The Mighty Mars Rovers: The Incredible Adventures of Spirit and Opportunity by Elizabeth Rusch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Because the mission was so heavy on photographs, it was interesting to look at all the images in one place. I've seen the odd image with a news story, but haven't looked at all of this visual information in one place. It was exciting to see the tracks where they accidentally discovered silica.
The story uses the narrative thread of how the team's estimates of the rovers' performance were always outshone. They spoke of the rovers anthropomorphically, but it was obvious that this was a way of celebrating or investing themselves in their work. The people involved most tightly in decision-making were presented as strong central characters alongside the rovers themselves.
Sources: Meticulously quote-sourced to interviews, blogs, and other primary sources. Twenty-five bibliographic references given for each of these. An update just before press time was added to tie up loose ends on the Spirit narrative. Rusch provided the link to her own web site and to the mars rover web site, where updates and more information could be found. This is one of the best sourced books so far!
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