Reddit Reddit reviews Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void

We found 18 Reddit comments about Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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Engineering & Transportation
Engineering
Aerospace Engineering
Astronautics & Space Flight
Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void
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18 Reddit comments about Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void:

u/brinstar117 · 40 pointsr/pics

The first Muslim astronaut, Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, from Malaysia had the problem of not knowing what direction to face when praying in orbit. A conference of scientists and scholars determined that facing the earth's surface would suffice.

I learned about this while reading Packing for Mars by Mary Roach. A rather interesting book about the difficulties and funny peculiarities of manned space exploration.

u/ClamatoMilkshake · 10 pointsr/IAmA

I recently read Packing for Mars which is a great read for anyone interested in the nitty gritty parts of human space travel you normally don't hear about.

In the end she states that with ~$500B NASA could take a manned mission to Mars. I'm all for it. I feel like there's a major brain drain in this country with the sciences taking a back seat to defense.

u/kleinbl00 · 8 pointsr/todayilearned

You miss the implications.

I used to do acoustical engineering for wastewater treatment plants. Human feces has "about" the same density of water for large variations in "about." There's actually a fair amount of science to this that the OP simply ignored; one of those "you know you're an engineer if..." jokes that ends with "you've ever modeled a horse as a sphere" and this is along the same lines.

The density of human feces depends an awful lot on water and gas content. Considering approximately 70% of human feces is e.coli^1, and considering the density of e.coli has actually been the subject of some study^2, saying "the density of this is 1" is a gross approximation that pretty much demonstrates that your source doesn't, well, know his shit.

u/itstuckertime · 5 pointsr/books
  1. Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void- Mary Roach
  2. 9
  3. Humor, Science, Non-Fiction
  4. This book is hilarious and explains space travel to the layman really well. It's a humor book that happens to teach you more than you wanted to know about space.
    5.Amazon
u/nonsensepoem · 5 pointsr/science

She's probably wishing she had a gravity-based toilet.


... damn you, Mary Roach, you've skewed my worldview towards the weird once again.

u/mrsix · 5 pointsr/pics

I read about it in Packing for mars - very interesting book, and full of information about space travel/exploration just like this.

u/Psychobiologist · 4 pointsr/askscience

I work in the lab that is cited in your [3] reference. They actually cite the paper incorrectly. It should be Alberts, not Alperts. Check here for more and newer references. Be sure to check out the Ronca papers and the awesome NASA patch as well. The experiment found that the rat pups' vestibular systems did not develop properly. Once returned to earth, pups would not right themselves when dropped on their backs into an aquarium whereas pups not gestated in microgravity will roll before hitting the bottom. Mothers showed atrophy in muscles that are used to hold them off of the ground but, interestingly, had more muscle growth in areas that allowed them to turn at the core. Since every surface of the cage is essentially a floor they rotated along their longitudinal axis repeatedly. There were also neurological changes but I don't remember the details well enough to be able to elaborate without reading the papers again.

EDIT: This book is a pretty great read on a variety of "people in space" topics including, in part, the above experiments.

u/MahaliAudran · 3 pointsr/todayilearned

In interviews with Mary Roach they most likely did not. There isn't enough privacy (or room for privacy in the shuttle).

u/nautus · 3 pointsr/books

Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by
Mary Roach is quite good. It follows the history of the manned space program, and the challenges to overcome before we send a mission to Mars.

u/FreelanceSocialist · 2 pointsr/space

I haven't read too many that would fit the bill, but the first ones that come to mind are:

u/SeamooseSkoose · 2 pointsr/askscience

Radiation is the largest concern. The Earth's magnetic field shielded the Apollo astronauts from the worst of the solar radiation, but in between the Earth and Mars no such protection exists. And interesting book on the theory behind space travel and how hard it can be to put it into practice is Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void. You should check it out.
http://www.amazon.com/Packing-Mars-Curious-Science-Life/dp/0393068471

u/leftistesticle_2 · 2 pointsr/todayilearned

Read Packing for Mars by Mary Roach. She does a great job explaining the difficulty of surviving space flight, including the lessons learned from the Challenger explosion.

u/f0k4ppl3 · 2 pointsr/pics

A book I'm reading. http://www.amazon.com/Packing-Mars-Curious-Science-Life/dp/0393068471

Full of fascinating tidbits.

u/nkdeck07 · 2 pointsr/AskReddit

Yes, Mary Roach actually wrote a book called [Packing For Mars] (http://www.amazon.com/Packing-Mars-Curious-Science-Life/dp/0393068471) where she interviewed a few astronauts and it turns out it's actually very possible. Let's say you are working on something and not really paying attention and your body will kind of reassess where "down" is. So when you turn around and don't see yourself oriented the way you thought you were it makes you feel like you are up-sidedown.

u/OneIfByLandwolf · 1 pointr/IAmA

If this it the type of question you have, then I highly recommend Packing For Mars which answers a lot of the simple human question of going to space.

u/KorgRue · 1 pointr/IAmA

After looking through the Q&A on this thread, I noticed a trend in the type of questions asked. If the weird and often unspoken trivia of space travel interests you, I highly recommend reading Mary Roach's "Packing For Mars".

It is very nicely researched and you will probably find answers to many of the unanswered questions here. It is a New York Times best seller, and it is am amazing and amusing book.

u/stouty · 0 pointsr/science
u/marmotjmarmot · 0 pointsr/science

If you haven't yet y'all should read this.