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

Author Mary Roach spent two years researching and writing Packing for Mars after learning from a friend at NASA about bed-rest studies and a Martian gravity simulation. The friend had been hearing loud squeaks while working at the Johnson Space Center and discovered “some poor guy in a spacesuit running on a treadmill suspended from a big complicated gizmo” (16). Roach found the imagery both a funny and inspiring example of the ingenious and unusual ways scientists and astronauts mimic the conditions of space.

Roach’s approach is distinct from traditional histories of space travel; she is more interested in the smaller, less glamourous heroics of managing body odor, bad food, awkward toilets, and the lack of privacy—the most human of problems, however mundane they seem compared to literal rocket science. Roach makes astronauts relatable by showing that they have basic human desires and needs. She advocates for treating astronauts as humans who should not experience stigma for mental health and physical challenges like vomiting.

Roach’s style of science writing is humorous, candid, and highly subjective. She intersperses explanations of gravity and excerpts from archival flight transcripts with comments about her husband’s mild ire at her storing filtered urine in their refrigerator.