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Nov. 9th, 2018 06:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skygiantsI read Mary Roach's Packing for Mars, about NASA and Weird Space Science, because:
a.) I'd never read a Mary Roach book and I'd been vaguely meaning to for years
b.) I'd made a pact withjothra that we would both read it, the origins of which are lost to the mists of time (unless Jo remembers them which it's entirely possible she might)
c.) I needed to know about weird astronaut food one can eat in zero-G, for reasons
I did learn some things about weird astronaut food one can eat in zero-G! I also now know a GREAT DEAL about what happens to the food ... one eats ... in zero-G .... at the other end of the digestive system ....
I did sort of find myself regretting the fact that a solid percentage of my reading is generally done on my lunch break.
Another thing I have learned is that going to space sounds terrible, and no one should do it -- at least not until they figure out how to create better artificial gravity, so that trips to space can include showers. But to be honest the idea of dying alone in a failing spacecraft has always viscerally terrified me even before I read Mary Roach's graphic description of Painful Ways To Die In And Around Outer Space (as a ten-year-old I went to go see Apollo 13 and hated it -- boring and scary! world's dullest horror movie! WORST OF ALL POSSIBLE WORLDS) so it wasn't like I was headed for astronautical heroism anyway.
Anyway. The book is interesting, informative, and certainly useful if one wants to know about the weird logistics of space travel; it's also very funny, although Mary Roach's sense of humor is not always my sense of humor and sometimes when reading I wished she'd step back a little and let the weird and hilarious facts tell themselves. (Also, my hackles went up a little in the first chapter when she introduces a Japanese scientist and explains that he's adorable and she just wants to pinch his cheek. Maybe don't lead with that, Mary! I don't know you well enough yet to trust that you're not being racist when you condescend to grown men!)
a.) I'd never read a Mary Roach book and I'd been vaguely meaning to for years
b.) I'd made a pact with
jothra that we would both read it, the origins of which are lost to the mists of time (unless Jo remembers them which it's entirely possible she might)c.) I needed to know about weird astronaut food one can eat in zero-G, for reasons
I did learn some things about weird astronaut food one can eat in zero-G! I also now know a GREAT DEAL about what happens to the food ... one eats ... in zero-G .... at the other end of the digestive system ....
I did sort of find myself regretting the fact that a solid percentage of my reading is generally done on my lunch break.
Another thing I have learned is that going to space sounds terrible, and no one should do it -- at least not until they figure out how to create better artificial gravity, so that trips to space can include showers. But to be honest the idea of dying alone in a failing spacecraft has always viscerally terrified me even before I read Mary Roach's graphic description of Painful Ways To Die In And Around Outer Space (as a ten-year-old I went to go see Apollo 13 and hated it -- boring and scary! world's dullest horror movie! WORST OF ALL POSSIBLE WORLDS) so it wasn't like I was headed for astronautical heroism anyway.
Anyway. The book is interesting, informative, and certainly useful if one wants to know about the weird logistics of space travel; it's also very funny, although Mary Roach's sense of humor is not always my sense of humor and sometimes when reading I wished she'd step back a little and let the weird and hilarious facts tell themselves. (Also, my hackles went up a little in the first chapter when she introduces a Japanese scientist and explains that he's adorable and she just wants to pinch his cheek. Maybe don't lead with that, Mary! I don't know you well enough yet to trust that you're not being racist when you condescend to grown men!)
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Date: 2018-11-11 06:17 am (UTC)