Get 3 months of Audible free - Get this deal
$17.99 with 22 percent savings
Print List Price: $22.95

These promotions will be applied to this item:

You have subscribed to ! We will pre-order your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we’ll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet or computer – no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera, scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle app

Follow the author

Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void Kindle Edition

4.4 out of 5 stars 1,930 ratings
4.0 on Goodreads
59,389 ratings

' + '' + decodeURIComponent(encodedIframeContent) + ''+''); doc.close(); } } this.iframeload = function () { var iframe = document.getElementById(iframeId); iframe.style.display = ''; setTimeout(function () { setIframeHeight(initialResizeCallback); }, 20); } function getDocHeight(doc) { var contentDiv = doc.getElementById("iframeContent"); var docHeight = 0; if(contentDiv){ docHeight = Math.max( contentDiv.scrollHeight, contentDiv.offsetHeight, contentDiv.clientHeight ); } return docHeight; } function setIframeHeight(resizeCallback) { var iframeDoc, iframe = document.getElementById(iframeId); iframeDoc = ((iframe.contentWindow && iframe.contentWindow.document) || iframe.contentDocument); if (iframeDoc) { var h = getDocHeight(iframeDoc); if (h && h != 0) { iframe.style.height = parseInt(h) + 'px'; if(typeof resizeCallback == "function") { resizeCallback(iframeId); } } else if (nTries < MAX_TRIES) { nTries++; setTimeout(function () { setIframeHeight(resizeCallback); }, 50); } } } this.resizeIframe = function(resizeCallback) { nTries = 0; setIframeHeight(resizeCallback); } } return DynamicIframe; });

“America’s funniest science writer” (Washington Post) explores the irresistibly strange universe of life without gravity in this New York Times bestseller.

The best-selling author of Stiff and Bonk explores the irresistibly strange universe of space travel and life without gravity. From the Space Shuttle training toilet to a crash test of NASA’s new space capsule, Mary Roach takes us on the surreally entertaining trip into the science of life in space and space on Earth.


Great on Kindle
Great Experience. Great Value.
iphone with kindle app
Putting our best book forward
Each Great on Kindle book offers a great reading experience, at a better value than print to keep your wallet happy.

Explore your book, then jump right back to where you left off with Page Flip.

View high quality images that let you zoom in to take a closer look.

Enjoy features only possible in digital – start reading right away, carry your library with you, adjust the font, create shareable notes and highlights, and more.

Discover additional details about the events, people, and places in your book, with Wikipedia integration.

Get the free Kindle app: Link to the kindle app page Link to the kindle app page
Enjoy a great reading experience when you buy the Kindle edition of this book. Learn more about Great on Kindle, available in select categories.

Product description

From 鶹

: With her wry humor and inextinguishable curiosity, Mary Roach has crafted her own quirky niche in the somewhat staid world of science writing, showing no fear (or shame) in the face of cadavers, ectoplasm, or sex. In Packing for Mars, Roach tackles the strange science of space travel, and the psychology, technology, and politics that go into sending a crew into orbit. Roach is unfailingly inquisitive (Why is it impolite for astronauts to float upside down during conversations? Just how smelly does a spacecraft get after a two week mission?), and she eagerly seeks out the stories that don't make it onto NASA's website--from SPCA-certified space suits for chimps, to the trial-and-error approach to crafting menus during the space program's early years (when the chefs are former livestock veterinarians, taste isn't high on the priority list). Packing for Mars is a book for grownups who still secretly dream of being astronauts, and Roach lives it up on their behalf--weightless in a C-9 aircraft, she just can't resist the opportunity to go "Supermanning" around the cabin. Her zeal for discovery, combined with her love of the absurd, amazing, and stranger-than-fiction, make Packing for Mars an uproarious trip into the world of space travel. --Lynette Mong

Review

[Her] style is at its most substantial—and most hilarious—in the zero-gravity realm that Packing for Mars explores.… As startling as it is funny. —Janet Maslin, The New York Times

This is the kind of smart, smirky stuff that Roach does so well.—Geoff Nicholson, San Francisco Chronicle

Cool answers to questions about the void you didn’t even know you had.—People

An utterly fascinating account, made all the more entertaining by the author’s ever-amused tone.—BookPage

An impish and adventurous writer with a gleefully inquisitive mind and stand-up comic’s timing.—Booklist

The author’s writing comes across as reportorial, but with a clear sense of humor; even the footnotes are used to both informational and comedic effect.—Time Out New York

Hilarious.—The New York Times Book Review

A delightful, illuminating grab bag of space-flight curiosities.—Kirkus Reviews

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B003YJEXUM
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company
  • Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 4 2011
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ 0
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3.5 MB
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 335 pages
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393079104
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 1,930 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Mary Roach
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Mary Roach is the author of Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War, Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void, Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex, Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, and Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. Her writing has appeared in Outside, Wired, National Geographic, and the New York Times Magazine, among others. She lives in Oakland, California.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
1,930 global ratings

Review this product

Share your thoughts with other customers

Top reviews from Canada

  • Reviewed in Canada on February 8, 2024
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Roach's writing style takes the minutae of space travel and makes it fascinating. She actually travels around the globe to interview people who play or have played important roles in various countries' space programmes, giving many a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the science, the politics, and the bureaucracy that goes into these endeavours.

    A compelling, entertaining, and informative read.
  • Reviewed in Canada on May 14, 2017
    Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
    Thoroughly enjoyed this book on the history of space travel - from the first test rockets, to the Appollo landing, to planning for a manned expedition to Mars. What's unique about Mary is humor and her ability to ask the questions no one asks in conventional histories. She covers everything from eating, to pooping, to sex in space. And while that might sound like tabloid journalism, dealing with the basic human functions raises truly profound scientific questions and problems of men and women in space.

    I remember as a little kid trying to stay to watch the Moon Landing with my Dad (fell asleep despite my best efforts). Mary has managed in her book to capture the imagination and that initial excitement of sending Man to the Moon as well as reminding of us the dangers involved and shines on a spotlight on the dedicated scientists who have made this happen and continue to work toward further human exploration in space.
  • Reviewed in Canada on May 28, 2018
    Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
  • Reviewed in Canada on March 21, 2011
    Format: Hardcover
    loved this book! Mary's writing is a perfect marriage between technical tidbits and quirky, slightly irreverent humour. If you were ever curious about how people handle body functions in space, or whether or not zero gravity sex is possible - this is the book for you.

    It's evident that Mary throws herself into her research travelling all throughout North America, Europe and Asia to get the details on topics I bet everyone wonders about, but not many ask. This books provides hilarious stories of how astronauts are picked (Japan's astronauts really do fold paper cranes), and a great account of many of the animals who came before humans in the space race. There is even some self effacing details on Mary's attempt to poop like a space walker.

    One extra cool thing, was that I read this book on my eReader so every time there was an end note, all I had to do was click a button, and it took me right there to read it in context with no flipping pages to the back of the book. Great way to read ALL of the book and get everything out of it.

    For more reviews visit [...].
  • Reviewed in Canada on March 26, 2011
    Format: Hardcover
    This is a lovely little book. I read Ms Roach's Stiff several years ago and I found her then to be a delightful writer ... light, lively, witty and informative. I was nearly three quarters of the way through this particular book (during a period of chronic insomnia) before I realized that I had read her before. I have to say that space exploration is not an especial interest of mine usually but, as in her book on cadavers (and death in general), Ms Roach has taken an offbeat look at a subject in a hugely entertaining way. Although each chapter is linked together with a segue (that in the hands of another author might be too contrived or 'cutesy') the various topics they deal with could easily stand alone as articles or topics in and of themselves. This makes this book ideal for an enjoyable, lighthearted read. I intend to purchase other titles from this author.
    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in Canada on December 9, 2016
    Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
    Maybe it's a bit too glib, or perhaps I was just disappointed at how little this resembled the heroic images that I still carry from Tom Wolfe's The Right Stuff. At least at first. Everything related to space exploration nowadays seems very cumbersome and overwrought: top-heavy with procedure, safety rules (ironically), highly focused on the acutely mundane (unfortunately with good reason), heavily bureaucratic, and largely uninspiring.
    Then we got into motion sickness, pooping in space, and drinking one's own urine. And the book turned quirky and entertaining enough to hold my interest. Roach has a bit of a specialty: the gleeful gross-out. I suppose it is interesting to wonder how a person might unmessily defecate in space or deal with body odours when encapsulated with like-stinking colleagues, and difficult to imagine it a lifelong professional pursuit for a Lab Coat. The logistics required to take a dump in space during an Apollo mission without coating one's colleagues in your excrement makes extended fasting seem like a great idea. So does the prospect of weeks spent eating dried birdseed and glue without barfing.
    It was not quite the riveting read that I expected. Informative and sometimes amusing, but sometimes a bit scattered and not particularly smoothly written. I might have ranked this higher, except for the slightly annoying wink-wink, let's-go-off-on-a-clever-tangent writing, and the fact that I had already read Stiff first. Somehow the author's previous book about the general grossness of cadavers was a bit more inspiring, perhaps because we all end up there despite our best efforts, while the ins-and-outs (mostly outs) of bodily functions seem strangely distanced while in space. However, It seemed like the author hugely enjoyed her research for this book; her bouncy enthusiasm kept it readable. Mars draws strongly on anecdotes and personal interviews instead of direct citation - it's definitely a light read, an informal, chatty book aimed firmly at the layman.
  • Reviewed in Canada on February 20, 2012
    Format: Hardcover
    I'm on my 3rd book by Mary. Packing for Mars is excellent. Before I opened the book I really had no idea what the challenges were for a mission to mars. I thought landing a spacecraft on mars and getting off would be mostly what the book was about but I was completely amazed that the hardest thing to deal with in a mars mission is ourselves.

    Definitely worth checking out.
    One person found this helpful
    Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
  • Valentin Tone
    5.0 out of 5 stars Sehr interessant
    Reviewed in Germany on June 26, 2020
    Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
    Ein sehr interessantes Buch
    Report
  • michmat
    4.0 out of 5 stars Another amazing book by Mary Roach!
    Reviewed in Spain on June 2, 2014
    Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
    Once again Mary Roach amazes with her brillant style: here is another divulgation book of hers, bringing consisten scientific, technological and historical information, based upon a serious work of research and key people interview and written with nice humor.
    Good!
  • Bruce Irving
    5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best and funniest space books
    Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2010
    Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
    When I was ten years old (in 1963), I had a plan for my life. After high school, I would go to the US Air Force Academy, followed by flight training (jets, of course). Later I would go to test pilot school with the ultimate goal of becoming an astronaut. I was too young for Apollo (and for Vietnam as an officer and pilot), but if it had worked out, I would have been an Air Force pilot in the late 70's and astronaut-ready by the mid-80's. The plan fell apart when I was 12 and started to develop severe myopia. The Air Force Academy and flight training wouldn't allow corrective lenses (of course even if I had 20/10 "Yeagervision" there are any number of other things that could have killed my plan, but hey, it was a fun plan while it lasted).

    At that time, the idea of space flight represented nothing but sheer excitement, but now that I've read the new book Packing for Mars (by Mary Roach, subtitled "The Curious Science of Life in the Void"), I understand better than ever that the astronaut's life is much more complicated and less enjoyable than you might imagine. Maybe this wasn't the life for me. Of course I knew this at some level from a lot of previous reading about space flight, but with the exception of some astronaut memoirs (especially Mike Mullane's down-and-dirty "Riding Rockets"), they don't go into much detail on the discomforts and inconveniences of space flight. Mary Roach does, and she does so with a writing style that is informative, colorful, personal, and often downright hilarious. I was laughing out loud at least once in every chapter. Her writing style often reminds me of Bill Bryson. She explains things clearly, but emphasizes quirky details and people. While the situations are often funny, she obviously respects the people and the work they do, so it never comes across as snarky - she's often laughing with the astronauts, cosmonauts, and other space workers.

    Of course she covers the required "going to the bathroom in space," but she also covers the psychology of isolation and confinement, general problems of zero-G (including bone loss and vomiting), crash testing (with cadavers!), animal testing, Earth-based mission simulations, hygiene, and the ever-intriguing questions of sex in space. On the latter topic, she isn't able to come up with any hard evidence (sorry) that it has happened, but you can't say her research wasn't thorough. Considering that someone might have "done it" in a zero-G parabolic test flight, she tracks down and watches an obscure porn movie that was rumored to have had one scene shot on such a flight. She uses a fluid dynamics argument (sort of) to conclude that while the scene may have been shot in an airplane, it was not shot in zero-G. Read the book for more. You will also learn some interesting things about dolphin behavior and anatomy, since these marine mammals have to deal with some of the same issues as zero-G astronaut couples might encounter.

    The author interviewed astronauts, cosmonauts, and all sorts of researchers, and her field trips included a flight on the "vomit comet" (she didn't vomit, thanks to "good drugs" they give you) and a trip to Devon Island in the Canadian Arctic, where NASA conducts simulated lunar and Mars missions in a remote, desolate, cratered environment that's about as close as you can get to Moon or Mars terrain on Earth. NASA and the US astronauts seemed to be the most "uptight," and the Russian cosmonauts the most frank in describing uncomfortable stuff. One exception was Jim Lovell, who was was unusually open, especially when she asked him about Gemini 7, in which he had spent two bathing-free weeks in the tiny Gemini cabin with Frank Borman, who apparently could be a rather cranky and difficult guy. Lovell proved he was brave enough for Apollo 13 by spending some 23 days in space with Borman (Gemini 7 and Apollo 8 - Borman was sick most of the time on Apollo 8, though it wasn't admitted at the time - so perhaps a bit of crankiness could be forgiven).

    I read the Kindle version of the book, and I found it was valuable (and funny) to read most of the footnotes, which required a "click" for each one. Some of the funniest comments are in the footnotes. A very good book, even if you're not especially interested in space.
  • Philip Norton
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and Funny
    Reviewed in Japan on January 23, 2022
    Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
    I am loving this book! It is my first Mary Roach book, but now I want to read all of her work. Not only does it present a unique view of the challenges of space travel, but it also provides insight into Mary's investigations and encounters.
  • Rev. Dr. Jude Arnold
    4.0 out of 5 stars I need at least 2 more books from Mary Roach!
    Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2010
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    Dear Mary Roach,
    I'm a huge fan and have read all your books!
    In every one, I am so surprised by your discoveries!
    I'm enjoying Mars and am finding it very interesting and funny!
    However, and respectfully I ask you to write another entire book on the stuff you did not address - Is there life in space?!? What about the Summarian Tablets? What about Planet X?
    And I would love to read your take in a 6th book, on our current political situation! I worked tirelessly for the Public Option and feel I failed. What do you think of George Carlin on the American Dream (posted on my profile)? What do you think of 911 being an inside job? What do you think of Alex Jones work? The Bildebergers? Is Obama Skull and Bones like Hillary, Bill and the Bushes? Thanks! Big Hug!

    I'm still reading this book. Given that I wish she'd written about the real outer space rather than the ridiculous experiments NASA's been conducting for the last 50 years; I'm thoroughly enjoying it. It's so totally Mary Roach! My favorite part so far was about BO. As a natural health doctor, I found it very interesting to learn, about the bacteria count of sweat in various parts of the body. Our feet, armpits and ass, definitely have more germs, hence odor!

    The Discovery/Earth series had a show about sex in space. I of course thought it would be a little more cosmic, like planets and galaxies co-creating.... but it was about a woman scientist who had invented a spacesuit that would hook up to your lover's space suit, so you could have sex at zero G. Mary Roach is her usual, awesome, hilarious self in her chapter about astronauts having sex in space. Just delightful, including several laugh out loud moments!

    Here are my final comments as I finish Packing for Mars.
    I love Mary Roach and every one of her books, this being my least favorite so far.
    I maintain that I would have liked this one better if it was more far out.
    We just rewatched "Armageddon" with Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler. It reminded me so much of Packing for Mars. They must have spent a lot of money on the movie with all the space simulations. For me the movie was kind of dumb and over dramatic. So was Mary Roach's 4th book.

Report an issue


Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?