohlhase, an orbital dynamics engineer who helped to design many of the critical slingshot maneuvers around planets that enabled the Voyagers to travel so far; and the geologist whose Earth-bound experience would prove of little help in interpreting the strange new landscapes revealed in the Voyagers' astoundingly clear images of moons and planets. Speeding through space at a mind-bending eleven miles a second, Voyager 1 and Voyager2 arenow beyond our solar system's planets, the first man-made objects to go interstellar. By the time Voyager passes its first star in about 40,000 years, the gold record on the spacecraft, containing various music and images including Chuck Berry's ""Johnny B. Goode,"" will still be playable. *An ALA Notable Book of 2015*"

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9781101983898

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Praise for The Interstellar Age Comprehensive and engrossing...charming. -- The Wall Street Journal Is there any intelligent life out there in the cosmos? And if so, are they into Chuck Berry? Thanks to the Voyager space probes, launched in 1977, we may find out. -- New York Post Part memoir, part anecdotal historyand part sermon on the delights ofscience, The Interstellar Age is a captivating read. -- Nature Bell ( The Space Book), president of the Planetary Society, delivers a lucid account of the magnificent scientific accomplishments of the Voyager Missions with a cheerfulness that it deserves. -- Publishers Weekly A highly enjoyable read for anyone with an interest in popular science. -- Library Journal In THE INTERSTELLAR AGE Professor Jim Bell celebrates Voyager -- NASA's most famous space probe. In this task, Bell not only shines as a leading planetary scientist, you get the sneaky feeling he knew the probe personally, serving in this case as Voyager's personal biographer to the benefit of us all. --Neil deGrasse Tyson, Astrophysicist, host of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, author of Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier Come along with Dr. Bell on an extraordinary adventure. He loves to travel. He relishes a long voyage. He doesn t mind leaving home forever and never coming back. If it involves a once in lifetime journey through the cold emptiness of space, so much the better, as long as the ports of call are planets up close and personal. These voyages changed what we know of the cosmos and our place within it. Jim Bell s story will change you, too. --Bill Nye, CEO, the Planetary Society The Interstellar Age is dawning and this book recounts the saga of humanity s greatest solar system exploration on the way out. Part scientific autobiography, part top-notch science writing, Jim Bell s book is a welcome addition to the history of the Voyager Missions. --Jon Lomberg, space artist, science journalist, and co-creator of the Voyager Interstellar Record Everyone loves Voyager, and every few years the plucky spacecraft give us yet another reason to remind us why. Now that Voyager 1 has passed beyond the veil of the helioshere and plunged into interstellar space, Jim Bell takes up the narrative of what that mission has meant and makes his personal relationship, which dates from his days as a student, stand for the near-universal bond most of us feel. A timely, humane, and informative read. --Stephen Pyne, historian, and author of Voyager: Seeking New Worlds in the Third Great Age of Exploration The space mission that turned points of light into worlds the Grandest Tour Voyager. Over 35 years after it was launched, it's now sending back data from beyond our solar system. Live the incredible adventure in Jim Bell's personal yet sweeping and comprehensive account, the story of one of the greatest explorations in history and the extraordinary people who made it happen. -- Andrew Chaikin, author of A Man on the Moon and A Passion for Mars Praise for Postcards from Mars Postcards From Mars is a masterpiece. It promises the future for all of us. Ray Bradbury, author of The Martian Chronicles and Fahrenheit 451 This superbly produced set of photographs is a spine-tingling preview of the dramatic landscape that future humans will one day explore in person. Jim Bell has put together a beautiful, inspiring, and powerful book. Dr. Buzz Aldrin, one of the two astronauts aboard the Apollo 11 lunar module, the first manned mission to land on the Moon Bell's informed, impassioned impressions of Mars enhance the vicarious thrill of this unique travelogue. For an armchair space traveler, here is a fantasy realized. Dava Sobel, author of Longitude, Galileo's Daughter, and The Planets Jim Bell has compiled a book of photos that puts our neighboring planet in sharp focus. USA Today Awe-inspiring. . . . Exquisite detail. . . . Glorious. Natural History [Bell] tells the story of preparing the spacecraft for launch and of the rovers arrival on Mars in a conversational tone, with just the right mix of detail and personal point of view. . . . The quality of the printing is high, reproducing intense colors, dramatic shadows, and fine details. The Planetary Society The quality and volume of photos coming back from Spirit and Opportunity far exceeds anything that has come back from Mars before. American Photo The craters, dunes and sandy ripples [the rovers] depict are both stunning and eerily familiar. . . . Bell takes readers through the mission s highs and lows, but it is the glimpses of the rovers own tracks and long shadows that remind us how special this moment is. ForbesLife The crystalline photographs can t help but impress. Houston Chronicle [A] stunning portfolio of robotic snapshots that capture the red planet in all its desolate beauty. Entertainment Weekly Postcards from Mars is a coffee-table book of fabulous photos that also includes the compelling human story behind the successful Spirit and Opportunity rovers. . . . Postcards from Mars is a handsome gift book, and an excellent tool to jumpstart imaginative trips to Mars and discussions of space exploration and settlement with family, friends, and coworkers. Highly recommended. National Space Society Striking. Sciencenews.org A beautiful hardcover with rich color plates. . . . It s striking how much the pictures are just pictures of rocks and dirt. But, of course, they re pictures of rocks and dirt on Mars! The Onion

Author Information

Jim Bell is currently a professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University, an adjunct professor in the Department of Astronomy at Cornell University, and president ofThe Planetary Society. He and his teammates have received more than a dozen NASA Group Achievement Awards for work on space missions, and he was the recipient of the2011 Carl Sagan Medal from the American Astronomical Society, for excellence in public communication in planetary sciences. He is a frequent contributor to popular astronomy and science magazines likeSky & Telescope,Astronomy, andScientific American, and to radio shows and internet blogs about astronomy and space. He has appeared on television on the NBCTodayshow, on CNN'sThis American Morning, on the PBSNewsHour, and on the Discovery, National Geographic, Wall St. Journal, and History Channels. He is the author ofPostcards from Mars.

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