Friday 4 July 2014

Book Review: Martian Outpost

Martian Outpost: The Challenges of Establishing a Human Settlement on Mars by Erik Seedhouse was decent but it took an unexpected direction and was poorly edited. Despite the title, hardly any time was spent talking about a "Martian Outpost". Instead this was a technical exploration of space travel and propulsion systems in general.


Who should read this book?
Devoted space travel enthusiasts. There is a lot of detail here on propulsion systems, human biology, and the long term plans of different space agencies.

The Good
I learned a lot about how space agencies and private companies plan and design "mission architectures". There is also a huge glossary of acronyms used by the author like LOX (Liquid Oxygen) and MOI (Mars Orbit Insertion). So I think this book was a great introduction to many technical terms used by space agencies.

Most of the book was spent thoroughly exploring propulsion systems, engineering, trajectories, and descent and ascent procedures. It was well referenced and very technical. And given the author's emphasis on its importance, I learned a lot about bone density loss and other health issues humans suffer during space travel.

The Bad
Ideas were dismissed without exploring why. For example, Mars Direct proposes spinning the vessel while in transit to Mars to give the passengers artificial gravity. Gravity solves many health issues that Seedhouse considers to be major health hazards to any Mars mission.

Well, Seedhouse dismisses the spin idea by briefly mentioning communication and solar power difficulties. Yet later, Seedhouse approves of the very same spinning strategy without reservation for Buzz Aldrin's plan. I was confused. Does one spin work and another not? Why? For the rest of the book, Seedhouse uses a hazardous zero gravity mission architecture and I'm not sure why.

Other strategies that were assumed and not defended were bringing a doctor, and not using local Mars resources (ISRU).

This is perhaps the poorest edited non-fiction book I've ever read. It was verbose and repetitious. I believe the basics of bone demineralization are explained on five different occasions. So it felt as though no person is meant to read the whole book cover to cover.

There were technical contradictions. Do Martian temperatures vary from -140 to 17 Celsius, or -120 to 20 Celsius? Is there a maximum Earth-Mars communication delay of ten minutes, or forty six minutes? One time the adjective "lunar" was used in place of "Martian" - so I can't help but think the author copied much of this material from his other book, Lunar Outpost, published just a year earlier.

I counted 11 typos, some of them glaring. Like a "comma period" and even pressing "enter" in the middle of a sentence. From the author's acknowledgements: "I am fortunate to have had my wife ... as my proof-reader". Hah!

Typos do not invalidate the content of any book, but they are an obvious indicator that the author doesn't care very much.

Finally, there was but one chapter on the actual "Martian Outpost". The ideas were superficial and obvious. I've seen far more detail watching half hour Mars documentaries for laymen. Surprising, since this is the focus of the book.

The Ugly
In selecting crew gender, Seedhouse opts for a strictly all male crew. True, tough decisions must be made in space travel, but his justifications are flimsy. They include avoiding sexual tension and a slight advantage men have in radiation resistance. Whereas the proven advantages of including women did not even leave the question open to him. What are his thoughts on women in the ISS I wonder? I was thoroughly unimpressed.

Finally, in the epilogue Seedhouse reveals his bias towards general space travel and disinterest in Mars exploration when he belittles readers of fiction. He says there are "Mars or bust types who have spent too much time reading ... Kim Stanley Robinson novels". His tone says it's silly to be dedicated to Mars exploration, and silly to read science fiction. Robinson's books have won Nebula, BSFA, and Hugo awards. I read one and a half of these novels and enjoyed them. Tell me Seedhouse, how much time is too much time reading inspirational science literature?

Summary
The book provides a lot of great technical details about general space travel but it's poorly edited, repetitious, and has a misleading title. The author appears more interested in the minute details of general space travel than the grand discoveries on Mars itself. As a result, the language lacks poetry and the book lacks inspiration.

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