Mars Rover Curiosity
An Inside Account from Curiosity's Chief Engineer
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Mars Rover Curiosity
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Narrated by:
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Bronson Pinchot
About this listen
In the course of our enduring quest for knowledge about ourselves and our universe, we haven't found answers to one of our most fundamental questions: Does life exist anywhere else in the universe? Ten years and billions of dollars in the making, the Mars rover Curiosity is poised to answer this all-important question.
Here, Rob Manning, the project's chief engineer, tells of bringing the groundbreaking spacecraft to life. Manning and his team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, tasked with designing a lander many times larger and more complex than any before, faced technical setbacks, fights over inadequate resources, and the challenges of leading an army of brilliant, passionate, and often frustrated experts.
Manning's fascinating personal account—which includes information from his exclusive interviews with leading Curiosity scientists—is packed with tales of revolutionary feats of science, technology, and engineering. Listeners experience firsthand the disappointment at encountering persistent technical problems, the agony of near defeat, the sense of victory at finding innovative solutions to these problems, the sheer terror of staking careers and reputations on a lander that couldn't be tested on Earth, and the rush of triumph at its successful touchdown on Mars on August 5, 2012. This is the story of persistence, dedication, and unrelenting curiosity.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2014 Rob Manning, William L. Simon (P)2014 Blackstone AudioListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about Mars Rover Curiosity
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- PaulC6230
- 22-07-17
Brilliant Inside Account
I loved this inside account of the journey of Curiosity from the concept to the end roving towards Mount Sharp.
The level of details in this is astounding which isn’t too complicated for the ordinary listener to comprehend. I loved hearing how hurdles were thrown at them and how the tiger team as they call them overcame these obstacles which led to another set of obstacles.
One part had my mouth open which was this exert from the book “ If a redesign or a bug fix required replacing a chip—which at times happened as often as twice a month—the cost of each replacement chip ran around $30,000 “
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No wonder then the cost of this amazing machine was $2billion but in my eyes ( a keen space geek ) it’s worth every dollar spent. Here’s hoping Perseverance finds out even more about Mars.
The narration by Bronson Pinchot was superbly done and made listened to this such a pleasure. Highly recommend if you’re a space geek too or interested in where the costs of these machines go to.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Bob Upndown
- 02-02-18
A very good account of recent Mars missions.
Overall a good listen. Many fascinating moments with a few odd dry spots. Pleased I purchased it. Would be nice to have had an updated more on it's scientific findings but people move on I guess.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Skippy the Magnificent
- 11-05-22
As good as it gets (especially for free)
A fascinating insight to the highs and lows of robotic space exploration, and the geniuses behind it all. While quite engineering and science intensive, I had no real problems keeping up with, and understanding what was going on. Wonderfully read by Bronson Pinchot.
This is currently included with your membership, but it would absolutely be worthy of a credit too. Definitely recommend to anyone at all interested in space.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Luke Y
- 04-11-22
Better at x1.10 speed!
As others have said the narration is excellent and consistent but a little plodding. Playing at x1.10 gives the narration an enthusiastic tone. Makes for much better listening!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- mr Peter Mo
- 07-01-15
amazing
I really enjoyed this one. I read a lot about Curiosity and I also attended seminars with speakers that work on it. And still, I've learned so much from this book that it makes me happy that I lived to see this great achievement.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Wakeman
- 04-05-18
Building a rover under the bureaucracy of NASA
An interesting book, as much for the design & building processes of the rover, as for its portrayal of the inner workings of the NASA bureaucracy. The delivery is a little dry and occasionally flat, but the subject carries you through those moments. The fact that there is someone whose job is to consider contamination of other planets by earthly bacteria & who has to sign off on the project gives you just a flavour. I thought that the last few chapters, involving the landing, felt a little rushed, especially given the long build-up.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- RICHARD D.
- 18-02-22
Herding Cats
Intriguing Insights into incredibly complex project management. I started listening because I was curious about curiosity. I could not "put it down" because the process itself became the story. This is not to be missed, entertainment and education in one package, enjoy....
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Joye C.
- 22-12-22
loved it.
what a story! loved every nail-biting bit. The inventiveness, dedication and stamina of the people involved is mind blowing.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Christopher Larham
- 21-08-19
Compelling Listening Material
I found this to be compelling listening material and was sad when it came to an end. The authors and narrator take you on a real journey, charting the ups and downs of life behind the scenes in the Mars Space Laboratory mission. I have listened to several chapters multiple times, and I was especially interested in the overview of the software that helps Curiosity to complete its everyday tasks (over three million lines of C-language programming code).
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Mr. Tim Fowle
- 06-07-17
Really interesting insight
What did you like most about Mars Rover Curiosity?
Interesting details about the project, how it was run and the problems faced.
What did you like best about this story?
Details about the technical challenges and how as a team they worked through (most) of them
What does Bronson Pinchot bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?
An american accent
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
no
Any additional comments?
Very enjoyable
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