Survival and Sacrifice in Mars Exploration: What We Know from Polar Expeditions (Springer Praxis Books)

A collection of chapters that all say the same thing, over and over and over. It amounts to "these are some difficulties that a Mars mission would face, and this is what polar explorers went through, so man up and stop wasting time with analog missions and prepare to suffer." Literally man up, as he doesn't think women should be part of Mars missions. The chapters are like different articles combined together under the same cover, they rehash the same basics information so much. A fair number of proofreading errors as well. 40 USD for a cheaply produced paperback?

Yet another insightful book by Norway's leading popular science author and commercial space advocate. This latest publication - the author's 17th I believe - considers the parallels between polar and space exploration. Why polar? Because polar exploration offers a better analog for a Mars mission than any of the so-called traditional analogs (the Mars500 boondoggle for example). Along the way, the author weaves a compelling tale of mutiny and cannibalism and offers a framework for how future Mars explorers may deal with contingencies based on the polar experience. A great read.