In the course of our enduring search for knowledge aboutourselves and our universe, we haven’t found answers to 1 of our mostfundamental questions: Will life exist anywhere else in the universe? Ten yearsand vast amounts of dollars in the producing, the Mars rover Interest is certainly poised toanswer this all-important issue.

Right here, Rob Manning, the project’s key engineer, tells ofbringing the groundbreaking spacecraft to life. Manning and his group at NASA’sJet Propulsion Laboratory, tasked with about Mars Rover Attention: An Inside Accounts from Curiosity’s Main Engineer designing a lander many times larger andmore complicated than any before, encountered technical setbacks, battles over inadequateresources, and the problems of leading an army of outstanding, passionate, andoften disappointed experts.

Manning’s fascinating personal account-which includesinformation from his exclusive interviews with leading Interest scientists-ispacked with stories of revolutionary feats of research, technology, andengineering. Listeners knowledge firsthand the disappointment at encounteringpersistent technical complications, the agony of near defeat, the sense of victoryat selecting innovative answers to these problems, the sheer terror of stakingcareers and reputations on a lander that couldn’t end up being tested on the planet, and therush of triumph at its effective touchdown on Mars on August 5, 2012. This isthe story of persistence, commitment, and unrelenting attention.